Chapter Twenty-Four
chapter twenty-four
RAFAEL
I wake up colder than I expected to be. It’s always a little breezy in this cabin, one of the windows hasn’t shut properly since the eighties, but I’m used to that. It’s the fact that I was expecting to wake up with a warm little body wrapped around me.
Last night was something I never expected, but also something I desperately needed. Maybe I was just lying to myself that I never expected it, because really, I’ve been wanting it for weeks now, maybe even longer.
I open my eyes to the early morning sun, and May is nowhere to be seen. My heart sinks a little in my chest. I don’t know why I expected her to be here cuddling me this morning. I don’t even know if she cuddles at all.
I throw the sheets off my naked body and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, my mind going over every detail of last night. My dick getting instantly hard as I remember the way May screamed my name.
I’ve had trouble finding any woman interesting lately, all because of a certain blonde I couldn’t get out of my head. I thought sleeping with her would get it out of my system, get her out of my mind, but as soon as my cock settled inside of her, I knew I was so wrong.
I walk over to the bag I dumped on the floor when we arrived yesterday and rummage through it for a clean set of clothes.
As I stand up, my eyes catch out the window and I see her. May is sitting on one of the camping chairs set up by the water where we were fishing yesterday. She’s got her head in her hands as she looks out over the river.
I already have a bad feeling about this.
I throw my shirt over my head and shove on a pair of sweatpants before opening the cabin door. It squeaks so incredibly loudly that it catches May’s attention from where she’s sitting. Her eyes catch on mine, but they don’t linger. In fact, they snap back to the water quicker than I can blink.
I sigh as I walk down towards her.
“Buon giorno,” I say, sitting down on the chair opposite hers.
“Hey,” she says without taking her eyes from the water.
This is already awkward, but I can’t say last night was a mistake. That was the most alive I’ve felt in… I don’t even know how long. She makes me feel like that, alive. After I've felt so numb for so long.
“I’m moving out,” she blurts out.
“What?” My head snaps to hers.
“The cottage has been cleared. I can get back in there today.”
“Oh.”
She nods. “Yeah, it’ll be good. I’ll finally be out of your hair, and you can have your place back.”
A month ago, that statement would’ve made me jump with joy, but not so much anymore. Now it makes me feel…paralyzed.
The last thing I want is to have that big empty house all to myself again. I hadn’t realized just how much I enjoyed having May around until the thought of not having her around makes my stomach dip. She might still hate me, but I far from hate her, and that’s a problem.
“Rafael? ”
Her words pull me back into the current moment. I shake my head. “Yeah, you can use my truck for the move,” I say mindlessly.
“Raf...”
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk about last night?”
Fuck, here we go. “What do you want to talk about, March?”
She frowns over at me at the nickname that she hates. “That can’t happen again.”
“Am I that out of touch that I misread the signals last night? I was under the impression that you were thoroughly enjoying yourself.” She scoffs. “Am I wrong?”
She rolls her eyes bigger than I’ve ever seen. “The question isn’t if I enjoyed it or not?—”
“So that’s a yes.”
She cuts me a glare. “It can’t happen again,” she repeats.
“Yeah, you said that. What I can’t figure out is why.” I should have known this was coming. I shouldn't have even let myself so much as touch her last night, let alone let her soft lips fall in between mine.
“I don’t do repeats.”
I scoff. “Repeats?” She nods. “So, you just hit it and quit it, then?”
“I wouldn’t quite put it like that, but if that’s the way you want to word it, then yeah, I guess.”
I run a hand through my hair. I don’t know why I expected anything different. I’ve seen what she’s like with other guys. I should never have opened up to her yesterday. Here I was thinking that we were breaking down some barriers.
“So you’re just gonna go back to your cottage, go back to Ruby Cove and pretend like this never happened?”
She just looks away, telling me everything I need to know.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m gonna go load up the truck.” She doesn’t say a word as I stand and fold my chair up, taking it with me.
I trudge back to the cabin, feeling more affected than I should be. I’ve never cared when any other woman has blown me off. Usually it’s me calling it quits, so why am I letting this affect me?
I shake my head as I shut the cabin door behind me, trying to shake off the feeling. She’s young, she was just looking for some fun, nothing more. I’m stupid for even imagining this would play out in any other way.
I pack up both mine and May’s stuff into the bags, not worrying about handling her delicates considering last night's events.
The door opens behind me after ten minutes. “What are you doing?”
“Packed for you.” I shove her bag into her arms.
“Oh, thanks.”
I just raise my eyebrows in response, grabbing my own bag and opening the door behind her. “You ready?”
“Uh, yeah I guess.” I don’t know why she’s acting weird now. This is her arrangement, her rules. I’m just following them.
“Let’s go then.”
I thought that the car ride here was awkward. I apparently didn’t know the true meaning of that word until now. May hasn’t said a single word since we left the cabin. There’s just silence, except for some girl singing through the radio. It sounds like something May would listen to, but she’s not giving an inkling that she can even hear it. No foot tapping, no head bobbing, she’s just sitting there stiff in the passenger seat, with her gaze locked out the window.
I want to know what she’s thinking, want to pry her mind open with a crowbar and watch her brain turn over the last twenty-four hours.
She agreed to helping me with Olive&Vine, but I don’t know if that offer still stands. I don’t know if I want it to, considering the tension in this car right now.
The sound of her window rolling down breaks me out of my mind. She sighs as she leans her head out the window, resting it in the crook of her elbow. She seems like her mind is somewhere else. I just want to know where, and if I can follow.