Sitting on the sofa in front of the crackling fireplace, Erik held the children's book we had been reading hours earlier, 'The Secret of the Selkies', in his hands. I leaned against his side, using the flashlight from my phone to illuminate the pages as we were still without power.

"When the seal saw Aileen, it dove into the water and disappeared beneath the waves." he read calmly, pronouncing each word correctly and pointing out a particularly difficult one for me to repeat.

"Beneath," I said, not knowing what it meant, turning to look at him.

"Under the waves," he explained, using simpler words for me to understand. I nodded, now understanding the meaning of the phrase. I leaned forward to grab a slice of pizza and offered it to him first before taking a bite myself. The warmth of our bodies and the comforting aroma of pizza filled the room as we continued reading together.

"But just then, something strange happened: a seal skin was left behind on the beach," I smiled at his storytelling tone, sure he would be an expert children's storyteller, and wondered if he liked kids, although that question remained only in my mind.

As I looked at the drawing on the page, I saw a seal skin floating on the shore as the little girl named Aileen picked it up. She held it close to her face, examining it with curious eyes.

"It's a bit... creepy," I laughed. Erik turned to look at me, his expression asking why I found it so disturbing. "A moment ago, it was alive. And now... it's just skin," I tried to explain.

"You're right," he nodded, reaching for the glass of water. "Have you ever seen a Selkie?"

I shook my head. "In my city, there's no beach. And we don't have selkies in our culture," I explained, glancing back at the illustration of the seal skin in the girl's hands...

"Tell me, what magical creatures do you have in Spain?" I raised both eyebrows, reflecting on the question.

"Witches, in the north," I smiled. "Goblins, fairies... and a dragon."

"No dead seals? How boring," he joked, and I shook my head in disgust.

"No, thank God."

We finished dinner and read a few more pages. Erik was a great teacher, and in just over a week, I had learned many words, expressions, and, with his efforts, could understand him well though forming longer sentences remained a challenge.

"You're falling asleep," he whispered. I opened my eyes to look at him. "Let's go to bed," he said, setting aside the book and standing up, extending his hand as I yawned.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped but the wind still blew strongly. We walked to the bedroom, and I got into bed while yawning again. I saw that he intended to leave, and I was worried he might end up sleeping on the couch.

"Where are you going?" I asked, sitting up and watching his silhouette near the door.

"Do you want me to stay?" I nodded. "I'll be right back," he said before leaving.

I settled into bed, clutching the pillow tightly and trying not to fall asleep until he returned, although he didn't take long. He lay down beside me and lifted his arm for me to snuggle against him, which I did immediately.

"You're very hot," I murmured in a sigh as I let myself drift into sleep, listening to Erik's laughter fill the room.

"Am I?" he asked with a soft, deep voice, gently stroking my back.

"Very," I whispered, feeling the world fade around me until I fell completely into a deep sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the insistent sound of my phone. I knew it was 9:30, the time Vir always called me during her mid-morning break. I picked up the phone and rested it on the pillow.

"Good morning," I said sleepily, still with my eyes closed.

"Are you still sleeping, Sleeping Beauty?" Vir asked cheerfully. "Wait... that's not your ceiling. Where are you?" I opened my eyes suddenly and sat up in bed, realizing I was alone in the room.

"Shit..." I looked around, noticing that Erik wasn't there, which was a relief to me. I grabbed the phone and tried to focus it only on my face so that Vir wouldn't suspect anything. "At home, as usual," I lied.

"You're not fooling me, the lamp is different. Are you hiding something from me? It's ugly to lie to your friend..." she said playfully, pretending to be offended.

"Yesterday I... I got caught in the middle of a storm and..." I began, trying to give a believable explanation.

"Are you with Erik?!" Vir shouted, and I quickly lowered the volume of the phone, getting out of bed to peek out the door and make sure he wasn't in the house. I saw him outside through the window and sighed in relief.

"I'm at his house, yes," I finally had to admit.

"You hooked up... Did you hook up?! You hooked up!" she exclaimed excitedly, pacing back and forth in her office. Her curiosity was palpable even over the phone.

Vir let out a cry of joy as I confessed, blushing, "Just a little..." Through the window, I could see Erik with the little dog by his side, chopping wood for the fireplace. It was a wonderful sight at that time of the morning.

