Our feet touch next. Just a tentative exploration at first, and then another joining of limbs.

I can’t stand this tension any longer. I gently tug Diego toward me, and he doesn’t seem to need much more encouragement to partially roll on top of me, the pressure of his body on mine divine. With his free hand, he cups my left cheek and… He doesn’t kiss me. He teases my lips with his, never allowing them to stay in contact for long. Nibbling at me with his teeth, and kissing me everywhere—cheeks, jaw, neck—but on the mouth.

Just when I think I won’t be able to stand this sweet torture any longer, he finally gives in to my silent prayer. The kiss feels much more intimate than the one we shared this morning, but no less heated.

We make out for hours. And I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’re in my old room and have to be careful not to make too much noise or to keep the bed from squeaking, but I feel like a high school junior exploring boys for the first time.

Why don’t adults spend more time kissing? Once we discover the main act—sex—we forget everything that used to come before. How good it is to just kiss. How intimate. How soul-baring. But now I’m back to being sixteen, and kissing Diego is all I want to do tonight. I’m not sure if he feels the same way, because we don’t say a word to each other the entire time. But he never tries to go further than kissing, and a very chaste version of second base. In fact, every roaming of our hands on our bodies is strictly clothes-on, with no skin coming in contact except for our hands, feet, and lips.

We kiss, kiss, and kiss, until my lips are so swollen they hurt. Still, I wouldn’t want it to ever stop. But at one point my body seems to have expended all its energy. I let Diego’s mouth go and burrow my head in the nook between his neck and shoulder, wrapping my legs around his in a tight embrace. I fall asleep almost immediately.

***

For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I wake up happy on Christmas Day. I’m smiling even before I can remember why, which doesn’t take long considering I’m sleeping all over him.

“Hey.” I shyly lift my head to look at Diego.

He has his arms wrapped around me, and gently pushes a lock of hair away from my forehead to kiss me there. “Morning.”

I blush and hide my face back into his neck.

Last night, in the dark, it all seemed simple. But right now, I don’t know what to tell Diego. We kissed. Real, non-job-related kissing. What does it mean? Are we dating for real now? Am I still his boss? What the hell is happening to us?

“Last night was…” I start tentatively.

“I know.” Diego holds me closer and kisses my head again.