Chapter Thirty-One
chapter thirty-one
ISLA
I trip over my own feet as I stumble into Caio’s penthouse, the only thing keeping me on my feet is his arms wrapping around me from behind. He’s walking behind me, holding me up with every wobbly step.
I haven’t gotten this drunk in so long. I blame my brother and May, plying me with shot after shot for the remainder of the night.
It was only once May nearly fell off of the karaoke stage that Rafael and Caio stepped in. Rafael tossed May over his shoulder scolding her like an unimpressed parent, and she bashed on his back like a child, I giggle again at the thought of the two of them.
“What are you laughing about, sweetheart?” Caio says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Nothing,” I say, smiling like an idiot.
“Here,” Caio says as he leans me against the wall in the hallway before bending down to his knees. He grabs the back of my calf, pulling my foot on top of his knee. The sudden unbalance makes me wobble.
“Fuck,” I stick my hands to the wall behind me willing myself not to fall on my face right now.
Caio laughs under his breath before he grabs my hands resting them on his shoulders to steady me. He pulls the end of the bow at the back of my ankle, carefully untying the many straps of my heels before he frees my foot, placing it on the ground before repeating the action with my other foot.
“Ever the gentleman,” I whisper.
I see the smirk that he’s trying to hide as he looks down at my foot resting on his knee.
“Come on, clumsy,” he says. Leaving my heels in the hall as he leads me to his bedroom.
He leaves me in the middle of the room as he walks into his wardrobe. I sway on my feet, that king bed is looking mighty comfortable right now.
A queasy feeling starts to swirl in my gut as I stand here.
My mind is blurry, and my stomach feels like it’s spinning around like a washing machine, and I know from experience that’s not a good combination.
I take off, not quite running to Caio’s ensuite. I barely lift the lid of the toilet before tonight’s contents come rushing out my mouth.
Tears well in my eyes as my stomach empties into the toilet. I absolutely detest throwing up, I cry every single time. I really should’ve predicted this considering the last time I took shots with May and Miles.
“Isla, baby?”
“No don’t,” I cough. Not wanting Caio to see me hunched over the toilet, but he doesn’t listen of course, walking in to see me in the worst state that someone you like could possibly see you in.
Before I can protest any further, he’s sitting behind me and threading his fingers through my hair.
It takes me a while to realize what he’s doing, that he’s braiding my hair. He pulls my hair back and out of my face, making sure to tie in all the loose strands floating around my face.
I flush the toilet before turning around to face him. “Why do you know how to do that?”
“Rafael’s sister is a model. When she was younger and going for casting shoots, she taught the both of us to braid her hair so that she could do her makeup, and we could do her hair. Time efficient she said.”
“I didn’t know Rafael had a sister.”
“Marisol,” he says. “She hasn’t been back since their nonna died about two years ago.”
I can only imagine how Rafael would act with a younger sister.
“You feeling any better?”
“Mmm,” I nod. “A bit, just tired now.” I rub my eyes and when my finger comes away with black smudges on it, I groan. “But I need to take off my makeup.”
It feels like a bit too much effort right now. Maybe I’ll just go to bed with it on. May would scold me if she knew; she always says my eyelashes will fall out if I sleep with mascara on.
Caio jumps up from his spot in front of me and rummages through the drawer in his vanity that he emptied last week and told me to fill with essentials. He comes back sitting cross-legged in front of me with my makeup wipes in hand.
“May I?”
I nod. If I wasn’t already on the floor, I would melt into a puddle at the way this man cares for me.
He’s gentle with me, wiping light circles over my checks. His eyes are so focused, making sure to get every last particle. It’s adorable.
“Close your eyes,” he says.
He has one hand holding my head still as he swipes the wipe across my eyelashes with perfect care. It’s relaxing, calming. I could almost fall asleep right here on his bathroom floor.
“There,” he says, standing to throw the wipe in the bin across the room.
“Come on.” He holds his hands out to me, helping me up from my spot on the floor.
He turns me around with soft hands, slowly unzipping my dress and letting it fall to the floor before helping me step out of it. He unclasps my bra, leaving me in nothing but my underwear in front of his bathroom mirror.
I look at him in the mirror as he pulls his shirt over his head, exposing his gorgeous body, even my foggy mind homes in on it.
He bunches the shirt up, finding the neck hole and slipping it over my head. The soft fabric falls down my body and Caio guides my arms through the sleeves, keeping me steady as he does. It’s so big it covers my entire body, the hem resting at the middle of my thigh.
My eyes meet his in the mirror and I smile at the image in front of me. Me in his huge shirt, my hair braided down my back. With him standing bare chested behind me, and I’m wholly obsessed. The picture is so perfect.
He smiles coming to wrap his arms around me and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Ready for bed, baby?”
I nod and he pulls me into his arms, carrying me like a child and laying me on his soft mattress before lifting the covers and tucking me in.
He comes around his side of the bed and climbs in next to me, dragging my tired body into his. His big frame curls around mine and we fit perfectly. His knees lined up behind mine, his chest pressed against my back, and his head resting against my shoulder at the perfect height for him to press a kiss to my jaw and whisper a sweet, “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
His breathing quickly falls into a steady rhythm that my own matches, my heart beating in time with his.
As I lay here, dancing on the edge of sleep, my mind can’t help but recall the events of the night.
Brandon showing up.
Caio punching him.
Rafael punching him.
Caio calling me his.
“ I don’t like people touching what’s mine.” My heart flutters at the memory. I know we established the fact that day on his couch, whispered our confessions. But hearing him say it out loud like that really cemented it for me.
Him saying it so openly like that could’ve easily spooked me with the way my past relationship was, but all that it did was wrapped another corner of my soul in the cozy blanket that is my feelings for Caio.
I feel like his. I feel like all of me belongs to the man currently wrapped around me.
He told me he isn’t going anywhere, and all of me believes that. He’s been a constant for me lately, a comfort, and that scares the shit out of me. Attachment is a double-edged sword, because I love the feeling, love it so much that I don’t want to let go. But I need to make a decision, one that could shove that sword right through my raw heart. One that my drunk mind shouldn’t be in charge of.
I snuggle into his warmth, letting my mind shut off, focusing on the heavy breathing behind me, and it doesn’t take long for mine to match, and for sleep to claim me into its quiet, calm emptiness.