Death And Love Poems (2) Mafia Romance

14. It's the honesty

Roxana

We danced a bit longer arm in arm and with every dance I felt closer to him, more used to his scent and his touch.

People were cheering happily, dancing, drinking, and flirting. Everything felt so beautiful and stress-free, so normal and so delightful that it brought a tear to my eyes.

"Are you ok?" Thiago brushes a loose strand behind my ear.

"Yes, I am feeling actually... Really good," I whisper like a confession. "I missed dancing and you are a really good teacher. You made me figure out how this goes without saying a word."

"You noticed?" The smile illuminates his whole face.

"That all your moves were strategical and no hand placement was whatsoever a coincidence? Yeah, I did, but you weren't at all obvious, you are actually very smooth."

"Do you regret coming to this party?"

"Not so far. These last fifteen minutes were the most fun I had in a long while. Can we maybe talk a bit in private?"

"Sure." He takes my hand and leads me to a table further away from the dancing people.

"Do you want another drink?"

"No. One is enough. I didn't drink in a while."

"Oh, you are so sweet. A good girl through and through."

"Yeah. Until I'm not anymore," I answer a bit distracted, looking for Dani in the crowd.

"If the tone would be different I would accuse you of flirting with me. What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, just eyeing my brother. Can I trust you with something? But you have to swear to not tell anybody. I mean it and it's not a joke."

His eyes darken a little.

"Sure. You can trust me with anything. I was waiting for you to trust me."

"So... Uh, my brother seems to really have gotten attached to that boy Zeca. How are his parents?"

"What do you mean, how are his parents? Alive? Or so?" He looks genuinely confused by the question.

Oh, man. Common.

"No, more like, religios? Dunno'? Politically... Conservative?"

Thiago's mouth gaps open for a second and then he starts laughing wholeheartedly.

"Oh, meu deus. They like each other? As... Oh."

"Yeah. Don't tell anybody I told you, least of all to that boy or his parents or you will regret it."

"You are actually adorable when you are so deadly serious. What are you going to do if I misbehave, kill me?"

I feel literal death washing over my body for a few seconds before I manage to compose myself. Roxi, for fuck sake.

"Now tell me, are they?"

"No. They actually know Carlinhos is gay and don't mind, so relax."

"Who? I am talking about that boy over there that my brother looks at like at a movie star. I thought his name is Zeca."

"Yup. Zeca is a nickname. His full name is Jose Carlos but it's a bit old fashioned so he goes by Ze-Ca."

"Oh. I would never have guessed that."

He laughs again and it's sweet. I think I like him after all; I like talking to him, I like having a friend.

"Is Thiago short for something?"