No More Wasting Time

Chapter 35

Diego's POV:

Hector ended up taking me to the aquarium so we could turn a sad day into a good one. He even got us passes to be able to feed some of the fish. I didn't completely forget the big challenge that laid ahead of us, but it was a nice distraction. We did have fun and shared some laughs. It was honestly quite nice, and on the drive home, we were able to sit in comfortable silence. He held my hand while he drove, and I could tell he was already showing confidence that we were going to last to reassure me. I didn't want to have doubts or worries, but they were still there in the back of my mind. A bunch of annoying 'what ifs.'

"You know, now that it's becoming well-known about us, would it be a bad idea to introduce me as your boyfriend to your mom formally?" Hector asked as soon as he parked the car. "Unless you don't want to."

"Really? You want to?"

"Of course I do. I'm in love with her son; she probably has a speech waiting for your boyfriend. Daniel might even want to give me a talk, you know, the whole 'I want him in by eight.'"

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips when hearing his words. Hector had a weird sense of humor, but it somehow always got to me. I noticed him staring at me and gave him a questioning look, a small nervous blush rushing to my cheeks. He gave me a small smile and cupped my cheek with one of his hands. He looked at me with such intensity it gave me goosebumps. However, it was a nice chilly feeling. It made me know just how deeply I feel for him, and with the looks he gives me, I know it's the same for him. 

"So, what do you say?"

I shivered lightly as his hand slowly lowered from my cheek to my neck, and I leaned in at the same time he began to. We've kissed before, but each kiss we had felt like the first one, full of passion. Each kiss gave me butterflies, and if I wasn't so entranced by him, I probably would have noticed the car that pulled up right behind us. I practically screamed when a knock on my window was made, and I almost didn't want to turn around. Hector was in clear view, and he gave an annoyed sigh and rolled down my window, giving me the signal that I wasn't about to die. Caden stood there with a grin, Max hanging under his arm.

"Sup, lovebirds. Are you guys coming in, or what? Too busy?"

"Caden, that's nasty," Max said and shrugged his arm off, opening my door and pulling me out. "We're going inside. Hurry up!"

Max led us inside, Caden following behind, and Hector rushing to catch up while locking the car. We entered to a cookie smelled house, and Max was automatically dragging us to the kitchen. My mom and Daniel were in there, feeding each other cookies with some music playing in the background. My mother was giggling, and Daniel was wiping off some crumbs from his mouth while having a big smile on his face. They both looked up when they heard us, and Caden mumbled a quiet 'ew' at the scene in front of us. 

"Hey, guys! You're back pretty early, actually. Everything go okay?"

"Yeah, mom. We arrived right when Max and Caden arrived."

"You two sure are getting along well," Daniel asked, obviously confused. "I remember when you two were constantly fighting."

"It wasn't easy, but I guess hanging out with him isn't too bad," Max joked and looked over at Caden who gave him a fake glare.

"Well, we still have one more thing to do. We only came back home to eat, but we should get going," Daniel said and looked at my mom, helping her off the seat. "We don't want to be late."

"Don't trash the place boys," my mom said and followed Daniel towards the door. "We'll be back a little late. Behave!"

We all said our goodbyes and watched the happy couple walk out of the house. Hector glanced at me and I shrugged, our plan of telling my mom going out the window. Caden released an obnoxiously loud yawn and opened up the fridge, grabbing one of the tubs of ice cream with two spoons. Max watched him with a raised eyebrow and even I was a bit confused on what he was doing.

"We'll be in my room! Grab the whipped cream, Max!" Caden yelled, already on his way to his room, leaving the rest of us standing in the kitchen.

Max released a grumble of annoyance but still went and grabbed the can of whipped cream. He ruffled my hair and mumbled a goodbye before following Caden. Hector chuckled and shook his head at the odd couple, looking over at me and giving me a wide smile.

"What do you want to do, love?"

"You know what I really want to do?" I asked, inching closer to Hector and watching as his wide smile turned to a mischievous grin. "I really, really, really. . ."

"Yeah?" he asked, wrapping his strong arms around my waist and pulling me completely against his chest.

I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down, so my lips grazed his ear, mumbling, "I want. . ."

"Yes?" he said, his hold tightening just a bit.

"To build my new puzzle," I said and got out of his hold, chuckling and running to my room.

"As long as it is more than 1500 pieces!" he yelled and ran after me.

He ran in right when I grabbed my pillow from my bed as protection, but he was still too quick. Hector grabbed my waist and made us fall back, his back landing against the bed, and I landed on his chest. After calming down from our laughs and catching our breaths, I really began to see our position. I was now on my knees, so I was straddling his lap, and he still stayed lying back but looking up at me with his beautiful eyes. The blush was quick to reach my cheeks, and I was embarrassed to move but embarrassed to stay in the position.

"So, where's the puzzle?" Hector asked, saving me from embarrassing myself even more. "Is it at least 2000 pieces? I love a good challenge."

"Yeah," I chuckled and carefully got up, letting him get up as well. "I actually think it's in Caden's room. We were supposed to work on it, but he gave up as soon as he saw how many pieces it was, and so we instead just watched a movie."

Hector laughed and stood up, walking over to my bookshelf and scanning the books. My bookshelf wasn't as big as Hector's, but I was still proud of it. Many of the books I have were recommendations from Hector, and those were the ones that were mostly taken care of. No one was allowed to touch my precious bookshelf unless it was Hector or my mother.

"Ah, Lolita. I gave you this one the last time Max had gone to see me, and you actually went with him. I remember being so shocked and happy when he told me you were coming. I immediately went to the bookstore and went to find the perfect book for you. It was hard because you were in your creepy, disturbing book phase," he laughed.

"Hey! While it was a bit disturbing, the book was intriguing. But, my favorite was this one," I said and pointed to one of my poetry books. "You put a bookmark in there and wrote what page number to go to first."

"Having A Coke With You," he said with a grin and grabbed the book, turning to the page that the bookmark was placed on. "And by the good words of Frank O'Hara, 'I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world.'"

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for sweet words," I said with a chuckle, and he laughed lightly, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him. 

"Then sweet words are what you shall hear for the rest of your life."

"Cheesy," I said but still leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

"Come on, I'll read some poetry to you," he said and led me to my bed.

We laid down and I comfortably snuggled into his strong chest, one of his arms wrapping me up close to him. I listened carefully as he spoke those sweet words of poetry, hearing the meaning of the words being spoken with the tone of his smooth voice. He spoke calmly and with such care. My eyes closed on their own, and the last thing I remembered him saying were the beautiful words of Christina Rossetti.

"'I loved you first: but afterwards your love, outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song.'"