Little Games

Author's note

Hi, my name is Tovah; this is my first story on Writing.com, and I hope you like it. :)

Diego walked into the kitchen and saw his wife of eighteen months, Natalya, sitting on the counter, drinking a cup of coffee. He noticed that she was wearing a World Cup Team Spain jersey—moving to Barcelona met supporting her husband’s team, right?—but the only thing he could focus on was her lips. He loved those lips: the way they curled up when she smiled, the way they felt against his skin, and the way the formed the words “I love you.” Unlike her American father, Natalya spoke her second language like her mother did: with a thick Russian accent, and he thought it was one of the most beautiful things about her.

        Diego met Natalya in front of the coffee maker, opened the cupboard above them, and stretched his entire six foot two frame to grab a cup from the second shelf. (Natalya, herself, was five foot eight, the perfect height for her job as a part time model.) Because he was walking around sans shirt, he figured Natalya would get a good view of his torso, or more importantly, his Adonis belt.

        He knew she hated when he showed off his body like that; he did it on purpose just to bother her. Whenever she saw those lines, she wanted to pounce on him and have her way with him.

        As Diego poured himself a cup of coffee, Natalya looked down at her cup and slowly sipped hers. He was looking at her, she could feel it.

        She placed her cup on the counter and looked at him. She smiled. “Buenos días[1].”

        He returned the gesture. “Доброе утро[2].”

        She leaned into him as she slid off of the counter, consequently inhaling a mixture of his shower gel and aftershave. She walked over to the stove and looked in the pan with the eggs.

        “I made omelets,” she said, her accent becoming more noticeable.

        Diego walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Not as good as mine, I bet.”

        Natalya broke the embrace and walked back to her coffee.

        After a moment, Diego glanced over at her, and she rolled her eyes.

        Although Diego’s comment annoyed her, seeing him standing in front of the stove like that still made Natalya want to walk up behind him, wrap her arms around his front, and kiss his shoulder like she did whenever he made breakfast for her. She loved that every time she tried to walk away after doing that, he would turn her back around, pull her close, and give her a warm kiss that made her forget all about the meal.

        It was hard to believe that after a total of four and a half years together, the young couple could still play this game and have fun doing it. The object of the game was always to avoid being the first to kiss the other on the mouth. They had to cool off on playing the game in public though, especially since Natalya’s parents were now inviting them to fancy dinner parties and gallery openings and things, and Diego’s dad was frequently inviting them over to watch football. Her father-in-law, her brother, and her two brothers-in-law loved the World Cup, especially when Spain was playing, so Diego was planning to watch the game with them while Natalya spent some time with her mother-in-law and her younger sister-in-law.

        Diego walked back over to Natalya. “Forgot the coffee.”

        Natalya downed her coffee and walked over to the sink. There, she found Diego’s arms wrapping around her, his soft kisses travelling from the back of her neck to the front.

        His hands travelled up her torso. When he reached a bare breast, he stopped. “You’re not wearing . . .”

        Natalya turned around and pressed her chest against his. “No,” she confirmed, as if there ever any doubt.

        He glanced down at her chest before letting his eyes travel back up to her face.

        Her warm brown eyes locked on his steel blue ones for only a moment before she broke away from him for the second time.

        She strutted toward the refrigerator, her brunette waves bouncing with each step. She knew that he was watching her legs and hating that she was wearing nothing but panties and a jersey in support of his home team. As she opened the fridge door, she heard Diego step beside her. She leaned down to the bottom compartment. Then, she pulled open the drawer and reached for an apple.

        Before she could grab the apple, Diego, who was now behind her, pulled her body against his.

        Natalya closed the drawer, stood up straight, and closed the fridge. Then, she leaned into her husband, putting her hands over his.

        “I’m tired of these games, Alya.”

        Natalya turned around and looked at Diego, a seductive smile playing on her lips. “Only because you always lose.” She leaned in, silently daring him to not kiss her. She waited a few seconds before backing off. “My coffee’s getting cold.”

        He let her go.

        Natalya walked back to her coffee and mechanically sipped the drink.

        Diego looked from the logo on her jersey to her face. “They’re playing today, right?”

        “Yeah.” She leaned against the counter and watched as he cut a whole grain chocolate chip muffin in half and put the remainder back on the cake stand.

        Diego was quiet.

        “It starts at eleven,” Natalya glanced down at the time on coffee maker, “a little under three hours.”

        He smiled at her. “Gracías[3].” He broke off the top of the muffin, walked over to his wife, and handed it to her, knowing that it was her favorite part of the treat.

        “Спасибо, Малыш[4],” she said.

        He kissed her forehead.

        She kissed his cheek. “Dad and our brothers are coming a little early, right? I have croquettes, kebabs, chips, guacamole, and sandwiches ready for you guys. The drinks and sauces are in the fridge. All you have to do is microwave the croquettes, kebabs, and maybe some sauce” she smiled, “I think you can handle that.”

        Diego flicked Natalya’s bottom lip before softly running his thumb over it. “I won’t have to since I cancelled on them and your date with Mom and baby sis.”

        Natalya’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

        Diego smiled. “Because I wanted to watch the game with you, I mean, you seem more excited about it than you were when we first met.”

        She smiled as she stroked his short dark hair, and he stroked her cheek.

        She couldn’t help but glance at his wedding band as his hand pulled away from her face.

        “Your team is my team now.” Natalya moved back a bit. “But if Spain gets eliminated before Russia or the U.S., then you have to support my teams.”

        Diego cupped her face. “Te quiero[5].”

        “Я тоже тебя люблю[6].”

        He kissed the tip of her nose, and she mindlessly closed her eyes.

        When she opened them, she leaned in and kissed him, her eyes fluttering shut once again.

        “You win,” whispered Natalya.

        Diego took a sip of his now warm coffee. “I hope you don’t fall asleep in the middle of the game.”

        Natalya looked over at him with one eyebrow raised. “You were serious?”

        He reached over to flick her lip again, and she smiled.

        He unfolded his fingers and touched the tip of her nose. Once more, her eyes instinctively closed.

        “Alya, Солнышко моё[7],” he said.

        “Diego, cielo mío[8].”


Pronunciations/Translations

1. Boo-ehn-os dee-as: Good morning

2. Dob-raye oo-tro: Good morning

3. Gra-see-ahs: Thanks

4. Spa-seeba: Thank you; Malysh: Baby

5. Tay key-er-oh: I love you

6. Ya toz-he teh-byah lyu-blyu: I love you too

7. Sol-nysh-ko mo-yo: My sun

8. See-eh-low mee-oh: My sky

End Note:

If you enjoyed the story, albeit short, it would lovely if you fanned, reviewed, or simply rated my story. Thanks for reading!