"Why that look of desire? What are you seeing?" my friend asked. I turned the screen to focus on Erik, with his back to me, wearing jeans and a checkered shirt with his hair tied up in a bun as he split logs with an axe that looked quite heavy. "Damn it... Andrea... does he have a brother or something for me?" Vir asked, drooling over the image on my phone. I quickly moved it away before she could continue.

"I'm afraid not," I replied, rubbing my face and flopping down on the sofa, still half asleep.

"Are you wearing his pajamas? Did you sleep together... You slept together... OMG you slept together!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"And that look on your face... Was it a disaster?"

"No, quite the opposite actually. It was amazing. Erik is an amazing man," I sighed, clicking my tongue and avoiding her gaze.

"So, why do you look like you're suffering?" Vir asked.

"Exactly because of that. He's wonderful: attentive, caring, and patient... and damn it, last night I felt things I didn't know were possible," I confessed, blushing again.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"And is that a bad thing?"

"No, but... I'm starting to like him, and I don't want to," I said dramatically, with a embarrassed expression.

"Darling, it's been almost a year since you broke up with Oliver, isn't it time to allow yourself to feel something for another man?"

"But I don't want to, Vir," I replied, feeling a spark of fear in my stomach. "How long until he hurts me too?"

"Andrea, not all men are the same," Vir said, sitting in her desk chair and looking at me kindly.

"Let's put aside my experience because it boils down to that idiot Oliver... How many men have you met, and how many have lied to you?" I asked. Vir looked uncomfortable.

"A few... but hey, I'm terrible at choosing, you don't have better taste than me, except for Oliver, of course."

"And now what? I mean... okay, we hooked up. What's the next step?" I asked, completely lost. The last man I slept with lasted 20 years.

"Well, now you just keep hooking up as many times as you want," she warned, further reddening my cheeks. "Andy... you're adults, you can sleep together without drama if that's what you want. Nowadays, having a relationship with someone just because you enjoy sex is a thing of the past," she explained as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Okay, no drama. Just sex," I said, trying to convince myself. "What if he wants something more?" I worried. "I mean, I doubt it, but..."

"And why do you doubt it? You're a wonderful woman, I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted something more," she said. "But if you don't want that, just make things clear and that's it. Hey, just sex, if that's fine with you, perfect, and if not, I'm off to another island," I huffed, as if it were that easy.

"And what the hell do I do when I run into him? Pretend a friendly smile or throw myself into his arms as if nothing had happened? Shit, this is too complicated. I don't understand why I did it..."

"Well, if you feel like it, you can give him a kiss, take off his pants, and wish him good morning in a more... intimate way," Vir suggested with a mischievous smile.

"Virginia!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you're impossible," I complained, waving my hands in the air.

"I hope you used protection. Just in case..."

"Of course, don't be silly," I replied, feeling my cheeks burn.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Sometimes you're so naive about these things that..."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," I said even more embarrassed.

"Give me a minute, Alicia, I'll be right there. Andy, we'll talk later," Vir announced, briefly raising her gaze from her screen before saying goodbye and hanging up.

I took a deep breath, taking a few seconds to process what was happening. I got up with a sense of urgency and quickly got dressed, nervous that when Erik came in, he would find me in pajamas. But my attempt to look more presentable was in vain when I heard a sound behind me. Turning around, I found him standing still at the door as I changed. In his hand, he held several pieces of wood, one of which fell to the floor, and he looked at me as if he were seeing a woman for the first time.

I quickly put on my bra and sweater, completely embarrassed as he bent down to pick up the piece of wood and then headed to the dining room to leave everything he had brought.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." he apologized when I came out, mortified.

"Don't worry. You haven't seen anything new," I coughed uncomfortably.

"Not new, but definitely the lighting is better compared to last night..." He approached me and kissed me on the lips, saving me the anguish of making the decision myself. It might seem silly, but that gesture reassured me; it meant he didn't regret what had happened. Did he? I could feel my fears roaring inside me.

"Have you slept well?" I asked, noticing how my fears raged within me.

