Chapter Thirty-Six
chapter thirty-six
MAY
I walk along the rock wall that separates Main Street from the turquoise ocean as I make my way towards Nora’s art gallery.
The air is starting to feel a little warmer lately. It’s not warm by any means, but being the start of February, the frosty chill that was floating off the top of the water has eased. The trees are starting to form buds as winter slowly starts to make its exit. I’ve learned the cooler months tend to be a bit shorter in Ruby Cove, like this place kicks the cold weather out, like it doesn't belong here.
The seasons in New York were always such a dramatic change. From sunny days by the beach to ice skating rinks in Central Park and everyone wearing scarves, gloves, and beanies for a month.
Here in Ruby Cove, I’ve noticed it’s a bit more subtle. It’s in the small things. Like the sea breeze carrying a bit of a bite to it, there being a few more leaves in the road gutters, the daisies that start to spring out of the cracks in the pavement when the sun sits a bit higher in the sky again.
Today is one of those days. The sun warms my bare shoulders as I balance my way across the wall, before I jump off once I’m across the road from Nora’s gallery.
I look up and see a handsome figure leaning against the wall of the building. I shake my head as I cross the road. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, did you think I would pass up the opportunity to get something of my own creation into your collection?”
I scoff. “As if.”
He grips my waist and pulls me to him, capturing my lips in a tender kiss. “My mug better be in that collection. I don’t care if it sits in the back of a drawer in your kitchen. It’s in the collection.”
I pat him on the shoulder. “We’ll see how it turns out, shall we?”
I turn around and he smacks me on the ass. I squeal, spinning back around to scowl at him.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t like that. Now get in there, or we’re going to be late.”
I fold my arms. “I didn’t think you were such a stickler for the rules.”
He grabs a hold of my face. “Trust me, I’m not, but if we’re going to be late, it’s going to be for a better reason than us bickering on the street.”
He trails his fingers down my arm and intertwines his fingers with mine, leading me into the studio. Those butterflies kick in again, all because he’s simply holding my hand. It feels so comfortable, so normal, like it’s something that we’ve been doing forever. It feels right.
I don’t know exactly what we are doing here, or what we are to each other. All I know is that I like it.
When we walk into the studio, we’re greeted by Vanessa and Nora, who are standing by the window, staring at us with wide eyes. Rafael’s fingers tighten around mine and it’s just now that I realize they just saw the entire exchange between the two of us through the front window.
Vanessa whips her phone out of her purse and takes a photo of us.
“Vanessa!” Rafael whisper shouts. He moves towards her in what I assume is an attempt to snatch that phone from her hands .
She deposits her phone back in her purse and shrugs. “No one would believe me if I didn’t have proof.” I’m not sure that she’s wrong.
“We would,” two voices speak in unison, and as I look over to where they came from, I see Isla and Caio sitting in front of two pottery wheels. Isla gives us a little wave. Her smile beaming at seeing the two of us together, while Caio just smirks at his best friend.
Rafael inhales to respond, but then Nora is hushing us and pushing us to our spots in front of our own pottery wheels across from Isla and Caio as the instructor begins introducing herself.
Rafael leans over from his spot beside me. “Have you seen the movie, Ghost ?” He whispers.
I roll my eyes. “If you try to pull a Patrick Swayze at any point during this class, I’m out.”
He snickers and the instructor casts a stern glare over at us, as if we’re the naughty kids in class. I’m not sure I have a good feeling about this.
“So,” she claps her hands together, “I’d love us all to go around the room and introduce ourselves.”
What is this? A school icebreaker exercise?
Vanessa starts. “ Ciao a tutti, hi everyone. My name is Vanessa. I own The Sugared Plum, and I want to make some new cake stands for the shop.”
Huh, cute.
Nora goes next. Everyone oohs and ahhs when she mentions the studio they’re currently sitting in is hers.
The introductions go around the circle until they reach Rafael. He and Caio are the only men here, so all eyes are on him when he speaks.
“Uh, ciao , I’m Rafael. I’m just here because my girlfriend wanted to add some mugs to her collection.” My eyes widen as I look over at him. Girlfriend ? Since when?
Vanessa and Nora start whispering between themselves.
Oh good god .
