Ever since the birth of her daughter Bella, Ximena Perez has wanted absolutely nothing to do with love. Being abandoned by the father of her daughter has left her with no interest in ever finding love again.
When Juan Luis, aka Maluma to the rest o...
"How was she last night?" I ask my Mom on the phone the next morning. I had talked with Bella the night before, but not for long before she had to go to sleep.
"She was great." my mom nods.
"Is grandma telling the truth?" I ask Bella who's sitting next to her, coloring away on her coloring book.
She nods, not paying me much attention. At least she's not missing me too much. "Told you."
As I'm about to respond back, Juan comes into the room. "Breakfast just got dropped off." he says.
"Juan?" Bella looks up quickly, and I laugh a little.
"Do you wanna talk to him?" I ask her.
Juan looks nervous when she says yes, she does want to talk to him. He comes over to my side of the bed, taking a seat next to me. I pass the phone to him, and he smiles, seeing that Bella also has a hold of the phone now. "Hey, Bella." he waves. She waves back with a bubbly laugh, her face way too close to the camera.
Juan has hung out with Bella and I a handful of times by now, he was with me the night before we left for this trip, and watched movies with her while I packed. He and her have formed a cute friendship, and Bella is constantly asking for him.
"We'll talk to you later, baby, okay?" I say, taking the phone from Juan. "Pass the phone to grandma. I love you." I say goodbye to my mom as well, and then walk out to the backyard with Juan.
- - - -
"That's hot." Juan nods as I snap a picture of myself taking a sip of my beer.
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I laugh lightly, looking up at him. "Yeah?" I ask, looking at the picture. "Come take some with me." I motion for him to scoot in closer to me.
His face pops up on the screen, and he smiles quickly as I snap a few pictures. He takes my face in his hands, kissing me roughly, and I know it makes for cute pictures. I put my phone down on the table, and we kiss for a few more moments, his hands tangling themselves in my hair.
"You have my whole heart." Juan nods, pulling away from our kiss, his eyes still closed. "I hope you know that."
I don't know if that's the most horrifying thing I've ever heard or the sweetest. Maybe a little bit of both. "Is this your way of saying you love me?" I joke, laughing nervously.
His eyes snap open. He stares at me for so long, I almost think he's going to say yes, he does love me. "No." he shakes his head hesitantly, and I can finally let out the breath I'd been holding in this entire time. "Not yet." he takes a sip of his beer. "You'll be the first to know when it happens."
"Same here." I laugh lightly.
He pauses. "So you're getting there?" when I give him a look of confusion, he chuckles.
