Page 122 of All at Once

“You already are.” His Adam’s apple flexes as he bites down on his bottom lip. “Apenas puedo respirar cuando estoy tan cerca de ti.”

I don’t think he just complimented the iced coffee…

His eyes smile as he reveals, “I can barely breathe when I’m this close to you.”

I wonder if he can tell that I’m almost holding my breath, knowing that if I exhaled it the way that I want to, it would be a bit too inappropriate given the setting. “I can barely breathe when you speak Spanish, so I guess we’rebothin trouble,” I confess.

“I didn’t know that.” He tilts his head, smirking. “Whatelseare you not telling me?”

I glance down at his lips before looking into his eyes. “How do you say, ‘your eyes are disrespectful?’”

“Tus ojos son irrespetuosos,” he says with the same seductive expression as a second ago, while he draws small circles over my fingers.

As my breathing continues to spiral, I ask, “How do you say, ‘your touch is addicting?’”

“Tu toque es adictivo.” His voice gets noticeably deeper as the pressure of his finger over my hand increases.

“How do you say—”

“Stop making meblush?” he interrupts, taking a guess.

I pretend to look innocent. “Am I doing that?”

Extended eye contact after you’ve already kissed someone who you’rethisattracted to feels even more intense than before you kissed them. Which probably explains why I’m currently frozen in my chair, while still leaning toward him.

It’s then that I feel a cold breeze near my shoulder. I glance down and notice how the thin strap of my white sundress has dropped down my left arm. Before I have a chance to react, Luca tugs the soft fabric slowly up my skin, heat pouring all over as he rests it back against my collarbone. When he releases his index finger from under my strap, my entire chest fills with goosebumps.

“Maybe just alittle…,” he finally replies as he locks his eyes with mine again.

Oh I’mdefinitelythe one blushing now.

_________

After the festival, Luca brought some art supplies from their booth back over to his apartment. We decided to watch a movie, but in reality have been talking the whole time instead.

Halfway in, he leaves shortly before coming back to the couch with a guitar that resembles the one from the makeshift bonfire.

I eagerly sit up as he begins strumming the melody I thought I’d never get to hear from him.

He’s playing the opening cords of Laufey’s“Bewitched.” And it’s evenmoreethereal than I thought itwould sound.

My eyes are shut, while I move along with the melody. “That reminds me, I need to look over all your playlists before I leave.”

“That reminds me, I need to put a password on my phone,” Luca deadpans. When I open my eyes and glare at him, he chuckles. “I’m just joking, go for it.”

I immediately reach for his phone, my mouth dropping open in disbelief at the first song I notice on one of his playlists. But before I have a chance to comment on it, he stops playing, and looks at me with pure mischief in his eyes. “I have an idea. Come with me.” He reaches out to hold my hand as we put on our coats before leaving his apartment.

My heartbeat grows with anticipation of where we’re going, while we walk down the lit-up streets before stopping right outside a café that has an overwhelming number of lights covering the patio. Lights that vary in shapes and sizes, but have one common trait. They’re all sparkling enough to brighten theentirepavement.

“Wanna be my first?” Luca asks me.

Heat cuts right through the chill of night. “Your first what?” I almost whisper.

“The first person I slow dance with outside of a coffee shop,” he says, biting down on his smile.

An unexpected laugh erupts from my stomach as he walks up to a tiny beige table. “It’s the closest I could come up with on such short notice,” he says charmingly, while looking over his shoulder. “I’m just sorry that I couldn’t get you a gazebo. Maybe next time.”

“Are you kidding me?” My eyes widen. “This is perfect.”

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