This was different than their official introduction to each other though; that had taken place somewhere a dozen other families had entered and walked out from. This was Asa’s home. The San Román home.
This was another level of intimacy that had Carmen’s stomach swamped with butterflies.
The door swung open just as she was about to knock it.
“Hey.” Asa grinned, the rays of the setting sun slanting across his eyes in just the right angle and making Carmen forget how to breathe for three whole seconds.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I didn’t even knock yet.”
His excited grin softened, turning almost sheepish. “I was waiting for you.”
“Oh,” Carmen mumbled, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
Asa snorted and shoved her forehead with his palm, making her stumble backwards a few steps. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was crossing the hall when I heard a car pull up. Figured it was you being dropped off.”
The smile dropped from Carmen’s face and she shot him a dirty look, before tiptoeing and attempting to look past his broad shoulders. “Why are you at the door?” she grumbled. “Isn’t there somebody else in the house who can welcome me better?”
“Don’t be silly.” Asa scoffed, that devilish grin on his face only widening further, before his arm suddenly shot out and grabbed Carmen by the waist, pulling her into the house and kicking the door shut. “Besides,” —his voice dropped to a low murmur as he dipped his head down and pressed her against the door— “who else in this house can give you a better welcome than this?” His lips found hers for one heart-stopping moment, the hand he had on her waist tightening its grip and squeezing her hip slightly.
“Your parents are here.” Carmen’s words were breathless as she uttered them against his mouth.
Asa hummed in response, brushing his lips against hers. “All the more reason to do this now.” He kissed her again. “You know, considering they’re going to be there all throughout dinner, and I’m going to have to keep my hands to myself.”
“You’re such a pervert sometimes.” Carmen sighed, a smile forming on her lips.
“You love me, anyway.”
“You know I do.”
Asa’s grin dissipated, a gentle smile crawling across his face instead. “I never get tired of hearing you say it though. And you tell me you love me at least thrice every single day.”
“Good,” —Carmen raised herself on her toes and kissed him on the jaw— “because I’m probably never going to stop.”
Asa lifted a hand, trailed a calloused thumb along the curve of her eyebrow, never taking off his intense gaze from her. “I can’t wait ’till dinner is done, and I get to have you all to myself.”
Something exploded in Carmen’s chest, gut—everywhere. She ignored the heat flooding through her and stepped away, knowing that if they didn’t force themselves to move, they’d remain glued to each other against the front door all night long.
“Come on.” Carmen tugged at his hand. “The sooner we get dinner over with, the sooner you get to have me all to yourself.”
“I like the sound of that.” That impish grin was back on Asa’s face, setting off little fireworks in the pit of Carmen’s stomach.
“Of course, you do,” she replied with a good-natured roll of her eyes, slapping him on the chest.
“Por dios!” a woman’s voice rang out from somewhere in the house. “Would you bring her in already?”
Asa’s and Carmen’s laughter dissolved into one another’s, the massive grins on their faces never fading and making their cheeks hurt in the best way possible.
“Come on.” Asa laced his fingers through hers, starting to walk forward when he noticed the small paper bag in her other hand. “What’s that?”
“Seeds,” Carmen answered.
Asa stopped in his tracks. “Seeds?”
“Mhmm.” she nodded. “I need to bring something, right? This is the first time I’m coming to your place. I mean, the first time I’m here when your parents haven’t gone out on their date nights or something.”
Asa cocked his head to the side, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Aren’t flowers the normal thing to bring?”
Carmen shrugged. “You would’ve put them in a vase and watched them die in a matter of days. After which you’d need to get rid of them.” She held up her hand with the brown bag and shook it gently. “I don’t want to give you something that dies.”
A beat passed, but Asa seemed to be at a loss for words.
“Um, I mean…” Carmen waved her hand in the air. “You already have a well-maintained garden. These would just be an addition. And they’ll keep growing.”
She couldn’t read Asa’s eyes again; there were too many emotions flying through them. Too many. Carmen wondered if he himself knew how to distinguish all that he was feeling from each other.
“I love you so much,” he whispered, tilting his head ever so slightly as if he was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was indeed real.
“I love you too, Asa.” She gave his hand one gentle tug, and then they were walking towards the living room together, fingers intertwined and their steps in sync with each other’s.
Always towards Asa.
But maybe Carmen needed to amend those words. Maybe it needed to be always besides Asa.
•••
Dinner had been pleasant. More than pleasant, in fact.
Asa thought it’d probably been one of the best nights of his life yet, all because of nothing but the mere simplicity of it. Another infinity added to the list of other infinites he’d been experiencing ever since Carmen West had walked into his life with her midnight hair and thundercloud eyes.
His eyes landed on her, watching as she laughed with his parents as they told her about something embarrassing
