It's Always Been You..

Part Four

It was a beautiful summer afternoon. The sun was starting to set behind the mountains and the temperature was starting to drop. It was that perfect hour where it's not too hot or too cold and it's not too bright nor too dark. My mom stepped out through the sliding doors that lead from the living room out onto the back yard with a pitcher of lemonade and some cups.

"You girls look like you need a water break!" She said loudly.

"Oh thanks ma! We were just talking about how thirsty we were." I replied

"Denise, Ally, Diana, Chloe; come get some lemonade! I don't want you all getting dehydrated!" My mom added.

My parents had put in a soccer field in our back yard a couple years back so Danny and I could keep practicing during breaks; so about once a week, the girls from my soccer team and I would get together at my house to play. Denise and Chloe had already graduated but they were going to play soccer in college so they kept playing with us. Not to mention we were all really good friends so it was a good way to keep in touch during brake.

"Brie, your passes and your kicks are getting super strong. What's Susana feeding you?" Denise asked playfully.

"It's that new trainer she has. Chris right? He's sooo hot!" Chloe pitched in.

"Not as hot as your brother though.." Diana commented.

"Sounds like Diana wants to become part of the Lagos family!" Denise teased.

All of a sudden a deep voice interrupted our giggles:

"The teams look uneven. Is anyone looking for a midfielder?"

I turned around and saw my brother standing at the doorway still in his suit from work.

"Danny!" I ran to my brother and gave him a big hug. "I miss you! I hardly ever see you around here." I added

"I know, I was able to get off work early today and I saw that you guys needed my skills so I thought 'why not?!'" He said playfully.

Denise walked up to Danny and gave him a quick hug before saying "Hey Danny! You know, I think Diana could really use your help. She's trying out for midfield this year and she's not completely comfortable with the position yet. Isn't that right Diana?"
I could see Diana melting at the sight of my brother. It's a little awkward when a good friend of yours is head over heels for your sibling....

I wonder if that's how Gelo feels....
My brother's voice interrupted my thoughts "well I could definitely give you some pointers, let me just run upstairs to change really quick." Danny said before he went back into the house.

10 minutes and a lot of teasing later Danny found his way back out onto the field.

"Okay whose team am I on?" He asked opening his arms in wander.

"You're on mine and Diana's team bro, make sure you teach her really good." I winked at my brother, then I turned to my friend just in time to see her blushing.

We played for a good 30 minutes before we decided we wanted to get in the pool.

"We're going upstairs to change into our bathing suits." I announced to the group referring to Denise and I.

As we were about to walk up the stairs I heard my mom say "C'mon in sweetie, she's outside!"

"Who is it mom?" I asked as I was walking down the entrance staircase; Denise following behind me. Before I could get to the bottom of the stairs I saw Zo standing by the door with flowers in his hand.

"Hey! Zo! What are you doing here? I thought you were flying to Chicago today?" I asked as I ran down the remaining steps and towards my man.

"I thought I'd surprise you." He replied looking down at me.

"We were about to get in the pool do you want to join us? Danny's here too!" I said.
"Umm sure, yeah baby. I'll join you all." Zo said in his cool voice.

"Gosh I'm so rude, I forgot to introduce you guys!" I said pointing back and forth between Zo and Denise. "This is my friend Denise, we play soccer together. Denise this is Zo, my....." I trailed off. I didn't know what we were and I didn't want to overstep by putting a label on on our relationship, but then he finished my sentence with:

"Boyfriend. I'm Brie's boyfriend. We've actually met already. We had a couple classes together last year." He looked down at me and smiled.

"Yeah! It's nice to see you again." Denise said in a friendly manner.

"Great! Let's go get into the pool then!" I chirped. Then I added, "Denise and I are going to change into bathing suits but Danny is out back, you can wait with him if you want."

"Yeah, I'll go say hi while you change.

Should I put these in the kitchen?" Zo asked referring to the flowers.

"Can you please? Thank you so much baby they're beautiful!" I replied with a smile plastered on my face.

"Sure, I'll be outside." He gave me a small peck on my lips which took me by surprise.
In these few weeks that Zo and I had been seeing each other, we hadn't kissed once; so it surprised me that it happened in such a casual way. The fact that he called himself my boyfriend also took me by surprise.

Wow, I had got more surprises in the past hour than in the whole year.

We eventually made our way into the pool after we had changed. We were all having a great time swimming and talking. Summer nights like this make me appreciate the people I have in my life. A couple hours later the girls left, leaving Danny, Zo and I alone in the backyard.

"So I get busy with work and when I come back my sister and my almost brother are dating?" Danny asked breaking the silence.
"Aye man, sorry I didn't say anything before, it happened kind of fast." Zo offered.

"Don't worry bro, just be careful with her. You and I are like brothers but she's my baby sister, man. If anything happens to her, you and I are going to have problems." Danny replied in a very serious tone.

"Got it, dude. You don't have to worry about that." Zo replied.

"Alright, I have an early morning tomorrow so I better go to bed now. Have a good night lovebirds." Danny replied with a playful smile.

And before I could count to three he was gone. Zo and I got out of the pool too and sat on the grass.

"Thanks for the surprises." I said breaking the silence.

"Of course, baby. I missed you so much I couldn't wait until the weekend to see you.." Zo said in his sexy voice

"So.... you're my boyfriend?" I asked making things a little awkward.

"Do you want me to be?" He asked cautiously.

"Is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?" I replied with a giggle.

"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry, Brie. This is not how I wanted to ask you but I can't wait any longer. I want everyone to know you're mine and I'm sorry I didn't ask you first before telling Denise I just... I just want everyone to know." Zo confessed.

I had a smile so big that the corners of my lips almost touched my ears. I had dreamed of this moment my whole life and it was finally happening. I was officially Zo's girlfriend.

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

"Of course, silly!" I responded and then I gave him a hug.

As we were letting go of each other, Zo held on to me a little longer. Our faces almost touching, staring right into each other's eyes. Before I knew it our lips were touching. Moving in perfect sync. This was the kiss I imagined and longed for. Yet something was missing. I brushed the thought away and let myself sink into his arms. There was no moment more perfect than this one: the beginning of my happily ever after.