"No."
Simón looked up from his piece of pizza and stared at Ámbar, the confusion clear on his face.
"What?"
"The answer to the question you've been trying to ask for days. No, we didn't. Matteo and I."
Oh.
Oohhh.
After their rather eventful movie date —Had that really happened? It seemed like a dream— Simón had been meaning to ask Ámbar just how far had things gone with Matteo. It wasn't out of some male ego thing though. It wasn't really jealousy either, although he had to admit he would've been if it had been the case. He just thought it was something important to take into consideration when (her words, not his) they actually... you know. Simón wanted to do right by Ámbar, and if she hadn't, in fact, done it before, it meant he'd have to be extra gentle.
You're already failing miserably at it, buddy.
He hadn't been exactly gentle the other day. He hadn't been rough either but, looking back, he had totally lost grasp of his self-control, his excitement too great to think about anything else. He didn't know he had it in him, but she seemed to have the power to drive him absolutely crazy.
Since then, he had been very conscious of reigning himself in. It'd taken some effort (seriously, how could a pair of lips be so tantalizing? It was so not fair), but it had worked, and now, two weeks later, they were just enjoying a quiet evening in the loft. Pedro had gone out with Delfi and Nico was running some errands so they've had all afternoon for themselves.
Ámbar had brought some books to study for a test while Simón worked on a new song for the band. He'd been worried about keeping the noise to the minimum, but Ámbar had told him she didn't mind. Indeed, just half an hour and many chords on the guitar later, he had discovered that her concentration was flawless. Her determination really was a force to be reckoned with. He admired her for that.
At some point, he had seen her shiver, but she didn't seem to notice how she was holding herself to keep warm. He carefully put down his guitar and took off his shirt, offering it to her. She looked up from her book and smiled, gladly putting it on.
"What is it with you and the cold?"
She playfully rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault the air conditioners of the world hate me."
"Actually, we don't own one, so..."
"Well, thankfully, I have you to keep me warm."
He smiled and leaned down to give her a sweet peck on the lips.
"That's my job, never forget it."
He had returned to his guitar and started playing new arrangements, not noticing how Ámbar brought his shirt close to her nose so she could sniff his scent. She held it as firmly around her body as she could, wanting to drown in the smell of him. For the rest of the hour, she smiled behind her book.
Simón offered to quiz her at some point (he wanted to feel useful) and Ámbar gladly agreed.
"If I get it right, what do I win?" She asked, smiling flirtatiously.
"Mmm well, let's see, what would you like?" He asked, loving this game.
She made a face like she was thinking very hard. "What about a kiss?"
He lifted his eyebrows. "A kiss? Hmm, I'll have to make those questions extra hard for you then because I'm not the type of guy who just gives kisses away, you know?"
He might as well had asked her what her name was because she nailed every single question without missing a beat.
Which meant a lot of kisses.
Was he complaining? Definitely not.
Eventually, Simón had ordered a pizza (divided into four parts, each with different ingredients so Ámbar could choose one) and served some sodas. They had talked and laughed. Everything had been so... simple. There were no awkward silences, conversation flowed easily and they felt so comfortable around each other that, sometimes, they didn't even need to talk at all.
Right now she was sitting on his bed, where she had spent the last few minutes polishing her fingernails. Simón was sitting on the wooden armchair in front of her, finishing the pizza. That's when she had spoken, breaking the comfortable silence.
The sudden topic had sent him reeling. Yes, he had been meaning to ask, but he didn't think she'd be the one to bring it up. Had he been that obvious? Well, Ámbar was very observant, so he guessed he should've known.
She must have taken his silence as her cue to continue because she kept explaining.
"Matteo and I... we never really had that kind of relationship. It was more about mutual convenience than real feelings. It doesn't mean that we didn't care about each other— we did. He was like the only person in my life that knew that my life was not quite as perfect as I wanted everyone to believe. We trusted each other in some way. ... And of course, there was physical attraction, so that didn't hurt either."
Simón remembered the kisses he witnessed between them the past year and clenched his jaw.
"Yeah, that was evident."
Ámbar just gave him a look and held his left hand between hers.
"With Matteo there was attraction, yes. But it wasn't even near to what I feel for you, Simón."
A smile grew on his lips at that.
"With you, it's different. It's like you don't even need to touch me to make my heart jump. Sometimes, I just hear your voice from far away and my hands start sweating." She laughed, sounding stupid to her own ears, but to Simón it meant the world.
