For a long time, I carried with me the misconception that hand-holding was a juvenile display of affection. A signal to others more than anything.
That was until Pedro held mine.
With him, it felt natural and intimate. Special, even. Or maybe I was already feeling sentimental being in a space like this. Every piece of artwork was rich and deep and full of unspoken but beautifully expressed meaning, and I was enjoying the fact that he wanted to know my thoughts on them. I asked for his in return and was touched by how earnest his interpretations were.
Maybe there was something to dating an older man.
But the sincere moments were equally matched with banter, laughs, brief physical touches, and at times vaguely inappropriate comments about the art whispered in my ear. The latter did nothing to diminish how much I enjoyed spending time with him. It did bring a blush to my cheeks, which he took great pleasure in teasing me about.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed but we had circled around the museum and returned to the entrance. I didn't want to leave his orbit and I definitely didn't want our time to end.
"Still want to grab some food?"
I was grateful he was the one asking.
"Yeah, do you know of any good places around here?"
"I can think of a few, although I did have one spot in mind. We can carpool, or I can walk you to your car if you think it would be too much to ride in mine." He winked.
"Shut up." I playfully nudged him again. I secretly loved any excuse to touch him. "Walk me to my car and send the address."
"What you say, goes."
Still on that dopamine high that comes from good art and even better company, we stepped outside completely unaware of the torrential downpour that had been taking place.
We both cursed, unprepared and already feeling the rain seep into our clothes in a couple of seconds.
"Where did you park?" He had to almost shout over the roaring sound.
"You're still going to walk me to my car?" I found myself doing the same.
"Of course! Now ándale, ándale. It's pouring." His hand was firm on my back, protective in a way.
Quickly but safely we made it to my car and I dug around for my keys inside my tote bag.
I couldn't seem to locate my most common reference point of my keychain.
"Oh my god."
He could hear the disbelief in my voice and his face fell.
"What is it?"
I opened my tote back to look with my eyes instead of my hand and they still weren't there. I put my face up to the window of my car but I couldn't see clearly with the rain. If my keys were in there, they were hidden well enough, probably underneath a jacket (that would be very handy at a time like this) so that others couldn't see them.
"Please tell me you have your keys with you."
"Of course I do, I'm just doing this for fun." I was frustrated, soaking wet now, and I clearly didn't have them on me.
"It's ok, we'll figure something out." He moved to stand in front of me, hands on my shoulders in an attempt to direct my focus to his calming words.
"I can't believe I did this. So stupid! I thought I threw them in my bag but I was so nervous to see you I guess I-"
He cupped my face in his hands and dipped his head to kiss me.
Time slowed down. My anger dissolved and was replaced with a heightened sensitivity. The broad expanse of his hands and how I felt small in his gentle grasp, the slight satisfying scratch of his facial hair on my face, wet from the rain. The slow, supple movements of his lips and how they tasted. He didn't taste like anything in particular, except maybe himself and I ached, hoping it would linger in my mouth long after we were done. When I let myself melt into it I felt the warm exhale of breath from his nose, whether it was relief or restraint I wasn't sure. My own lips yielded to his, gliding with the delicate rhythm he developed. Standing in the rain, clothing saturated and sticking to my skin should have left me freezing but the current between us ignited a fire inside.
I didn't want control if this is what it felt like when he had it.
After what seemed like forever and no time at all, he narrowly withdrew, face still inches from mine. We scanned each other's faces. His thumb brushed my cheek and he closed his eyes, letting his forehead rest against mine. I felt the odd urge to thank him.
"Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer." He said with ragged breath.
"No, you could've." I replied with a smile.
He gave an exasperated laugh, "God, you're a pain in the ass."
I laughed too before saying "I'm glad you didn't." Then planted a kiss on his lips, letting them linger for a moment before pulling away. Like a long match that had been lit and burned halfway, I felt myself crackle inside. The effect of his kiss reverberated throughout my whole body.
"We should get out of the rain." He said before grabbing my hand, "Come on, I parked over here."
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AHHHHH I hope y'all enjoyed their first kiss lol. I thought of dragging it out a little longer but I honestly couldn't wait. I know this chapter is a little short, but I'm trying to balance life things with writing so I hope you don't mind. <3
Votes help me to know if you like the story or not, but also if you've read this far I just want to say thank you because that means something too!! I didn't expect anyone to read this (even though I really wanted it bc I couldn't be alone with my idea of Pedro anymore lol) so thank you a thousand times.
I'll try to upload the next chapter this weekend!