I clear my throat. “I’m May, and I’m here because my boyfriend wanted to reenact Swayze’s moment in Ghost. He’s a big fan. Rewatches D irty Dancing every Sunday, don’t you, ragamuffin?”
Isla snorts from her spot across from me.
I have no idea where ragamuffin came from but it’s too late now. It feels just as silly to call the thirty-four-year-old man beside me my boyfriend, but that’s what we’re going with, apparently.
Rafael just smirks over at me, his lip twitching like he’s trying not to laugh. But I think he and I both know we are already walking a fine line with our instructor, so he holds it in.
After an hour and a half at the wheel, I’ve got the vague shape of a kangaroo mug sitting in my hands.
I’m actually proud of myself. I thought I’d be leaving with a barely recognizable blob. Or worse, a plain mug. But I’m here, adding a beige, kangaroo-colored glaze to my mug before I send it away with our instructor for her to fire before she’ll send the finished product back to us.
I look over at Rafael beside me and he’s painting a red glaze over his strawberry mug. It actually looks really good. Maybe he should’ve gone all Patrick Swayze on me.
He catches me staring at his work and smirks over at me. “Jealous?”
I scoff, bringing my gaze back to my kangaroo. “Why would I be jealous?”
“Because my strawberry is cooler than your kangaroo.”
“Your strawberry is not cooler than my kangaroo.”
“Vanessa,” he catches her attention from where she’s glazing her cake stands. They turned out pretty well. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t really a beginner at this whole thing. “What’s better? The kangaroo,” he gestures to my mug and I lift it up to show it off, “or the strawberry? ”
She makes a show of really thinking hard about it, but then her eyes flick to mine. It’s only for a second, only a glimpse, but in that glimpse, I see sympathy.
“No,” I say, aware that she’s about to screw me over.
“I like the strawberry,” she says with a wince.
“How?!” I demand. Rafael just chuckles from beside me like the smug bastard that he is.
“The kangaroo is so much more original! What’s a strawberry compared to a kangaroo?”
Her eyes crinkle at the edges. “His legs are kinda wonky.”
My mouth hangs open, and I pick the kangaroo up. “ She’s a girl,” I mutter. “And her legs are fine.”
“Aw.” Rafael reaches a hand out to me, but I bat it away.
“For the record, I like the kangaroo,” Isla says.
“Thank you! See, someone with good taste.”
“Okay, if everyone could bring their pieces up to the front,” the instructor asks, interrupting my meltdown.
“Yeah, take your perfect little strawberry and piss off,” I say.
Rafael stands up behind me and grabs my face with his clay-stained hands, pulling it back so I can see him. I squeal and try to wriggle out of his grasp, but he holds me still.
“Close that vulgar mouth of yours before I find something better to do with it,” he warns. His voice is low enough that only I can hear him.
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “Yes, chef.”
“Jesus Christ,” he swears. He presses a kiss to my lips that promises everything he’s going to do to me as soon as we’re out of here, and then he boops me on the nose, leaving a dot of moist clay on the tip. “I always knew you were a sore loser.”
I scoff as he walks away, but when he turns back to wink at me, I can’t shrug off the heat that burns through my veins from nothing more than a look.
I need to get out of this crowded studio, quick stat.
When I thought about getting out of that studio, I was thinking of going somewhere more private than a stroll along Main with Isla and Caio.
The ocean smashes against the rock wall, spraying salt water over the edge onto the pavement in front of us. It almost feels like a relief with every wave — like no matter what happens, these waves will always crash against this wall. It feels steady, and maybe that's what I like so much about Ruby Cove. It feels calm, I feel anchored here.
“This is weird, right?” Isla says.
“So fucking weird,” I laugh. “Are we like…double dating right now?”
“I think we are.”
The boys ignore our revelations. Rafael shakes his head and Caio just smiles down at Isla.
“You don’t even date. This entire situation feels like a scene from Freaky Friday .”
“She does now,” Rafael says definitively.
“Yeah, what was up with you calling her your girlfriend? Is that like…a thing now?” Isla says.
God, I thought I had no filter.
“Yeah, what was with that?” I crane my neck to look up at him, one hand on his bicep and the other entwined with his.
“Do you not want to be my girlfriend, spitfire?” His hand squeezes mine.
“Is this supposed to be you asking me?”