They smiled at each other for a moment longer and then Ámbar let go of his hand. She returned hers to her lap and looked at him attentively.
"Okay, now you tell me."
He blinked. "Tell you what?"
She rolled her eyes. "Your past experiences. Have you...?" She left the question hanging, but the meaning was implicit.
Oh.
Right.
He didn't know why he hadn't guessed she'd ask that, it was only fair after all.
Kind of embarrassed, he just shook his head no.
"Really?"
"Does that surprise you?"
"I mean... It's just, you're older and, I don't know how girls are like back in Mexico but, I thought maybe in your high school years..."
Simón just scratched his neck nervously.
"... Are you disappointed? Would you have preferred for me to have more experience?"
Ámbar's eyes widened. "No! Not at all! Don't be silly, I could never be disappointed in you. It's just, after the other day, I... thought maybe you had."
They averted their gazes, pretty much blushing. The memory of their rendezvous was still fresh in their minds.
"That was... Actually, that was the first time I ever got that far, believe it or not," he said.
"You didn't date any girls back in Mexico?"
"No, I did. There were a few but it was never too serious. Pretty much just school crushes, not like real dating. In some cases, we would go out, smooch a little, but after a while, we'd go on separate ways. I guess I just never felt that with any of them, you know? ...Then the whole Luna thing happened and I realized maybe I'd never been that into those other girls before because I had been in love with her all along and... Well, we all know how that ended. We kissed only once, she couldn't see me as more than a friend."
She nodded her head, processing the information.
"So... What do you mean with 'a few' exactly?" She asked, a little jealous glint in her eyes.
"... Two in middle school, one in high school."
She snorted. "So just three? You made it sound like it was way more!"
"Hey, a guy has to protect his reputation!"
"What reputation? You're like the human embodiment of a teddy bear!" She laughed.
"Oh really?"
Simón got closer to her, invading her personal space to the point of making it non-existent. She instinctively leaned her body back, so he was now towering dangerously on top of her.
"So you're telling me I have no sex appeal whatsoever."
"Nope," she said, feigning indifference, but the closeness was already affecting her.
"So, if I do this..." He leaned in and slowly caressed her lips with his own. "... you feel nothing at all."
"Mhmm."
"You sure?" He whispered against her lips, his voice low, his hot breath mixing with her own.
"Y-yeah, definitely."
"What about this?"
He started slowly kissing down her neck, knowingly licking and nibbling on the spot he knew was the most sensitive.
Ámbar tried not to tremble.
"N-no..."
Simón nuzzled her neck with the tip of his nose, light brushes that sent shivers through her system.
"Hmm... then what if I do... THIS!"
Next thing she knew, Simón was tickling her, making her bend over in laughter.
"N-NO, SIMÓN, STO-OP, STOOPP."
"SAY I'M NOT A TEDDY BEAR."
"Y-YOU ARE NOT A TE-EDDY BEAR!"
"Okay, now say I'm hot."
"SIMÓN!"
"SAY IT!"
"YOU-YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"
"Ups, wrong word," he said, and went for the spot he knew was the most ticklish, making her laugh even harder. She was crying by this point. Her stomach hurt.
"OKAY OKAY. YOU'RE HOT, STOP!" She begged.
Simón finally halted his attack, his hands leaving her and, instead, falling on either side of her body. He looked at her mockingly.
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Ámbar was trying to calm her breathing back to normal. "I h-hate you."
He smiled. "No, you don't."
Finally, her gasping stopped and her body relaxed. She became aware of the fact that she was lying on her back with him towering over her on the bed. His bed. She looked up at him. Suddenly, it was like being out of breath again.
"No, I don't," she whispered.
The air became charged. The amusement in Simón's eyes disappeared, replaced by something else, something more. Their eyes locked, and without words, they both leaned in at the same time.
The moment their lips touched, a spark shot through their bodies. It was just a caress, lips applying the smallest of pressure and then letting go, but it was enough to get them wanting more. It left their lips tingling, their nerve endings waking in anticipation. They leaned in again, kissing harder, holding onto each other tighter. Ámbar's hands went to his hair and her fingers threaded through it, pushing him closer. Simón wrapped his arms around her, pressing her flush against him.
What started delicate soon turned faster, passion taking over. Their tongues found each other and started moving in synch. Ámbar felt warm all over, getting lost in the feeling of his tongue caressing hers. She started taking off the shirt that he had lend, her but he stopped her hands.
"No, don't," he said against her lips, his voice ragged and a little breathless. "I love how you look wearing my clothes."
