Chapter Thirty-ThreeThe Way He Loved Me-Azul
1599 Words
I woke up slowly.
At first, I didn’t know where I was.
Then I felt the warmth beside me.
The familiar scent.
The arm wrapped around my waist.
And everything came rushing back.
My eyes opened.
Oh.
My God.
I immediately closed them again.
My face became hot.
Everything.
Everything from yesterday.
The first time I had told Enzo I loved him.
Our first kiss.
The way he had looked at me afterward.
The way he had carried me upstairs.
And the long, overwhelming night we had shared together.
I buried my face into the pillow.
I was sore.
Everywhere.
Not painfully.
Just…
Sore.
The kind of soreness that reminded me of how completely exhausted I had been by the time I finally fell asleep.
I could barely remember the last part of the night.
I remembered Enzo.
His voice.
His hands holding me.
His endless kisses.
His whispers.
His constant—
I love you.
I smiled into the pillow.
Enzo had been gentle with me.
He had been patient.
But as the night went on, I had discovered something about him.
He had energy.
So much energy.
Far more than I had.
I didn’t know where he got it from.
I had thought I was tired.
Then Enzo would look at me with those dark eyes, smile that shameless smile, and somehow find another way to make my heart race all over again.
He had a way of making me feel wanted without even trying.
And by the end of the night…
I had been completely drained.
I felt like a beautiful train had run over my entire body.
I wanted to laugh at the thought.
Instead, I groaned quietly.
My legs were not cooperating with me.
Not even a little.
I tried to move.
Bad idea.
I immediately stopped.
Enzo’s arm tightened around me.
His voice came from behind me, rough with sleep.
“Where are you going?”
I froze.
I turned my head.
He was looking at me.
His hair was messy.
His eyes were still heavy with sleep.
And somehow, even like that, he looked unfairly handsome.
I stared at him.
He smiled.
“There you are.”
I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled.
Then he leaned closer and kissed my forehead.
“Good morning, my life.”
I smiled.
He studied my face.
Then his expression softened.
He touched my cheek.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
He kissed me again.
This time, his lips brushed mine.
I immediately shook my head.
He stopped.
Then raised an eyebrow.
“Tired?”
I nodded.
Very quickly.
He laughed.
“Very tired?”
I reached for my tablet.
My fingers moved across the screen.
I am very tired.
He read it.
Then looked at me.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he started laughing.
I stared at him.
He pulled me closer.
“My life…”
He kissed my forehead.
“You are amazing.”
I narrowed my eyes.
He smiled.
“Every single bit of you is amazing.”
I immediately felt my face getting warm.
I looked away.
He gently turned my face back toward him.
“Don’t hide.”
I shook my head.
He laughed.
“You get shy so easily.”
I typed:
Because you talk too much.
He laughed harder.
“About you?”
I nodded.
“Of course I do.”
He looked at me with that expression again.
That expression that made me feel like I was something precious.
Something rare.
Something he couldn’t believe he had.
“You want to know what I was thinking about last night?”
I immediately shook my head.
He smiled.
“Too late.”
I covered my face with my hands.
He gently pulled them away.
“You’re beautiful.”
I shook my head.
“Beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Absolutely beautiful.”
I grabbed the tablet again.
You are shameless.
He laughed.
“I’ve always been shameless.”
I knew that.
I had always known that.
But this was different.
This wasn’t Enzo teasing me.
This wasn’t Enzo flirting with me just to make me blush.
This was something deeper.
The way he spoke about me…
It sounded almost like devotion.
Like he couldn’t understand how I existed and he had somehow been lucky enough to find me.
He brushed my hair away from my face.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“Your eyes.”
His thumb gently touched beneath one.
“I could stare at them for hours.”
Then he touched my cheek.
“Your face.”
He smiled.
“Your smile.”
I looked away again.
He gently brought my attention back to him.
“And your softness.”
My cheeks burned.
