Page 236 of Seasons of Love
"Tiago, I am falling for you."
He exhaled like he was releasing all the tension in his body. The tears making his eyes shiny fell down his cheeks.
I removed his glasses and put them in the pocket of my sweats. He shook his head lightly like he didn't quite believe what I was saying.
"You can't, Vítor. Not me."
"Why, baby?"
"Because I'm going to hurt you."
I finally pulled him into my arms and felt him sob against my chest. I rubbed my hand up and down his back to calm him.
"Tiago, I never thought I'd feel this way about anyone again, and I'm still trying to figure it out because it's so much of the same I felt for Dri but also so different. I knew I was falling for you, but I didn't know how deep in I already was until my son pointed it out to me. I'm tired of denying it."
His hold around my waist tightened. I put my hand on his chin to make him look at me again.
"If you feel for me even a fraction of what I feel for you, please let's work this out together. Don't go."
"I feel it, Vítor. I feel it."
I didn't need to keep looking at his beautiful face, because I'd already mapped it during the few times I'd had him asleep in my arms, or when he didn't realize I was looking at him. I closed my eyes and placed kisses all over his face, licking the tears clean and using my lips to feel my way around the curves of his face.
"Vítor," he whispered.
"Yes, baby."
"Will you take me to see Rodrigo?"
The request came as a surprise, and for a moment, I wasn't sure how to reply, but Tiago had been nothing short of considerate and attentive whenever I mentioned Dri. Whatever his reasons were to want to see him, I realized I was happy to let him.
"I would love to."
When the oven dinged, I went over to the kitchen to finish up dinner while Tiago took his stuff back to the room. He wouldn't need to unpack as such since we were going back tomorrow.
The rest of the evening was quiet. I could tell Tiago was trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in his head, and I was patient enough to give him the time. I suspected he hadn't had many relationships in the past. Considering much of his focus was on his work and finding his brother, I would be surprised if there were many guys out there willing to take second or third place in his life. I would take whatever place he was willing to put me in.
After dinner, we settled on the sofa with him nestled against my chest, watching some reality show on TV about people's tattoo regrets. The longer we stayed in that position, the more relaxed he became until he was crying from laughing so much.
"Oh my god, that's horrendous. I'm not sure if he should sue the tattoo artist or if he deserves it for asking for that tattoo in the first place."
I tightened my arms around him and placed a kiss on his head. He looked up and smiled.
"What?" he asked.
"I like you like this."
"Like what?"
"Relaxed. Laughing. In my arms."
He turned around and pushed me so I was lying flat on the sofa. He rested his head on his hands on top of my chest.
"I like me in your arms, too."
I ran my hands through his hair, and he leaned into my touch. I wanted him like this all the time, and I wanted the underlying sadness caused by his missing brother to be gone.
"Can I ask you something?" he said. "This is probably really weird."
