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I flick off the light, pulling the covers up and over me and Elise before pulling her against my side to nuzzle into her hair.

“I didn’t know you were learning Spanish,” I tell her, keeping my voice low and quiet. The walls are thin here, and I don’t want to keep my parents up.

Elise turns on her side, throwing an arm and a leg over my body. “I wanted to surprise you,” she admits, her voice sounding small and maybe a little embarrassed.

“Thank you, mi vida ,” I say, kissing the top of her head and squeezing her gently. “That means more to me than you know.”

Her voice sounds sleep-laden and thick. “It’s the least I can do to thank them for welcoming me into their home, and hopefully someday—” She pauses for a long beat, but I don’t rush her despite the way my heart is violently hammering in my chest. I wait, impatient as ever, for her to finally say what I hope she will.

“Hopefully they’ll welcome me into their family too. ”

Before I can get a word in edgeways, she adds, “I think that language is such an important and unique part of someone’s culture, and I want to share that with you and your family. I’m absolutely horrendous at the pronunciations of everything, but eventually I’ll get better.”

“Especially after a few more trips to Argentina,” I say, hoping that the insinuation will calm the nerves I feel vibrating through her.

She blows out a long breath, her tense muscles relaxing into me, and I know she’s starting to calm down. I love that we can both be vulnerable with each other despite how scared we sometimes are when it’s time to say the big things.

“Can you make a deal with me?” I ask, stroking her damp hair along her back before returning my fingers to her scalp to massage her roots, just how I’ve learned she likes. She starts to melt, her throat humming with a sound I can only describe as Elise’s version of a cat’s purr.

“Depends on the deal,” she says with an airy laugh.

“I’d like to start learning French. I know you don’t speak it often since your dad is really the only person around you who’s fluent, but I still think it’d be a way we could connect on another level.”

She reaches up, giving me an answering kiss on the cheek that warms my insides.

“And what’s the deal?” she asks.

“I’ll help you learn Spanish if you help me learn French,” I tell her, shifting my hand to massage the lobe of her ear.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she says, sighing dramatically. “I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, my lips simply do not want to make the proper sounds,” she whines.

“Don’t worry, mi vida. I know plenty of ways we can teach your lips what to do.”

She smacks my chest with a huff. The movement only makes my chest rumble with a laugh that I fight to suppress, knowing I’ll get smacked again if I let it out.

“Rude.” I can practically hear the eyeroll in her voice.

“I’m kidding, baby,” I say, planting a wet kiss on her cheek that she rubs at furiously. “Teach me something in French.”

She shifts again, lying on her back to stare up at the ceiling, effectively squashing my arm beneath her, but I’d be lying if I said I mind.

In the dark room, with nothing more than the light beneath the door from the hall to illuminate her movements, I see her tap her chin before peering up at me. “ Mon amour ,” she says just a second before I answer with, “My love.”

“Very good, student,” she says, swatting my thigh.

“French and Spanish are both considered romance languages. They’re descended from Vulgar Latin, so a lot of the basis for them is the same, which is probably why you’ve been able to pick Spanish up so quickly.”

“Not quick enough,” she grumbles.

“How long have you been trying to learn?” I ask.

“Letty has been teaching me here and there since we moved in together a few years ago, but it wasn’t until we started planning this trip that I asked her to take her lessons seriously.”

“Baby, that was two weeks ago,” I remind her. “Of course you’re going to suck at it.”

“Oh, so you admit I suck at it then, huh?” she asks, her tone all sass, and I fucking love it.

Yes, she’s absolutely terrible, but it’s adorable and the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.

“Oh, completely,” I say, and just as I’d expected, she rolls over on top of me, straddling my hips, and smacks my chest.

I reach out to grab her hand, placing it over my heart. Her bright, playful smile slips into an expression I’m sure I’m wearing too. One of awe that I get to be with her at all.

“We have a big day tomorrow, if you’re still up for swimming.”

She shifts her hand out from under mine, cupping my cheeks in her soft hands. “You’re asking if I want the opportunity to ogle you while you’re half naked?” she scoffs. “If so, the answer is always yes,” she finishes with a chuckle.

I pull her face to mine, swallowing her soft laughter, her plush lips moulding to mine as she deepens the kiss, sliding her hands into my hair and tugging at my scalp.

I slide the tip of my nose up the bridge of hers, leaving one last kiss between her brows. “Goodnight, mi vida. ”

“Goodnight, mon amour ,” she says, and I can see the smirk and little wink she gives me, even in the dark room.