He smiled at my reaction.
“You’re so soft.”
I covered my face again.
He laughed quietly.
“My life.”
I peeked through my fingers.
He kissed my knuckles.
“I could spend the rest of my life telling you everything I love about you.”
I stared at him.
He wasn’t joking.
That was the part that affected me most.
He meant every word.
“You were so beautiful last night.”
My heart jumped.
I immediately reached for my tablet.
Enzo.
He laughed.
“What?”
I shook my head.
He kissed my cheek.
“You asked.”
I hadn’t.
But apparently, that didn’t matter.
He continued.
“I loved every moment with you.”
His voice became softer.
“I loved seeing you trust me.”
I looked at him.
“I loved holding you.”
Another kiss on my forehead.
“I loved being close to you.”
His fingers intertwined with mine.
“And I loved knowing that you were mine…”
He paused.
Then corrected himself.
“No.”
His eyes softened.
“That you chose me.”
Something inside my chest tightened.
That mattered.
More than I could explain.
He could have said mine.
And perhaps part of me knew exactly what he meant when he said it.
But you chose me…
That was different.
That made my heart ache.
Because I had chosen him.
I had.
Somewhere along the way, without realizing it, I had stopped being afraid of loving him.
And now there was no going back.
I loved this man.
Completely.
⸻
I tried to sit up.
Enzo immediately reached behind me.
“Slowly.”
I glared at him.
He smiled.
“What?”
I typed:
My legs don’t work.
He burst out laughing.
I hit his arm.
“Hey.”
He caught my hand.
“Don’t blame me.”
I stared at him.
He was still smiling.
Then he pulled me carefully against his chest.
“I’ll take care of you.”
I rested my head against him.
His fingers moved through my hair.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
The room was quiet.
Sunlight came through the curtains.
I could hear his heartbeat.
Steady.
Strong.
Safe.
And suddenly, I realized something.
Yesterday had changed everything.
Before yesterday, I had known Enzo loved me.
I had seen it in the way he protected me.
The way he looked at me.
The way he rebuilt my bakery.
The way he worried about my family.
The way he always wanted to know if I had eaten.
But last night…
I understood it differently.
I felt it.
In every kiss.
Every whispered I love you.
Every time he held me closer.
Every time he looked at me like I was something precious.
It wasn’t just desire.
It wasn’t just obsession.
It was love.
A love so enormous that sometimes I didn’t know what to do with it.
I looked up at him.
He looked down at me.
“What?”
I reached for my tablet.
I typed slowly.
I know now.
He frowned slightly.
“Know what?”
I looked into his eyes.
Then typed:
How much you love me.
He stared at the screen.
Then at me.
His expression softened completely.
He kissed my forehead.
“My beautiful life.”
I smiled.
He held me tighter.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of telling you.”
I looked at him.
“I love you.”
He kissed my hair.
“I love your eyes.”
A kiss on my forehead.
“I love your smile.”
A kiss on my cheek.
“I love your kindness.”
Another.
“I love your stubbornness.”
I frowned.
He laughed.
“I even love that.”
I smiled despite myself.
“I love everything that makes you Azul.”
I swallowed.
My eyes became warm.
He noticed.
Immediately.
“Hey.”
He touched my cheek.
“Don’t cry.”
I shook my head.
I wasn’t sad.
Not at all.
I simply didn’t know what it felt like to be loved this loudly.
I had spent so much of my life being quiet.
And now there was this man beside me who loved me loudly enough for both of us.
I leaned into him.
He wrapped his arms around me.
And for the first time, I understood something.
Maybe love didn’t always have to be frightening.
Maybe sometimes love could feel like waking up exhausted, sore, embarrassed, and completely happy…
Because the person beside you looked at you as if you were the most precious thing in the world.
And that person was Enzo.
My Enzo.
The man I had finally allowed myself to love.
And now that I knew how deeply he loved me…
I never wanted to forget it.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD