Chapter Twenty-Six
chapter twenty-six
RAFAEL
Happy tears stream down my best friend's face as I pull him into a hug. The proposal went exactly how Caio wanted it to. Just the two of them in his penthouse with all of us here to celebrate. Bonus points that it’s Christmas day.
Isla was shocked, but she didn’t hesitate for a second before saying yes to marrying Caio. Those two will live out their sick little fairytale until the end, I’m sure of it.
“ Sono così felice per te amico mio ,” I say, congratulating him.
He smiles wider than I’ve ever seen and slings an arm over my shoulder. “How do you feel about being my best man?”
“Do I have to hold your bouquet?”
He laughs. “I think Leo suits flower boy a little better, don’t you?”
Leo curtsies for us and laughs break out in the room, most of them watery as the girls all have tears streaming down their faces, leaving trails of mascara in their wake.
“Oh, one more hug, bambino mio !” Vanessa captures Caio’s arms in another suffocating hug that he reciprocates.
She kisses him on the cheek before she claps her hands together, addressing the rest of us. “I think we need cake, no?” Everyone beams at the idea of Vanessa’s desserts .
Leo is the first out the door following Vanessa, the guy is a sucker for a sweet treat, quickly followed by Heath.
Isla squeals as Caio sweeps her up into his arms and carries her out the door, leaving just me and May standing in the empty room.
Ever since that phone call it’s like we’ve been playing a game.
A game that I hate.
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 I don’t want to feel number than I already do. I know as badly as she wants to, May can’t dull it either, she just needs to realize it.
Caio grabs the bottle from my grip. “You know, if you ever want to talk about that nothing , I’m around. ”
I look over to him and his blue eyes pierce mine with sincerity. “Thank you.”
He smiles, looking back at his girl who’s now deafening everyone from the stage, not making it all feel too serious.
Caio always knows when to push and when to let things lie, and I appreciate it. Especially as my mind begins to soften around the edges, courtesy of the nearly empty bottle of whiskey Caio places on the bar top.
“I think I’m gonna go dance with my fiancée before she collapses for the night. You gonna go dance with your girl?” He asks, slipping off of his stool.
I swipe the whiskey off the top. “I don’t have a girl.”
Not yet anyway.