Daring to Fall |18+|

13 | careful

NOVA

"How tall are you?"

"193cm."

"Oh," I muttered, finishing the last of my dessert.

Tall.

"And you?"

"I have no idea. I haven't checked since high school."

Even in my tallest pair of heels, Ramiro was still taller. It was intimidating, but how could I be intimidated by a man who furrowed his brows and stared down at me with a yearning I'd never seen before?

It was impossible to.

"Mm," he murmured, sliding his hand over my shoulder. "I'd say you're about 170 to 173. That's just my guess." Probably accurate, too.

I glanced over at Ramiro, already finding his eyes on me. We'd been sitting on my sofa—having a conversation about everything.

Well, not everything.

There were things he left out and I did too. He didn't need to know absolutely everything about me, right?

I listened to his deep, accented voice and nearly fell asleep to it. He spoke softly and calmly and I found it hard to stop myself from dosing off while he talked about his home country.

Spain.

He moved away nine years ago, but the accent lingered and I suddenly had the urge to dig out my forgotten Spanish textbook from school. There was a lot I learned about him.

Unbelievably, the university he attended was the same one I dropped out of. What were the fucking chances?

I leaned over, setting my dessert bowl on the glass table in the middle of my living room. Falling back, I was welcomed into Ramiro's hold when he draped an arm over my shoulder. I didn't mind it. No, not at all. I wished he had done it sooner.

Giving him a soft smile, I reminded myself that his phone might ring anytime soon to save me the disappointment.

He has a busy life.

Was I wasting my time with Ramiro? Was there even such a thing as time wasted?

"Is Ethan the only sibling you have?" he asked, his fingertips playing with the hair over my shoulder.

The sound of my brothers name almost sent me into fight mode. He'd been calling me for the past two hours. Ramiro didn't know. I had my phone in my room—on silent. I had sent a text telling him I'm out for the day and I'll talk later.

He was still calling.

Look at you. Blowing your brother off for Ramiro.

What have I turned into?

"Yeah," I said, fiddling with his fingers and trying to ignore the terrible ache between my thighs. "Do you have siblings?"

"A brother," he said. "He's in the first year of college."

"What's his name?" I asked, mindlessly stroking his hands and ignoring how fucking hard he was next to me. The sides of our thighs were touching. I had changed, and showered while Ramiro ordered my favourite dessert.

It was late, and the place had closed already but he had managed to get the cake I wanted with one phone call.

How?

My tongue traced over my bottom lip, tasting the cherry balm I had used. My legs were bare, and Ramiro's eyes stayed on my skin for a moment too long with a longing I had no problem reciprocating.