Page 15 of Burn for You

She rolls her eyes, and I grab her hand under the table. “I’m fine Isla. When did you turn into such a grandma, anyway?”

She mocks offense with a dramatic gasp and nudges my shoulder.

“She’s all loved up now, remember? Grandma status comes from practically being married,” Marina says.

“Alright hold your horses, we’ve been together for what? Three months? Officially?”

“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t say yes if he got down on a knee right now, I know you would,” Marina raises her brows in challenge.

Isla just blushes in answer, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Who’s getting married?” Vanessa comes shuffling over.

“No one, Ma. We’re just making fun.”

She places a plate stacked with pastries in the middle of the table, and we all flock to it like ravens to a corpse. Like it’s our lifeline, probably because it is.

I take a gigantic bite of a raspberry tart and nearly melt at how fucking delicious it is. Vanessa has a gift. One I hope to god she passes down to Marina, to any of us. Just to someone.

“You’re welcome,” she singsongs as she walks away.

“Okay, but seriously,” Isla starts up again with a croissant stuffed in her mouth. “You and Rafael need to cut it out before one of you breaks a limb.”

“I’m still not over him interrupting me at Olive&Vine. I’ve got to get back at him somehow.” I shrug.

“And drinking your way into a coma is that way?”

“Maybe not the most effective, but I just need to give him ataste of his own medicine. Marina, is he dating anyone? Or just sleeping with anyone?”

“Usually I’d know who, when, and where, but Rafael has been a lone wolf for a while now. It’s unusual for him.”

“Why, cause he’s usually such a catch?”

“You know he is generally nice to everyone that’s not you,” she says in between bites of a danish.

“Good to know.”

“I’m just saying, usually he’s got a roster, for the lack of a better word.”

“Oh, so he’s a fuckboy?” I ask.

“Considering his age, I don’t know if he’d appreciate that term. Women, they just…really like Rafael,” Marina shrugs.

“They’re clearly delusional.”

She laughs. “Like I said, he’s only this much of a grump when you’re around.”

A small part of me feels bad for that, but I never did anything wrong. If he hates me for no reason, then that’s his problem.

I might be making it everyone’s problem to compensate for the fact that I’m the only one he seems to have a grudge against. Maybe we could tone it down. MaybeIcould. I can’t say how the man child will act, but maybe for everyone else’s sake, I could turn the volume down on how much his presence irks me beyond compare. I’ll just talk about it with the little devil on my shoulder instead.

My mind zones back into the conversation in front of me, or the lack thereof, as Isla and Marina watch me, waiting for my next response. But like I said, turning the volume down.

“New subject please.”

I usemy body weight to push open the heavy door to The Cozy Corner, my body aching in protest.

“Buongiorno, May,” Aria sings out from behind the counter.

---