Keep Me - Carlos Sainz

seven

Carlos' POV

She walked away, as if her statement wasn't the most depressing thing to ever leave a person's mouth. I silently followed, my brain somewhere else entirely. Part of me was relieved the comments weren't getting to her, but the other part of me was heartbroken. I didn't want to ruin the celebratory mood. Today was a special day for her. I wanted nothing more than for her to enjoy it. As Charles ranted about something or other, I gripped onto her hips from behind and pulled her into my chest. I pressed a soft kiss in her hair and whispered an apology. After checking out, we quickly made our way to my house. The car ride was silent, except for Charles' commentary and my hands were burning to hold hers. I let her know my parents were home, ready to greet me back from the race.

"Mama! Papa!" I called out, letting them know I was home. They came out, closely followed by my sisters. 

"Hola, hijo" My mother greeted, kissing me on the cheek. Meanwhile, Ana and Blanca hugged me from behind. My father gave me a hug and a pat on the back. I knew he was comforting me about yet another disappointing race. He knew I didn't want to talk about it, much less in front of my teammate, who is my main competition. 

"This is Noa" I introduced. "And you all know Charles" My mother immediately greeted Noa, giving her a hug, followed by my father and my sisters. 

"Nice to meet you!" My mother said, a soft smile on her face. "I hear congratulations are in order! Carlos told us about your new job"

"MUNDO is an excellent firm, you must be really talented" My father complimented and Noa's face broke out into a smile. "Now, we know who to call if we ever want to remodel" He joked. 

"Thank you" Noa smiled. I expected her to be a little shy, never having met them before, but she seemed to fit right in. They began talking about design and architecture, which made me check out, since I didn't really understand much. I tried to ignore the butterflies in my belly, seeing her interact with my family. My brain was yelling at me for being stupid, introducing her to my family so soon when in reality we were hardly just friends. But we haven't had that conversation yet and I wanted Noa to feel as celebrated as possible. I felt my sister's knowing eyes digging into the side of my face. 

"I'm going to bring the groceries in" I said, leaving Noa with my parents as they continued to discuss. Charles also seemed interested in the conversation, so he stayed too. My sisters followed me out to the car. 

"Noa?" Blanca teasingly said. "She seems nice" Nice. That was the bare minimum when it came to describing Noa. She was complicated, beautiful, smart and funny. She made me feel like a teenager again. I couldn't get enough of her. 

"Shut up" I sang back, smiling as I took some bags into my hands. 

"You like her" Ana declared and I scoffed "a lot." 

"Dejadme en paz" I exhaled, trying to ignore the feeling in my stomach. I knew I did, but I wasn't about to say it out loud. "We're just friends" I emphasized. 

"He thinks we're stupid" Blanca said, looking at Ana and I rolled my eyes. 

"Can you be annoying and help at the same time?" I spoke, handing them some of the bags. They giggled like children. When we walked back into the house, Noa was still talking to my parents. They were asking her about her family. 

"Carlos tells us you have a lot of family here in Spain" My father spoke. I knew he was seconds away from asking her about every single Spanish person she's ever met, trying to figure out if we knew someone in common. 

"Yes, my mother's family lives in San Sebastián, but I'm living with my grandmother who lives here in Madrid"

"Ahh, so you're Basque"He excitedly said.