Page 82 of Yours, Finally

Rather than letting me go, he followed, and we ended up rolling in bed. Now on top of me, he kissed me.

"I'll show you more music soon," he said. "I promise."

"Good. I don't mean to pressure you with the music thing, but knowing there's music you wrote about me? I can't wait for that look into your brain."

He hadn't stopped smiling, and his lips softened at my words.

He gazed at me with adoration. "A look into my heart, you mean."

My own heart skipped a beat, and the weight of him and everything we shared in that moment had me feeling light and at peace, for some reason.

"Yeah." I put my hands on his face. "Your heart seems like a good place to go into."

And we smiled, and we kissed, and we ended up embracing each other again. A hug like those I'd craved for years, lastingenough it taught something to my body. Having sex seemed different in that moment, and we did it slowly, taking every second in.

When we returned home the next day, we did so full of memories.

My heart in particular, it had a new rhythm.

It was music of its own.

Chapter 24

Jake

Coming back home andto sleeping apart from Vi hurt more than I imagined. After so long being used to gazing at her from the sidelines, the weekend together had spoiled me rotten. Only two nights later, I hated how empty my bed felt, and how little I had been able to see her. Hold her. Kiss her. Distance felt like a limb had been torn and hidden from me.

Rather than keeping Vi close, we hadn't had a chance to do more than a quick wave in passing at the office. Going to her parents' now for dinner was our first chance to spend a few minutes side-by-side.

Judging by the way her leg entwined with mine under the table, she had missed me, too. The patch of skin where wetouched felt good enough that I didn't mind taking the risk. No one would see under the table, anyway.

"Your trip—" Tío Raúl mentioned in Gabe's direction. "It's this weekend, right?"

"Yes. Mexico City first, then Bogotá. I'll be gone all of next week."

We had a casual family dinner at the kitchen breakfast nook, the four Sotomayors plus Lina and I. The meal consisted of a batch of humitas that Tía Sonia had defrosted for the evening, plus a simple tomato salad to go with it. The Chilean version of tamales and the red fruit were a traditional combination.

"Let's not talk about work." Tía Sonia took her empty wine glass. "We ran out of wine."

"It's not all work," Gabe said. "I'm leaving on Friday to make the most out of the weekend. That is for fun."

I got up. "I'll go get more wine from downstairs. You want more red, Tía?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

I nodded at her, exchanged a quick, innocent look with Vi, and made my way to the basement.

The house didn't have as big a wine cellar as the family could afford; the small room was tucked under the stairs in a structure of black metal and glass. The built-ins were made of dark wood, warming up the space. Two thirds of the nooks and specialty shelves were packed with bottles, and I perused among them to find one Tía Sonia might like.

Steps down the stairs alerted me I wasn't alone. Seeing legs I had had on my shoulders a few days earlier put an instant smile on my face.

Vi came into the room with a grin wide enough to dim every other source of light. My insides weakened just like my knees at the sight, but I had to firm up. Vi strode to me with arms open and clear signs that she planned to jump me.

I opened my arms and received her in them, offering my body as a harbor.

The kiss she gave me erased the wine cellar from my mind, the entire foundations of the house we were in. The family on the floor above, and the distance we'd endured over the past couple of days. Her mouth on me was everything. Even my arms around her, they existed only as an extension of our mouths together.

It wasn't a conscious decision to turn us and press her to the only flat wall in the room. Pushing my body into hers and savoring the contact was nothing more than an effort to gain territory in her body— our lips, my arms around her, the softness of her breasts and belly and legs against mine. A shifting map of the lands we shared.