Page 222 of Seasons of Love
"I know."
He looked at me, surprise written all over his face.
"I'm here for the company," I said.
A small blush appeared under the collar of his shirt. I wanted nothing more than to kiss that neck and see how far down the shade of pink went.
It was becoming harder and harder to deny my attraction to Tiago, and it would only be a matter of time until I did something about it.
The Vasco Da Gama Bridge in my line of sight reminded me of the wise words Sebastião left me with. There was nothing stopping me from visiting the old side of the bridge while I figured out why I was so attracted to the new side.
Tiago's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Vítor?"
"Yes?"
"When was the last time you went to the zoo?"
10
TIAGO
As I crossed the bridge over the river Tagus on the way to pick up Filipe for our day out at the zoo, the only thing on my mind was what I'd been thinking when I'd asked Vítor about the zoo yesterday over dinner.
"God, I think my last time there was on a school trip. Amélia Sousa pulled me into the spider house and tried to kiss me," he'd replied.
"What happened?"
"I threw up on her."
"I take it you weren't into girls even then."
"Girls were fine. It was the spiders I didn't like."
I couldn't help my laughter. "So, you're saying Amélia would have been lucky if she'd taken you to the butterfly house instead?"
"She never had a chance to find out." He'd winked.
"I promise I won't make you go into the spider house."
"How about the butterfly house?"
"What?" I'd choked. He'd had his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his hands, and all I could think was how much I'd wanted to lick that fucking dimple.
"Will you take me into the butterfly house?"
"Oh, er, yes… if you want." And that had been when I'd tripped over myself explaining it was a day out with Filipe, but yes, if he wanted, we could go into all the houses, including the reptiles. Vítor simply smiled and said he would love to join us on our adventure to the zoo.
Before I rang the bell for Bruno's apartment, I saw Filipe running down the stairs with his little backpack on and his Superman doll in his hand. He struggled to open the front door to the building, but Bruno was right behind him to help.
"Uncle Tiago, I'm ready to go."
"He's been up since six," Bruno said. "Wouldn't even sit down long enough to eat his cereal."
"Come on," Filipe said, taking my hand and dragging me toward the car.
I laughed and followed him. Bruno was working this morning, but he was going to join us at the zoo after lunch.
