Page 72 of Burn for You

It’s called: Rafael tries to get May to talk to him while she pretends that nothing ever happened.

And we’ve been playing it for over three weeks now.

I’ve only seen her here and there, at the bar, or with Isla. Now that she’s not living with me, seeing her is a rarity, until today, but her mask is still up. She challenged me at poker with that devilish look in her eye that she gets when there’s a competition in front of her, and it took all of my control not to suggest strip poker. I can just imagine the looks I’d get from everyone else.

I don’t know that I can complain. She told me this is what would happen. I had just hoped her resolve would’ve disintegrated the way it has every time I’ve touched her or talked about touching her.

Her eyes flick to mine, but as soon as I catch them, she averts her gaze and heads for the door. She’s doing her best at sticking to her promise of nothing ever happening between us again. Her tactic of avoiding me at all costs working in her favor, but it’s killing me.

“I was going to start on Olive&Vine tomorrow,” I say.

In the time that we’ve been back from the cabin, her words about the restaurant have been on my mind in rotation—when I’m not thinking about her skin under my fingertips that is—and I’ve finally decided to do it. I’ve given my staff the heads up that for the next few weeks at least, Olive&Vine will be undergoing renovations. Some people might say this is the worst time to close up shop, but I don’t want to wait any longer.

She pauses at the door frame. “What time?”

“First thing.”

A burst of laughter comes from the kitchen and her head swings in that direction, her gaze in the opposite direction of where I’m standing, waiting for her to say something.

She’s smiling as she looks back at me. “I’ll be there.”

I squintmy eyes at the bright disco lights that are beaming around Marina’s. The gang decided to celebrate Caio and Isla’s engagement with karaoke night. So that means here I am, sitting with Caio at the bar with my bottle of Macallan while Marina and Isla scream their lungs out into the microphone. They’ve had a few too many margaritas and their words are all starting to slur together.

I take a glance at my friend beside me to see a satisfied grin on his face as he watches them. I nudge my elbow into his side. “You happy?”

He looks over at me as if to say,is that even a question?“Yeah,” he chuckles. “I’m happy.”

“She’s good, isn’t she?”

He smiles. “The best.”

As if speaking the words summoned her Isla comes skipping over to us, before she throws herself into Caio’s arms. I take the bottle of whiskey from him as he wraps his arms around her, taking a slug of it myself.

“How am I doing?” She asks, her voice exasperated and her chest heaving.

Caio pushes her frazzled hair out of her face. “Oh, you are just amazing, sweetheart. The voice of an angel.”

“Really?!”

He nods convincingly. “Really.”

She plants a kiss on his lips. “Well, I’m going to go back up there. Do you have any requests?”

“Mariah Carey,” I say.

She points at me, a grin widening across her face. “You got it!”

The both of us chuckle as she prances back up to the small stage in the corner of the bar. The alcohol in her system sends her steps sideways until she stumbles into May where she’s dancing with Heath in the middle of the bar floor. The two of them have been two stepping to the unsteady tune Marina and Isla have been singing for the last half hour.

May kisses her best friend on the cheek before smacking her ass, catapulting her back up onto the stage.

I take another pull from the bottle as May settles back into Heath’s arms. She’s wearing a dress that commands attention. One that has my fingers aching as they hold the whiskey bottle, wishing they were wrapped around her waist instead.

“Are you ready to admit it yet?”

I look over to see Caio looking at me with a knowing smirk on his face. “Admit what?”

“That you don’t hate that girl.”

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