Page 70 of Bound to You

chapter twenty-nine

ISLA

“Make your wish.”May sits cross-legged in front of me on the floor. A lone cupcake sits on the coffee table between us with a candle stuck in the middle.

It’s our tradition, ever since the first year we met we do a cupcake for breakfast on my birthday and watch She’s The Man. It’s our guilty pleasure movie.

Whether we are in our pajamas and in bed at midday with a tub of ice cream, or if we were wine drunk on the floor of our dorm after a night out, we always watch it, no fail.

In my first year in college my parents decided to go for a trip to visit Miles in Canada while he was laying over there in between flights for a week, and the day they chose to leave was the day they conveniently forgot was my twenty-first birthday. So May decided we needed a cake and a chick flick, and thus began my birthday tradition.

I stare down at the flame wiggling on the wick of the pink candle poking out the top of one of Vanessa’s vanilla and caramel cupcakes. The wax dripping down the sides the longer I sit here. But I’m struggling to think of a wish.

In previous years I’ve wished for silly things, like for me to pass my finals, or for Brandon to treat me better, or for my parents to be proud of me. But this year, none of those things matter.

I still want my parents to be proud of me, but I’m no longer seeking their validation to feel content.

That’s how I feel, content. I don’t feel like there’s anything I’m missing right now. I’ve opened up to Caio, as scary as it was it was also kind of effortless. It’s easy for me to talk to him, to let him in on my concerns as much as I’ve tried to keep myself at a distance, and I feel so much lighter for it.

He didn’t run away. He didn’t say I was silly or berate me for my feelings. He just held on tighter and told me he wasn’t going anywhere. We didn’t solve anything. There was no answer, but there was comfort in knowing he feels a similar way, that he doesn’t want this to end either.

I smile at the thought, blowing the candle out, only wishing for this feeling to stay, hoping I can hold on to this blissful ignorance for as long as possible.

I’ve been avoiding the thought of going back home ever since, choosing to enjoy the right now. I know it’ll come back to bite me in the ass, but there’s no escaping the hold that this place has on me, the hold that Caio has on me.

The last few days I’ve been living in a dream, one that I don’t want to wake up from.

“I’m not gonna ask what you wished for,” May says. “But I hope it comes true.”

“Me too.”

May draggedme to the bathroom half an hour ago telling me to “get all prettied up” because we are going out.

I put on a new yellow dress I bought it at the little boutique on Main last week, it flows to just past my knees and hugs my body, pushing my tits up and accentuating them with little frilly details on the sweetheart neckline. It looks far showier on me than it did on the model in the window, but the shop owner convinced me into it after saying how lucky my boyfriend must be, that made me smile.

I sweep half of my hair up, out of my face. “So where are we going?” I ask.

“I just thought it might be nice to go for a walk by the water.”

That’s good. I haven’t told anyone it’s my birthday, but knowing May she’d plan a surprise party and invite the whole town. I’m still suspicious, but a walk along Main sounds too perfect to pass up even if it’s a distraction.

An hour later the sea breeze is tangling my hair as we stroll along the sidewalk. It’s one of those warm afternoons, where the sun shines brighter over the whole town. Mother Nature treating us to a magical morning, the sea is sparkling, the flowers are brighter, and Ruby Cove exudes a sense of beautiful peace.

“You want to visit Nora?” May asks as we reach the end of the street that the studio is on.

“Yeah, let’s see if she’s working on something new.” I come down here every couple of days, checking in on Nora and her work, her paintings hold such an emotional essence to them. I never know what I’ll feel walking into the studio, and it reminds me why I love it so much.

We cross the road and as soon as I open the door voices echo through the space, more noise than I’ve ever heard in the normally quiet and peaceful studio.

I walk around the corner to see Nora’s studio transformed. There are easels lined up facing one another in the middle of the space, and our friends filling the room.

They quieten down as I walk in, Marina is beaming a smile at me. I pin May with a look just as she raises her arms up in innocence.

“It wasn’t me this time,” she swears, nodding her head behind me.

I turn to see Caio walking towards me with a mixture of nerves and excitement written all over his features.

He places a soft kiss to my cheek. “Happy birthday, baby.”

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