"Really?" She hummed. It seemed like a possessive gesture, a trait she didn't know he had. She liked it. "Okay then," she whispered and dived in again, claiming his lips as her own.
Ámbar ran her hands down his shoulders and all over his back, grabbing handfuls of the fabric of his t-shirt and pulling him as close as possible. He wasn't the only one possessive.
Simón ran the tip of his tongue through her lips, slowly before reentering her mouth, making a shiver run down her spine and a moan escape her lips. It always surprised her how passionate he could be, how easily he could make her melt. Of course she had seen his passion for music, but when they were together it was another kind of passion entirely. It was fire, he made her weak on the knees and got her curling her toes.
She was used to be the one with the initiative, the one in control, but with Simón it was different. He somehow always took over, making her putty in his hands. It scared her and thrilled her all the same due to the newness of it all, but the more time she spent with him the more she trusted that she could let herself jump: He would definitely catch her.
Simón was sliding his hands up and down her sides as he kissed her with abandon. He just couldn't get enough of her lips, of the heat of her mouth and her taste, of the way she was holding onto him like she needed an anchor to the world in order not to lose her mind. He felt the same way— Everything felt so good it was like it was a drug. Like he was high on her.
If she was his drug, he'd gladly be using for the rest of his life.
He may had told her to keep the shirt on but he still craved to feel her skin, so he slid his hands under her shirt, marveling with its softness, tracing the curve of her waist. She returned the favor by sliding her own hands under his t-shirt. Her fingers roamed the skin of his back, from his shoulder blades to the waistband of his jeans and back up.
Simón's brain was shutting down. He didn't even know what he was doing anymore, only that he never wanted this moment to end. Judging by how hard she was pressing up to him and how her nails were digging onto his back, he could tell Ámbar felt the same way.
Yeah, they really should stay like this fore—
"Hiiii, we are back. We brought you guys some— OH GOD, REALLY?"
Both sprung apart at the sound of Nico's voice, kinda disoriented. Simón looked back, over his shoulder. Nico and Pedro were standing by the door, looking at them with wide eyes. He turned back around, resting his forehead on Ámbar's shoulder and cursed under his breath.
"This really needs to stop happening," he said, making Ámbar laugh regardless of the situation.
"Guys, for god's sake, if you're gonna do stuff like this, just lock the door or something, we have no interest in watching," Pedro said, covering his eyes in an exaggerated way.
"Or, at the very least, cover yourselves. Have you no shame?" Nico added in a reprimanding tone but it was obvious he was trying not to laugh.
Both sat up quickly, Simón facing the guys and Ámbar hiding her face on his shoulder, embarrassed.
"We weren't doing anything!" He said, rolling his eyes. At least not what they thought. "And why are you here so early anyway?"
Pedro looked at him like he had grown two heads. "It's nine pm."
Simón blinked. "Really?" It'd been that long? Wow.
"Yes, really. Now, come on, I bought some pies at the shop next to Delfi's," Pedro said, showing the bags on his hands and moving towards the table along with Nico. "Although, I think you're probably more in need of a good drink. You know, to clench all that thirst."
Simón threw a cushion at him.
Ámbar's palms went up to cover her face.
While the guys arranged the table for dinner, Simón turned and grabbed Ámbar's hands, uncovering her blushing cheeks. They looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. It was a nervous giggle, but also a happy one.
"Let's go?" He asked. She nodded and he took her left hand in his, pulling her along with him.
They all sat at the table and enjoyed the pastries. Simón sent death glares at the guys, daring them to say anything else. They complied and kept their comments to themselves for Ámbar's sake, the conversation going to safe topics instead, but the minute she was gone, the teasing would be back full force, he just knew it. And god if he didn't already have enough with Luna's.
Just the other day, he had seen her at the Roller and said hi like usual. She'd quickly stopped and done a double-take, like she hadn't seen him there.
"Oh my god, Simón, I didn't recognize you with your t-shirt on!"
He made a face at her. "Ha. Ha. HA."
And that was only one of the many. How he always ended up in these situations, he didn't know.
It didn't matter though. It was totally worth it.
Through dinner, he and Ámbar exchanged looks. They'd been interrupted in quite a heated make-out session and Simón couldn't help but wonder if it would've gone further had the guys not arrived. By the look on her face, he could tell she was thinking the same thing, but neither was really shaken or disappointed by it all.
There'd be other moments, this was only the beginning. No need to rush into things.
They had all the time in the world.
...
..
.