"Very. You're very soft and pleasant to cuddle," a strand of hair fell on my face, so with a gentle stroke, he placed it behind my ear before kissing my forehead tenderly. "Do you want to go to the village or do you prefer breakfast here?" he asked. What did I want to do? Staying seemed tempting, but there was also the fear that he would think I wanted more than was really possible. Enough. My insecurities wouldn't dictate my desires.

"Have you had breakfast?" I asked, trying to hide my anxiety.

"No, I was waiting for you. Give me a minute to prepare coffee," he gave me another kiss on the forehead before heading to the kitchen.

I watched him as he washed his hands, wondering if I should talk to him about my feelings or just leave things as they were. In the end, I decided to keep quiet. If he didn't bring it up, we could still be friends and forget what had happened between us.

I picked up my laptop and the documents I had been working on the day before from the kitchen table and helped prepare breakfast in silence. Once we were seated at the table, he passed me a cup of coffee with an expression that indicated he wanted to tell me something.

"Tell me," I preempted his question as he scratched his head, thoughtful. This was the moment when he would say we shouldn't make a big deal out of what had happened and go back to how things were before.

"I loved last night," his words burst my bubble of insecurity.

"Oh... I liked it too," I said timidly, feeling a blush on my cheeks.

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, Andy. If you don't want this to happen again..." Erik hinted with a tone of voice that made me look up confused.

"Erik, it's not that. It's just... something new for me," I tried to explain, afraid of how he would react.

"I know. That's why I don't want to pressure you into anything," he reached out his hand to me across the table, and I took it gently. I smiled weakly and squeezed his hand softly.

"You're not pressuring me, quite the opposite. I feel like you think more about how I feel than about yourself," I assured, showing my gratitude for his consideration. But the reality was that I felt overwhelmed by his constant concerns and attentions towards me.

"I'm glad to hear that," he leaned forward and kissed the back of my hand gently. "Does it bother you if I give you kisses, or do you prefer I don't?" he asked, noticing my preference for keeping things discreet for the moment.

"I love your kisses," I confessed without thinking twice.

"Do you prefer them only in private?" he asked, noticing my preference for discretion at the moment.

I nodded quickly, still unsure how to handle the situation.

"I have to go to Glasgow in a couple of days," he informed me as he took a sip of hot coffee. "Would you like to come with me?" he asked hopefully.

"How long does it take to get from here to Glasgow?" I asked, knowing it was quite far.

"It depends on the route. I usually drive to Inverness and then take a flight from there. But if you want, we can go by car and enjoy the Scottish landscape together," he offered.

Part of me was excited, but I was also intimidated by the idea of spending so much time with him. Feeling like I was constantly battling my own fears and resistance to an imaginary relationship.

"I don't know... I have to work and..." I hesitated, trying to find a reasonable excuse to reject his invitation without hurting his feelings.

"Andy, you don't have to give me explanations. If you don't feel like it, it's okay. Don't worry about it," he smiled and gave my hand another reassuring squeeze.

"You don't... get angry?"

I asked, not understanding why he didn't call me selfish for not wanting to go.

"Of course not. Your life doesn't revolve around me," he said calmly. I clenched my fists, feeling a pang of guilt inside.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not bothering you," I admitted, feeling the tension building up in my chest.

Erik got up from the table and crouched beside me, placing his hands on my legs and looking at me intently.

"I'm not going to get mad because you have other plans. Nor am I going to get mad because you don't want to do something that I want to do," I could see a hint of concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry you spent so many years with someone who made you feel so small."

"I'm so sorry. I don't want to be like that with you," I confessed with anguish.

He gently stroked my face and kissed my forehead.

"You don't have to apologize. Everything's fine. I'll bring you something nice to remind you how much I've thought of you," he added before stepping away and returning to his seat to finish breakfast.

Afterward, I gathered my things, and we went down to the village. He accompanied me with the car to the grocery store in case I wanted to do a heavier shopping without having to carry it home, and after helping me pack the bags, he said goodbye to me.

When he left, I sat on the dining room sofa, feeling the house cold and empty. A feeling of anguish invaded my chest, but I didn't know how to shut it off. I had gotten used to living with someone who made me feel small and useless, and now, with Erik, I didn't know how to deal with so much love and understanding.