Page 58 of Raziel
“Thank you for saying that,” I said, leaving it at that. We managed a decent conversation after that.
By the time the check came, I was too restless to sit still. Matteo must’ve read it on my face.
“You want to go home?”
“No.” I had a feeling Raziel would be there.
That’s how we ended up parked at the beach. Not my beach, but close by.
I don’t know what it is about being near the water, but it does something to me. Quiets the static. Takes the edge off that raw, internal scrape I wake up with most days. Maybe it’s thepull of something bigger than me. The ocean didn’t care who I was.
I kicked off my heels, tucking my feet under me in the passenger seat. “So, Dr. Matteo. You save lives by day, and by night… what?”
His fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “I fish. I paint. I travel.” He said it like a list, like he was checking boxes. Then he hesitated, lips pressed together, eyes stuck straight ahead. “What do you like to do, Maya?”
He wouldn’t look at me.
I leaned over, grabbed his jaw, turned his face to mine. “Don’t do that,” I said softly. “If you ask me something, look at me.”
His eyes locked on mine, darker up close.
I smirked, letting my thumb brush his stubble like it was nothing. “What do I like to do?” I leaned back in my seat. “I like dancing. I like sewing. I like good food, road trips with no plan.”
“Why doesn’t someone as pretty as you have a significant other?”
My mind drifted to Raziel. He wasn’t my significant or my other. Not at the moment when he had pissed me off so badly.
I looked away, out at the dark water. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?”
My phone buzzed. I looked.
Raziel: Where the fuck are you?
“You gonna answer him?”
I fisted the fabric of my dress. I wondered what he’d say if he knew it was Raziel.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s an asshole.”
The waves crashed loud.
“Does that mean I have a chance?”
I giggled. “No. I’ll eat you alive.”
He laughed, leaned closer, his voice dropping playful. “I think I’d like being eaten.”
Something hot twisted in my chest—anger at Raziel, curiosity about Matteo. Matteo was nice. Raziel was an asshole, but I gave him pussy. Matteo deserved something.
I turned to Matteo and said, “You want to go skinny dipping as a reward for being a gentleman?”
His eyes lit up. “Yes,” he said, no hesitation.
