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“Hello, Madrid!” Jake shouted out the window from the back seat, fist pumped high in the air toward the tops of the city buildings. “It smells like this city never sleeps!”
I glanced at Ollie beside me. “And what does that smell like?”
Jake pulled back inside the Suburban as Ollie made a left down a busy, narrow street. “Like sewage, onions, and garlic,” he dragged in a breath through his nose, “Yeah, it smells like someone dropped New York City right in the middle of Italy.”
“You’ve never been to New York or Italy,” Liam reminded him through a laugh.
“Hey, I heard about it.”
The four of us walked through the doors of Cacao Restobar, where Edison light bulbs wrapped and dangled around tree trunks from the ceilings, and the walls curved in natural brick. The other side gave the illusion of a cave, and we found a table against an iron-bar-covered window overlooking the city. I tapped the window with my finger. “This reminds me of Dolor.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Fuck Dolor.”
Ollie surprised me, being the only one who knew a lick of Spanish, and he ordered all of our drinks and food after insisting we trust him.
“That was impressive. How the hell do you know Spanish?” I asked, arching a brow.
Ollie pressed his lips together, fighting a humble smile. “How was I supposed to travel the world and talk to people without learning how they speak?”
Liam leaned into the table across from him, intrigued. “How many languages do you know?”
“Started teaching myself a long time ago, I know a tad here and there. For the most part, it’s all similar once you master one, the rest comes easy. Spanish, Italian, Greek, French … I can understand it, but I’m rusty speaking since I don’t speak them often.”
Liam’s eyes bugged out, and he dropped his fingers over his head and made a bomb sound, mimicking his mind being blown.
Our drinks arrived, decorated with fruit and flower garnishes. Ollie clutched on to his glass of water, and we all toasted to Madrid, friends, and Ollie’s Spanish speaking skills.
After eating traditional tapas and pinchos, we walked down the colorful Cava Baja street with multi-colored ba
“Just drink, mate,” Liam said over the music to Ollie. “We’ll get a hotel here tonight. It’s your vacation. Enjoy yourself.”
Ollie turned to me and shook his head.
“Oh, for Gods sakes, Ollie.” Clutching his hand, I yanked him to the nearest outdoor bar and ordered him a mojito to loosen him up.
And an hour later, Ollie had a permanent smile coasting between his dimples. In black jeans, a long-sleeve gray shirt, and bright white trainers—what he’d call them—Ollie danced behind me, his hands moving down my sides and clutching my hips, pulling my backside against his groin. The beat of the music surged through our movements and echoed down the festive street. As if he were an extension of me, Ollie matched my every rock and sway. Breathing grew heavy, sweat licked our skin, and I turned in his arms when his forehead dropped to mine. With our buzz heavy and alive, Ollie licked his lips as I rolled into him. “Ah, bloody hell, love.”
Giggling and stumbling through a hotel, we took an elevator up to a rooftop bar where a glass bridge laid above the city of Madrid. Fresh cold drinks frosted our hands, and the four of us admired the skyline, having complete three-sixty views. Strong October winds hit us from all directions, and my hair blew wildly. “Don’t look down,” Liam a
“This is incredible,” I whispered. “You can see the world from up here.”
Liam wrapped his arms around Jake, and I’d never seen Jake’s blue eyes so captivated, but he wasn’t looking at the view. Jake was staring into Liam’s eyes. It was my favorite view tonight thus far.
And in our only night in Madrid, we claimed it as ours.
The following morning, we all woke up in the same hotel room, moaning and groaning. Liam fell asleep beside the toilet over the bathroom floor while Jake slept comfortably in the second queen-sized bed. During the entire hour, we all took turns in and out of the shower while Liam and Jake comically ignored one another.
Liam stuck to Ollie’s side at the front desk while Jake and I fetched the SUV. “You should just talk to him. He’s mad you left him in the bathroom,” I explained as Jake pulled the car up to the entrance of the hotel to wait for Ollie and Liam.
“It’ll be fine. We go through this all the time, and I think he gets off on it. Liam’s dick-whipped. He’ll get over it by the time we make it to Gibraltar,” Jake said, and I pinched my brows and narrowed my eyes. “What? Don’t believe me? This is our thing. We fight over stupid shit just to make sure the other still cares, and to have a reason for angry sex.”
“Angry sex is actually a thing?”
“It’s totally a thing.”
Jake transferred to the back seat with Liam as Ollie slid in the driver’s seat with two coffees, and for the next five hours, we rode in a comfortable silence to Gibraltar.
I kicked my feet onto the dashboard and left the window halfway down. Ollie’s hand rested over my thigh as I drifted with the peaceful breeze, racing across the country of Spain, on the move to celebrate a fantasy we’d dreamt up in our heads for so long. The view captured me with every passing mile, and the warm sun hit my face as my hand surfed through the wind outside the window.
Ollie turned up the radio, the broken promises turned down, and he looked over at me, his eyes dancing with his knock-out smile. A child lived within us, seeing the world through brand new eyes and expecting nothing, only chasing freedom with the open road as our muse.
I could picture it, traveling all over the world with him. Excitement pumped inside me at the mere thought, and I kept my eyes open to not miss a damn thing.
And at around noon, we arrived. The giant crescent Rock of Gibraltar rested at the edge of the peninsula, and Ollie parked the car in front of the crystal blue waters and white sandy beach. I jumped out of the SUV, rushing to the shoreline without waiting for anyone else.
“Mia, your shoes!” Ollie shouted through laughter behind me.
On the way down, my fingers worked overtime to undo my laces before kicking off my boots and socks, leaving a trail in my wake. Emotions burned in my throat. Tears stung behind my eyes. The memory of us from two years ago invaded me.
"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get out of here?" Ollie asks, his fingers threading through my long locks as I lay over his chest.
I didn’t have to think about it. "Put my toes in the water. What about you?"
"Find you … then take you to the ocean," Ollie simply says, and he can’t see, but I’m smiling. "I want a life with you, Mia. I’ve never wanted anything more. Do you think we can survive the next two years? Think we’ll be able to make it?"
A sigh leaves my lips. "God, I hope so."
There is a sudden skip in his breathing. "I can't lose you," he whispers.