Page 93 of Burn for You

Pussy tingling Dean.

When his face showed up on my screen, it felt like a sign. I can have a lighthearted night with him, and I know he’ll leave at the end of the night and probably never contact me again. Exactly what I need.

Except that now I’m working, so I asked him to meet me at the bar. We can have a date while I’m behind the bar. It’s a Fridaynight, so it’s busy, but Molly is here as well as Tamara, one of the casual workers, so I should be able to manage it.

I hear the bell above the door jingle faintly above the noise of the bar. I look over to the door expecting to see Dean’s pretty face, but instead I’m met with fierce brown eyes, and a backwards cap paired with scruffy facial hair. Rafael’s eyes search the bar for mine and find them immediately. The butterflies in my stomach go wild and I press a hand to my abdomen as if that will tamp them down. He looks irresistible. And guilt pulses through my veins like I’ve never felt before.

“Ciao,” he says with a genuine smile as he sits down at the bar in front of me.

“What are you doing here?”

He frowns. “Can a man not have a simple beer at his local bar?”

I say nothing, I just pop the top off his regular drink and set it in front of him. My eyes flick to the door when the bell sounds again.

Rafael looks at the door after me. “Expecting someone?”

I shake my head a bit too vigorously. “Nope.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Good,” he says. My heart sinks. I need to get him out of here before Dean shows up. I won’t hear the end of it if there’s a brawl in here on my watch, let alone if it’s over me.

He assesses me with stern eyes. The last time he saw me, I was crying on his shoulder, and now he’s here, about to witness me seeing another guy. Why the fuck did I do this? Anyone would think I was drunk when I made the decision to text Dean, but no. Stone cold sober, and just a fucking idiot.

“You seem…restless,” he says.

I don’t know how to respond to that.Yeah, I am restless, because the guy you caught me screwing in your restaurant months ago is about to walk in for a date with me, and you weren’t supposed to be here.

“May,” Molly says from where she’s appeared next to me. “The jukebox died again. I know you fixed it last time?—”

“Let’s go,” I say. I’ll gladly take any way out of that conversation with Rafael.

I just have to give the jukebox a few shoves with my entire body weight, and it crackles back to life. The patrons around me cheer and I bow before I walk back to the bar, shaking my head as I look down at my feet.

“May.” I look up and see Dean leaning against the end of the bar. He’s grinning like a Cheshire Cat, but my heart just drops.

This was a mistake.

I can’t ignore the fact that the butterflies that live in my stomach don’t even bat their wings at the sight of him. They’re absent compared to when Rafael walked through the doors.

I barely say hello before he’s leaning in and pressing a kiss to my lips.

Oh shit.

When he pulls away, I get my first peek of Rafael behind him, and I immediately know I’ve screwed up. Bad.

His eyes are laced with hurt, and it makes my gut churn. Guilt rolls through my body, making me feel sick. I’ve never been worried about hurting a guy's feelings before, none of them meaning anything to me. But this is different.

“My eyes are up here,” Dean laughs, moving into the space where I was looking around him to see Rafael.

I look up at him and frown. “Sorry I—” I glance over his shoulder and see Rafael pushing on the door.

“Rafael!” I yell out, but the doors shut behind him before I can get the whole word out. I push past Dean and weave through the bar to push the door open. As soon as I burst out into the cool evening air, I see him leaning against the wall of Marina’s.

His head turns in my direction, and as soon as he sees me, he starts walking the other way. “Wait. Rafael!” I start following after him.

A second passes before he whips around to face me. “Were you seeing him this entire time?” he yells, before he runs a handover his face. “God, I was an idiot.” He starts muttering in Italian and turns to keep walking.

---