Page 15 of Bound to You

I shrug “Oh nothing, just that now I understand why you’re Italian is so shit,” I tease. It’s anything but.

The corner of my mouth twitches as he throws his head back in a laugh, and it catches me off guard. “Yeah, okay, little miss perfect. I’d love to hear you give it a go.” He quirks an eyebrow at me in a challenge. I laugh under my breath. I don’t know a single word of Italian. On second thought, it would’ve been a good idea to study up before we arrived, but again, no time for that.

“I’m anything but perfect,” I mutter under my breath.

Caio frowns down at me, but I just look ahead, changing the subject when he looks like he’s going to say something. “Did you speak it much growing up?”

“No, I actually only started speaking it when I moved here. Marina’s parents taught me. My mom was too focused on being the perfect American wife to teach me anything about that part of my heritage,” he sighs.

I softly squeeze his arm in response as we wander over to a table covered in absolutely delectable looking food. I remember why I thought Italy was a good idea again as my mouth waters at the sight of all this delicious goodness. Before I can compliment the spread, however, the sound of May’s voice interrupts our conversation.

“It’s not my issue that you're such an uptight prick about how people eat their food,” May spits out.

Oh shit. How the hell has she already found a sparring partner? She looks ready to square up against the guy standing behind the table with a white apron tied around his waist.

“Considering it's my food, blondie, I think I can say whatever I want about it.”

May scoffs at him and rolls her eyes before she opens her mouth, no doubt about to give him another piece of her mind.

“Uh…hey,” I say, catching May's attention and grabbing her drink from her before she throws it in this dude’s face. “What’s up?” I ask her with wide eyes that I hope are translating to“Why the fuck are you yelling at a stranger?”

“This guy here got unreasonably mad at me for eating one of these little meatball thingys.” She throws her hands in his direction in exasperation all while giving him her best death glare.

She looks wild.

I frown, looking between them.

What? I don’t know that her explanation clarified anything, much less why she looks ready to commit a felony over a meatball.

“Raf, really?” Caio asks the man with a somewhat sympathetic tone.

“That wasmia nonna’srecipe and it is not supposed to be eaten on its own like that. You don’t get the full picture. It just—” He sighs in frustration before fixing his glare back on May. The guy has eyes dark as night and they’re currently shooting daggers at May, but she’s shooting them right back. She’s not one to back down from a fight with a man.

He breaks the stare first and runs a hand over his jaw, drawing my attention to his roughly manicured beard. It matches his dark brown mane that’s a bit longer, the ends of it brushing his nape. The guy is definitely handsome, albeit a bit rough around the edges and maybe a bit older.

God, the tension in the air right now is next level. And over a meatball?

“Okay.” I grab May’s arm ready to veer away from whatever this is when Marina waltzes up to us.

“Look at that, almost the whole crew is here.” She smiles looking between us all, obviously missing the awkward vibe that’s simmering between us. “Now all we need is Heath.”

“If he’s anything like this guy, I'll pass,” May retorts as she turns her back in the guys’ direction. Marina's eyes flick between us all once again, as if finally seeming to catch on.

“Okay...dance floor?” She grabs us by the hands and drags us out towards the center of the room.

“One thing first.” May holds up a finger before running back to the table and grabbing another meatball.

“Thanks, Raf,” she says in a sickly sweet voice, before winking at him as she pops the food into her mouth beforestrutting back over to us. “Ready,” she says with a devious smile as we make our way to the dance floor, leaving the guys behind.

We spenthours dancing before the night came to an end. Now we are the only ones still here, lying in the middle of the floor and puffing in exhaustion. I smile to myself. I haven’t felt so content—so light—as I do right now in a while. Our heels sit in a pile on the edge of the wooden floor where they landed after only two songs. The rest of the night was spent with us bouncing around in bare feet. Not my classiest look, but I didn’t have the energy to care. I’m sure I’ll regret it when my feet ache in the morning.

Staff are packing up around us, folding tables and cleaning glasses, yet I’m in no rush to go anywhere just yet.

May’s hand links with mine in between us, and I turn my head on the floor to look at her. She’s already smiling over at me and it's all I can do to smile back. I let out a happy sigh as I resume looking at the painted ceiling. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

chapter six

CAIO

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