Page 25 of Bound to You

I roll my eyes. “Please enlighten me.”

She gives me a knowing look, but we are interrupted as Rafael takes a seat at the bar in front of us.

“Oh great. When did you start working here?” He directs the question at May, his tone frosty.

“Today, your lucky day. What can I get you?” Her tone, although seeminglysweet, is laced with contempt, and I brace myself for a repeat of their previous fight. I silently thank Marina for not having meatballs on the menu.

He narrows his eyes. “Whiskey.”

“Sure!” She floats away to fulfill his order.

“Hey Rafael?” He looks at me, which I take as an invitation to proceed. “Does Caio look at me like…I don’t know, like?—“

“Like he wants to fuck you? Definitely.”

“Well that’s one thing we can agree on.” May sets his drink down in front of him.

“What? No, seriously we are just friends.” Not that my ovaries weren’t screaming when I saw him with that little girl yesterday. My heart squeezed in my chest at the sight of them together. But that’s just the effect that happens to any woman when you see a grown man being cute with a kid. It’s not exclusive to Caio.

“Friends that want to fuck each other,” May states.

“No—“

“Sure about that?” Rafael counters. Why is this theonetime they choose to get along?

Rafael takes a sip of his drink before putting it back on the bar with more force than necessary. The dark liquid almost splashes out the top of the glass.

“This is a Coke.” He glares up at May.

I spoke too soon.

“Oh, I am so sorry, sweet pea! Let me go fix that for you.” I can barely contain my grin, she’s such a shit stirrer.

She comes back a minute later with a glass of clear liquid and places it in front of him.

“Seriously?”

“What? Whiskey, right?” She lays it on thick, clearly unable to exercise any self-control when it comes to riling Rafael up. She just smiles brightly as he scowls at her.

He abruptly stands up, scraping his stool across the floor, before coming around the back of the bar and grabbing a bottle of whiskey himself.

“Hey! You can’t be back here,” May protests.

“I’ve been in this bar for more years than you’ve been legal, blondie. I think I can do whatever I want.”

Marina joins me in my spectator’s spot against the edge of the bar. “These two again?”

“Bye Marina!” He salutes with his bottle before leaving the building. She reciprocates the gesture to his back as he walks out the door.

“Welp, that was fun.” May grabs a tray and heads back out on the floor.

“She finds way too much enjoyment in getting under his skin.”

“She’s dedicated to the cause I’ll give her that,” Marina laughs.

We get back to the hotel at around 1:00 a.m. and it takes all of my effort not to just fall into bed with a full face of makeup on.

My eyelids were heavy as we closed up tonight. My body calling for sleep as I flipped chairs onto the tabletops around the bar.

---