A Summer Romance

Draped across the two-seater sofa in the hotel room she was sharing with her two brothers, only half-listening to the pre-match show before Portugal took on Holland in the semis, Elina jumped slightly in surprise as her phone vibrated on the cluttered coffee table. Sending it a vary glance, she sighed before reaching over and picking it up as the two boys were mid-wrestle about who was the better player; Henrik Larsson or Zlatan Ibrahimovič.

Seeing the unfamiliar number on the screen, she bit her lower lip before accepting the call. “Hello?”

“Elina?” came a surprisingly familiar voice, causing a tiny smile to spread across her lips.

“Yeah, this is she,” she confirmed as she settled back into the couch, her legs dangling over the armrest.

“It’s Fernando.”

“I know,” she told him, the smile across her lips only growing at the slight hesitation in his smooth voice. “Are they hogging the TV?” she joked slightly, resisting the urge to reach up and twirl a strand of hair around her finger...

“Yes,” he replied frankly – it was a bit of a lie, his brother Jorge and Natalia were currently in the living room, watching something on the only TV in the house, with no intention of watching the game. But then again, they did have reservations in just under an hour...but he wasn't going to tell her that. Or the fact that he was lying cause he just really wanted to see her again.

“Do you want to come here, and watch it with us?” she asked, biting her lip slightly.

“If you don’t mind.”

“We’ll be watching it, so...it’s no trouble and if you want to see it, I’d feel bad knowing that you couldn’t,” she said slowly, in the back of her mind wondering when she reverted back to her stuttering, stumbling 14-year-old self.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes or something then,” he told her, his smile noticeable in his voice.

“I’ll meet you in the lobby,” she promised softly, ignoring the look Johan was sending her from across the room where he was fixing himself a sandwich.

“See you then,” he added before they ended the call, leaving them both with smiles across their faces.

Still holding the cell phone in her hand, Elina lingered for a moment before getting off the couch and dropping the device on her bed, grabbing a hairbrush as she headed for the bathroom. Pulling the towel from her hair that was still wet from the shower she’d taken, she quickly dried it and ran her brush through it before pulling it up into a messy bun.

“I’ll be right back,” she told the two boys as she stepped back out of the bathroom and grabbed her key card from the table before slipping her feet into a pair of her flip-flops and pulling the door open.

Walking along the hotel corridor she took the stairs down to the lobby and walked into the sparsely decorated lobby just in time to see Fernando turn down the corner from the main road. Smiling slightly, she watched him as he approached the hotel and pulled the door open, a smile spreading across his lips as he noticed her waiting for him.

“Hi,” he greeted her before gathering her in a short hug and placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Hey,” she smiled up at him. “Come on,” she told him, feeling strangely self-conscious under the intense gaze of his brown eyes.

“Alright,” Fernando replied easily as he let her lead the way towards the stairs. Walking under silence, he watched her from the corner of his eye, taking in her appearance. Dressed in a pair of comfortable-looking short shorts and a grey tank top that showed off the bright pink straps of her bra, she was definitely dressed for comfort and when he hugged her he’d noticed that her hair that was pulled up in a bun, smelled faintly of cherry blossoms.

“I really don't want to be rude,” she weighed her words carefully as they walked down the corridor lined with doors. “Do you speak any English, cause Simon isn't that great at Spanish,” she explained softly. “Johan kind of knows it, but he will feign he doesn’t and use all the dirty words he can just to get a rise out of you,” she warned him with a dry smile.

“It’s not very good,” he smiled apologetically as he looked over at her, hoping she wouldn't mind.

“I’ll have to play translator then,” she shrugged with a smile.

“Are your parents going to be there?” he asked, the possibility just dawning on him.

“No,” she shook her head amused, seeing the fleeting panic that passed over his features. “They’re probably in the bar, having a bit of a date,” she told him simply. “We had a really early dinner so,” she trailed off before sliding the card into the lock on the door.

Pushing the door open, Elina walked into the hotel room and motioned for Fernando to follow her, missing the way he quickly surveyed the space. It was your average hotel room, slightly bigger than he would have guessed with the size of the hotel. Two single beds, and a pull out couch, a small table, kitchenette in the corner and a smaller sofa and armchair standing before the doors leading out on the balcony.

The TV was on, commentators debating the teams chances at winning and making it into the final and the two boys’ attention were focused solely on it; the younger of the two sitting curled up in the armchair and the older one laying splayed out across the unmade sofa bed.

“Guys!” Elina called to draw their attention away from the TV.

Their stepsister’s voice causing them to look over, their gazes were immediately drawn to the tall, faux blonde guy standing there and Fernando actually felt a little uncomfortable under their stare.

“This is Fernando,” Elina introduced him in her native tongue. “He doesn’t speak lot of English, so...” she continued in Swedish as she glanced over at Fernando, silently taking note of just how awkward of a situation this really was. “The one on the bed is Johan and the other one is Simon,” she introduced her brothers to him in Spanish.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the boys shook themselves out of it and politely said hello to the Spanish man, Johan even attempting a bit of small talk.

“Yeah, cause that wasn't awkward at all,” Elina mumbled under her breath, causing Fernando to smile as she got them some drinks from the fridge and motioned for him to take a seat in the other sofa.

The game had already started when they sat down and Fernando was amazed at just how into the game the two younger boys was, their attention was solely focused on the game showing on the TV.

