Boost by Vi Summers

 

Chapter 30

-Greer-

 

 

I sat at the kitchen island bar, sipping coffee and watching Rafael pour eggs into a pan. He shot me a shy glance from the corner of his eye. The look was endearing, almost like that of a little kid seeking approval from his idol, and it melted my heart to see it aimed my way.

“Is the coffee okay?” he asked, with his back to me while he worked over the pan.

I smiled. “It’s perfect. You know you don’t actually have to cook for me, right? I can create a perfectly edible breakfast for myself.”

He turned and grinned. “Isn’t that what’s meant to happen? You know, food after fucking.”

I arched an eyebrow, then smirked behind my mug when his bravado cracked. “Omelette, Raf.”

“Huh?”

“Check the omelette.” I laughed heartily as he cussed and jumped into action.

“I told you I’m bad at this sort of shit,” he hissed.

Feeling a little sorry for the tattooed bad boy floundering like he had no idea how to act, I slid from the bar stool and arrived at his side.

“What would you do if it was just you here?” I asked, leaning my head against his shoulder.

He dropped a kiss among my hair. “I’d eat this from the pan.”

I plucked two forks from the cutlery drawer and clinked them together. “Well then, that’s what we’ll do.”

Raf gaped at me as if I’d grown a second head, then his eyes narrowed. “Is this some kind of a trap? You know, lure me into a false sense of security, then bitch me out for not doin’ somethin’ right?”

I tried so hard to keep my laughter in check, but failed miserably after a few seconds. God, he was adorable when letting his insecurities through.

I shook my head and stabbed my fork into the omelet. “It’s not a trap, I promise you can relax. I’m a guest here, so that means I forego the bitching. You might wanna turn off the hob, though.”

“Jesus fuck,” he cussed and spun into action. “It’s too distracting having you here.”

“You’re the one who wanted me to stay,” I deadpanned.

He hummed and shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. I tried to ignore the trickles of awkwardness that wove through our silence as we ate out of the frying pan. I was at ease here, but that didn’t mean we’d passed the stage where it felt like there needed to be small-talk. If the glance from under his eyebrows was anything to go by, Raf sensed it too.

“You’re feeling awkward, aren’t you?” I asked.

His shoulders immediately pulled back, and his head tipped rearward to look down his nose at me. “Is it that obvious?”

I hummed, returning to the seat at the island counter where my coffee sat. “A little, but completely normal.”

Raf grunted and went back to eating.

“So, what do you do on Saturdays?” I ventured.

His eyes found mine and softened. “I visit my mamá.”

My heart gave a sharp kick. It was another piece of his puzzle he entrusted me with and was the first time he’d initiated conversation about his mom. Despite wanting to ask so many questions about her, I smiled genuinely and tried to keep our conversation from slipping to a place where it became too heavy.

“I bet she looks forward to seeing you.”

Apparently I’d somehow failed. Rafael’s eyes glazed over for a moment and something hidden behind his dark irises regressed. Within a beat, whatever it was cleared, and he found himself again. “She does.”

He shoveled in the last few mouthfuls and set the pan in the sink. When he turned to me and leaned against the counter, his lop-sided grin was firmly back in place. “So, what do you do on Saturdays?”

I lowered my coffee. “Well, I workout, and sometimes go shopping. Visit my parents down in Oceanside. Clean my condo. All the boring things.”

Raf snorted. “I bet it’s always immaculate!”

Giving him an expressionless stare, I deadpanned. “My sheets aren’t.”

A shit-eating smile broke out across his face and elevated my pulse. “And next time we hook up, I’ll take the credit for that, mamacita.”

We shared a secret look—the knowing kind between lovers, fueled by excitement and lust that came with a new, whirlwind romance.

Suddenly shy, I dropped my eyes to where I toyed with the coffee mug handle. “So… now what?”

A rolling chuckle came from Raf. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

He came around the island and turned me on the bar stool. Standing between my open knees, the warmth from his bare chest immediately seeped through the thin fabric of my shirt and heated my skin.

“I never stop craving to touch you, Greer. You’re a taste I can’t get enough of.”

I relaxed against his inked torso and hummed when his fingers trailed a path over each bump of my spine from neck to waist, then back up again.

“An addiction I can’t walk away from. I’m afraid I’m going to end up ruining you, baby girl.”

The somber weight to his voice compressed my lungs. It was like he was anticipating our failure. Expecting it.

“I’m a big girl, Raf; I don’t need you to wrap me in cotton wool. I can look after myself.”

Sensual hands wove into my hair and lazily massaged. The sensation relaxed me further, creating the illusion of Rafael speaking from miles away.

“It’s not that I can’t look after you. It’s that-”

I frowned when he cut off with a sharp exhale, and I arched back to look up at him in question. “It’s just what?”

Avoiding my eye contact wasn’t going to make me conveniently forget his offhand comment.

“Raf?” I pressed.

He dropped a kiss to my mouth and lingered leisurely, moving his lips across mine like we had all the time in the world.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s nothing.”

It only took one more unhurried stoke of his tongue to kiss away the disagreement, and I reached for him with renewed fervor.

Clasping a hand around the back of his neck, I drew him closer. My legs opened wider to accommodate his hips, and with my neck extended skyward, I kissed him with forever-igniting passion. We were electric together. There was no denying that.

When we came up for air, he moved his hands to cup my face. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

He not only spoke the words; he emanated them in a way that made my soul dance across each syllable as they wove around my heart.

Under his hardened exterior, Rafael possessed a heart far bigger than I expected. I’d seen many sides of him—the bad boy, the savvy businessman, the shameless lover, and a son who cared deeply for his mom. The tender side took me by surprise, and I admired him immensely for gifting me with rare glimpses of that beauty.

Although he wasn’t the kind of guy I typically dated, I couldn’t help but feel our worlds were always destined to collide. That our paths were meant to cross to open my eyes and encourage my wings to spread. To heal me, and to learn to trust again.

“Thank you,” I whispered, as I fell for him that little bit more.

Enveloped in his arms as if I was his entire world, I allowed the moment to consume me. Within Raf’s embrace, I was able to shed the experiences in my past that subconsciously held me back from committing to a relationship.

With Raf it felt good, like I’d found a part of myself I’d lost many lifetimes ago.

As we stood wrapped in each other’s arms, he pressed a kiss to the top of my head and murmured into my hair. “Don’t break me, baby girl.”

I gazed up into his never-ending brown depths and my heart stumbled. “Don’t break me.”

He shook his head and swallowed thickly. “Never intentionally.”