“I didn't think you were the grand-gesture type, but I can get down on my knees if you want me to.”
I spin around, grabbing both of his hands in mine as I walk backwards. “You know how much I like seeing you on your knees.”
“Ew, did not need that knowledge,” Isla says .
“Okay, I know way too much about you two for you to even say that.” I throw over my shoulder before I turn around to face her and Rafael wraps his arms around my waist as we amble down the street.
“Well, soon we’ll be on our honeymoon, and you’ll miss our TMI conversations.”
“Ugh, I’ll be so bored without you,” I complain.
“I’m sure I can find some ways to entertain you,” Rafael whispers, sending a shiver down my spine before he presses a kiss to my neck.
“You better get creative,” I say back.
“Oh, there are a few things I've been waiting to try.”
I giggle, a blush crawling up my cheeks at the images forming in my brain.
“I know I upset you by making an exponentially cooler mug than you, so how about we go to The Cozy Corner, and I'll buy you whatever books are on your list?”
I just cock my head to look at him.
“Oh, you are so getting laid tonight,” Isla sings, laughing as we cross the road towards the bookstore.
Caio grabs her by the waist, tickling her as they walk ahead of us. She squeals and tries to smack him. “Careful, Caio, or your honeymoon might be off,” I laugh, knowing how much Isla hates to be tickled.
She turns around in his arms to scold him as he pushes the door open into The Cozy Corner.
Rafael laughs in my ear as we follow them across the road and take a step into my favorite place in this town. “Hey, Aria.”
“Hey, May…” She looks up from her desk, but her voice falters when she sees Rafael's gigantic form cuddling me from behind. “And the gigantic man she was arguing with the last time she was here who is now looking very cozy with her?” She tips her head in utter confusion as she rambles.
“I’m gonna go look at the sci-fi section,” Rafael says, kissing me on the cheek before he goes .
I walk up to where Aria is sitting with her mouth wide open. “May Whitley…” I just smile back at her as I get closer to where she’s leaning across the counter. “Did you pull an enemies to lovers right in front of my eyes?”
My smile breaks out into a full cackle. “I guess I did.”
“I’m so upset that I didn’t see that coming,” she shakes her head. “I wasn’t going to say it the day you seemed like you wanted to rip his head off, but he is gorgeous .”
“Tell me about it,” I join her in leaning on the counter.
“And big,” her head rears back. “He looks like he could throw you across the room if he wanted to.”
“Oh, he can, and he does.”
She gasps and smacks my arm, but I just laugh. I haven’t had someone that I could brag about…ever. It feels good to talk about it like this, like it’s normal.
“Are we talking about May’s love life?” Isla appears, leaning on the other end of the counter.
“What else would we be talking about?” Aria says. “This is like something straight out of a romance novel. You too, Isla. Where can I find a sexy hunk and my happily ever after?”
“One day, he is going to walk through that door. You just wait,” Isla says, grabbing her hand.
“Whitley,” Rafael yells from the end of the romance aisle. “Are you cashing in on this offer? It’s a onetime thing.”
“Back in a minute,” I say to the girls before I skip over to where Rafael is standing.
“You have two minutes. Any longer and you'll be buying the entire shelf.”
I scurry around, grabbing the books that I've been eyeing up lately, and pile them in Rafael’s arms. Isla is right—this does feel like something out of Freaky Friday , or maybe just my dreams.
“Okay, that's it,” I say, once the stack is six books high.
“You sure?” he asks.
“No, but you should probably go now before I add more.” He nods before trudging his way on heavy feet towards the counter .
I stand at the end of the aisle, smiling as I lean on the bookshelf and watch a man buy me a stack of books.
Isla’s gaze moves to where I'm standing, and she gives me dramatically impressed facials with two gigantic thumbs up that make me smile.
I catch Caio coming up beside me out of the corner of my eye, and Isla’s expression turns from silly to loving as she looks at him. He just smiles back.
I nudge my shoulder into his arm. “I know I've said it before, but you’re good for her.”
His smile is adorable. “I can’t wait to make her my wife.” I just hum in response. “And I haven't said it to you, but you’re good for him, too.”
“You think?” I ask, my gaze flicking back to where Rafael is paying for my books.
Caio nudges his shoulder into mine. “Without a doubt.”