My fucking heart

Chapter 28

Ana

After hanging up, I placed my phone back on the table and quickly scurried to the stove to take care of the almost finished food. In the meanwhile, Raphael stood still in the middle of the room, silently waiting for my attention.

"Phew, I'm sorry Raphael, I'll be done in a second. I actually wanted to change, but..." as I spoke, I turned back to him to face him. I interrupted my own sentence because his look unsettled me. He was no longer playful like before when he wanted to tease me with his kisses and touches. Now he seemed cool, thoughtful, even upset. He just exuded a defensive demeanor, his eyes hard on me.

"... but something came up." I finished my sentence, still unsettled by his sudden change in mood. "Is everything okay?" I asked, turning my body completely towards him. Something's wrong.

"You're talking to Matt?" he asked, but it came out more like a statement. His voice deep, his glare fixed on me.

„Um, yeah," I began, not really knowing whether that was a good thing or not. His eyes still on me. "We discussed his problem with the rental agreement he asked me to help him with." I admitted openly. Shouldn't he, as owner of the company, be happy that his employers even work after working hours to achieve good quotes?

But even after my explanation his look didn't change. His dark eyes were on me. Quiet, dangerous. Well, he doesn't seem happy.

"Raphael, I..." I was about to try to explain the situation to him, but he interrupted me. „The rent agreement? Are your parents included in that? Or Matt's business trip to Tyrol?" he asked, his face expressionless. His voice sounded calm as he spoke slowly. Like the calm before the storm.

I looked up at him. So he obviously doesn't like Matt and I telling each other personal things. Over the past few weeks Matt and I have been in touch occasionally, but the main focus has always been on the contract. Throughout our regular calls, it automatically happens that you find out what the other person is up to or what's going on at this period of time. But that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

But as I studied Raphael's face and watched his body language - clenched fists, fierce expression, tense jaw - I knew it. He's jealous.

He didn't like the fact that Matt might know more personal stuff about me than he did. That I'm more comfortable around Matt, or even closer. Now, when I think back to our phone call, I somehow could understand that Raphael thought that Matt and I had become closer over the last weeks, but he doesn't know the real reason behind it.

I felt the need to explain to Raphael how this really developed. "Raphael," I started and looked him straight in the eyes. "I helped Matt with his case, which he had been on for weeks. Nothing else."

He didn't say anything, so I continued talking. "We've been in touch a lot lately because of professional reasons. By the time it just happened that we told each other about our surroundings and our plans. It's no big deal." My voice sounded calm. I'm honest with him and even if there was no reason to be jealous at all, I wanted to take away his insecurity.

„That's it, nothing more happened. If you wanted to know that too." I added. When I finished speaking, I noticed how he slowly became calmer. His shoulders relaxed a little and his facial expression changed as well. He didn't seem to be that upset anymore, but he didn't seem particularly happy either.

I think it was kinda cute how he was standing here in my small, modest apartment with his 1.90m height and dark appearance and was a bit recalcitrant because he thought another guy was closer to me than him. A big softy!

My lips formed into a slight grin. He looked at me, his face softening as he noticed. Without thinking about it, I moved towards him and closed the gap between us. I placed both of my hands on his cheeks and pulled him down for a kiss. A bold move of me, but what could be a better way to calm jealousy than giving the person your full attention and showing your affection towards them? Even when it still felt a bit odd to kiss a man just like that, I wanted to show him how close we were. I didn't do stuff like that with Matt.

He neither pushed me away nor disapproved my attempt to kiss him. Actually, it was quite the opposite, because he also placed both of his hands on my cheeks and didn't let me leave the spot, all while our lips have met in the halfway and caressed each other with sweet tenderness. It was a short kiss, but it was so passionate that it gave me an involuntary tingling feeling in my stomach.

When I pulled away from him, I looked up to his face, seeing a small smile on in again. His eyes radiated such warmth as he looked down at me, just as I like them. As if it was the most normal thing to do, he rested his forehead on mine while gently stroking my cheek with his finger. This small gesture alone hasn't been part of my life for such a long time that it touched my heart directly. I noticed how much I liked his gentle touch on me, which is why I gave myself to him even more, slightly snuggling into him.

Note to myself: physical touch is his love language.

"Alright." I spoke after we stayed like that for a short while. "The food is ready. I hope you're hungry." I announced and began to fill both of our plates.