Ba sniffled in the pillow while suppressing her sobs and telling herself that one week of dating is not a big deal and she should not cry about it. Gabriel is out of her league and she should cherish that one week because it''s more than she ever thought it would be possible.


    She jolted when the mattress behind her dipped and Gabriel''s hands wrapped around her.


    "I told you to leave.", Ba said grumpily while hoping that her shaky voice didn''t betray she is crying.


    Gabriel buried his face in her hair, at the nape of her neck, and spoke softly: "And I told you that I''m not leaving until you tell me what made you angry. Ba, we need to talk. There will be many asions when we don''t agree and running away will not solve anything."


    Ba didn''t respond. She took a deep breath while trying to calm down. It seems that Gabriel didn''t notice that she was crying, and she does not want to reveal that. It will appear that she is immature and it will give him another reason to treat her as a child.


    After several slow deep breaths, Ba felt that she has her emotions under control. "What do you want, Gabriel? If you are going to treat me as a kid, it''s better that you leave."


    "Ba… I took you on a date. More than once. I introduced you as my girlfriend and as my fiancée. Which part of that was me treating you as a kid? I don''t know what your opinion of me is, but I am not a pedophile and I would not kiss a little girl. Well, maybe I would if we are acquainted enough, but on the cheek."


    Ba thought about his words and realized that he is right. Actually, other than controlling himself from being grabby, he treated her as an equal. Now she really felt like a kid who threw a tantrum.


    "I''m sorry…", Ba said in a small voice and she felt that Gabriel''s hold on her tightened.


    She shifted a bit and turned to face him. "Will our every date be like this… ups and downs and close to cracking?"


    Gabriel gently caressed her cheek. "Last time you came to talk to me, and now I came to talk to you. As long as we are talking, it will be OK. The more we know each other, there will be fewer downs and more ups until we reach a point where we trust each other."


    "I trust you.", Ba said right away.


    "But you thought that I am treating you as a kid. If you knew me better, you would know that is not the case."


    Ba had to add: "And if you knew me better, you would know that I would not regret going all the way with you. We don''t know how we will feel a week from now, or further in the future because our feelings will change with our experiences and based on how we treat each other. But even if our rtionship ends up with a breakup, I will be happy that my first time was with the man I like, who knows what he is doing, and who likes me back enough to be considerate of me."


    Ba saw that Gabriel nodded in acknowledgment of her words, and she asked: "What do we do now?"


    "We take it slow and get to know each other. OK?"


    Ba smiled. She does not know about the slow part, but she wants to know more about Gabriel. "Kiss me."


    Gabriel interpreted her smile and her request for a kiss as an agreement.


    He inched closer and pecked her lips.


    "Don''t leave…", Ba said while fisting his shirt. She wanted him to stay the night, even if that means only hugs and kisses.


    Gabriel understood her question in terms of a breakup. "I will not leave you unless you stop loving me."


    Ba smiled. "Promise?"


    "I do."


    Ba''s arms snaked around Gabriel''s neck and she pulled herself closer and kissed him. Once, twice, trice… and then Gabriel took over, deepening the kiss and another kissing frenzy began.


    This was different from the sofa, because they were in the bedroom, on the bed, and it took less than a minute for both of them to breathe heavily.


    Gabriel felt the arousal building up and he inched away.


    "Ba…", he called with an intention to slow down, but she kissed him without a care what he wants to say.


    Gabriel growled. He wanted to move away, but she clung to him like a ko. "Ba…"


    "Gabriel…", Ba spoke into his lips. "I agree that we should not rush things… but how about we do what feels right?"


    Ba smiled when she saw him giving her a small nod and she exined: "Right now, I want to hug and kiss you and I don''t have other expectations, but if anything else happens, we should not stop it. Just how we should not force doing things, we should not force stopping them either."


    It''s not that Gabriel does not agree with this logic, but… "Ba, if we stay in the bed and kiss and hug, there is only one thing that can happen. I am not a saint. I am a man and right now I am aroused and barely controlling myself."


    Ba didn''t want to continue talking in this direction, knowing that it will only be a repeat of what happened in the living room. She bit her lower lip and a secondter Gabriel jolted when her hand rubbed against his bulging crotch.


    "What are you doing?"


    As a response, she gripped his erection how much the fabric of his pants allowed. Penny told Ba a few things, and Ba wanted to try them.


    Gabriel closed his eyes and gritted his teeth in an attempt to stay present. This girl is testing his control big time.


    "You said that you are not treating me as a kid. I want you to treat me as your girlfriend.", Ba half-whispered while looking at his expression.


    "I should…"


    "You promised that you will not leave.", Ba cut him off, knowing what he is about to say.


    Gabriel''s eyes shed with realization… "You want me to stay overnight?"


    "You promised."


    Gabriel shook his head helplessly. "You tricked me."


    "Why are you acting like a shy girl?"


    "Because you are acting like a wolf who wants to eat me up.", Gabriel responded cheekily.


    "So… If I act like a shy girl, you will be the wolf?"


    "Do you want me to be one?"


    "No. I want you to be yourself and to stop acting like I am going to break if you touch me."


    Gabriel observed Ba''s expression that turned stubborn again and he smiled. He was happy to hear that she wants him to be himself. It is such a simple thing, yet for him, it was a first and at that moment he realized that Ba is the right girl for him. She is the only one who looks at him for who he is, as a person, and if he had a ring handy, he would ask her to marry him.


    ---


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