“I told you, football crazy,” she said in a stage-whisper as she made herself comfortable next to him, lean legs stretched out in front of her and bare feet resting on the cluttered coffee table.

“You did,” he replied softly, watching as she too focused on the game. “Who are we cheering for?” he asked after a moment, coming to the realizations that he really didn't care who made it to the final.

“Portugal,” she said simply as she glanced back at him.

“Why?” his frown went unnoticed for which he was very happy – he still wasn't quite over losing to them.

“Well, Holland kicked out ass out of the tournament, we lost to them on penalties,” she explained, “so now we’re just cheering against them,” she admitted with a shrug of her shoulders and a supposed-to-be innocent smile across her lips. “If you didn't know, we’re a bit vindictive,” she joked.

“Teaches me to ever piss any of you off,” he smiled back at her. “But I can go along with that,” he decided as they both turned their attention back to the game.

Nothing was said between the four of them, none of them even acknowledge the others during the first 30 minutes of the first half, Fernando just barely avoided jumping in surprise as he felt Elina’s fingers brush through his hair the first time.

His focus had been on the game, like it always was when he was watching it, but he’d still been completely aware of every single little move she made next to him, in part by choice and in part by how narrow the couch really was, forcing them to sit close enough that their arms continuously brushed against the others.

At first he thought it had been an accident, or even a fidget of his imagination, but it wasn't; she continued to gently run her fingers through his soft hair in a slow, continuous patter, making him sure that she was probably not even aware she was doing it.

Usually he didn't particularly like when people besides himself and his hairstylist touched his hair, but in that moment he really didn't want her to stop...



The match ended with Portugal going through to the final and Holland getting a one-way ticket home from the Euro 2004, and Elina reminded her brothers that they had to get up early the next morning, to which they both groaned loudly.

“I have to get back home,” Fernando said softly as he leaned slightly closer to her whilst Simon climbed off the armchair and headed towards the bathroom to get ready for bed and Johan watched them intently from his place on the sofa bed.

“Okay,” she nodded, the two of them getting up from the sofa. “I’ll walk you out,” she stated, sending her oldest brother a glare before grabbing her key card and slipping on her flip-flops before following him out in the corridor.

“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Fernando asked curiously, as she leaned back against the door to the hotel room and he turned to face her.

“We are going exploring,” Elina revealed with a slight smile. “It’s something we’ve always done on vacation.”

“Right,” he nodded, noticing the obvious disappointment in his time. He’d really wanted to see her again.

“Maybe, we could meet up when I get back?” she threw out there, biting her lip slightly.

“Yeah,” he nodded slowly as he reached out and moved a stray strand of her now dry hair behind her ear. “Or maybe I could call you tomorrow, and depending on where you are, what you're doing, I could meet up with you.”

“You want to, voluntarily, expose yourself to my parents?” she asked surprised, most of the guy friends back didn't even like meeting them even after she’d known them for years.

“You’ll protect me, right?” he smiled, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was wondering what the hell he was doing.

“Yeah,” she confirmed simply, still not quite believing him.

“Then I’ll call you tomorrow,” he smiled at her.

“Mm-hm,” she looked up at him as he stepped closer to her, never breaking eye contact with her. Leaning down, he ran his fingers down her smooth cheek before carefully brushing his lips against hers.

His lips sending tingles through her own and up her spine, Elina froze for a second, knowing that this was most likely not such a good idea. But then again, when had common sense ever won in the end, she wondered as she moved her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down closer to her.

Her finger gently tugging on the hairs in the nape of his neck, he smiled against her lips before cupping the back of her head and deepening the kiss, suppressing a moan as she pressed herself closer to him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt in her hand.

Tongues battling, he had to fight to keep from pushing her up against the door and plain and simple ravish her right then and there... Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her even closer and continued exploring her mouth with his own, feeling like her lips was a drug he was going to get addicted to.

Feeling him pull away slightly, she whined in protest and simply pulled him back towards her, not wanting the kiss to end. As he nipped at her lower lip, she couldn’t help but let out a moan at the new feelings that were bubbling up inside of her.

Finding the strength to pull away from her, Fernando rested his forehead against hers, watching as she slowly opened her eyes, her blue eyes several shades darker than they usually appeared. Smiling softly, he brushed his thumb over her cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he whispered, not wanting to break whatever was forming between them and gently kissing her again before tearing himself away from her and heading down the corridor with a smile across his lips.

She was doing things to him that...that he was pretty sure he hadn't experienced before and he was by no means a virgin any longer. It took everything in him to resist the urge to turn back and have his wicked way with her body, right there, in the middle of a hotel corridor...

Watching him walk down the corridor and disappear behind a corner at the far end of it, Elina reached up and gently touched her swollen lips with her fingers, a most likely dopey smile playing on them as she leaned back against closed door.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself away from the door and quickly opened it, slipping inside the room in what she hoped was a graceful manner.

“You look like a dork,” Johan announced from the sofa bed where he was still laying, seemingly not having moved since she and Fernando left the room, the TV still showing high-lights of the game.

“Shut up,” she smacked him in the back of his head as she walked passed him before falling face first into her bed, the one that was the closest to the balcony and once again cursed her parents for forcing her to share a room with her brothers as she buried her head in her pillow and resisted the urge to scream into it.

Rolling onto her back and looking up at the plain ceiling above, she could still feel Fernando’s lips against her own...