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He was mine.

Chapter Forty-Three

Night, Kitten

Dan

When Rafe woke up around ten, I went and heated up the leftover pasta for him, wanting to make sure he ate something.

When I got back into the living room with the steaming bowl, he was sitting up under the blanket and draining his glass of water. I’d managed to relax somewhat while he slept on top of me, but when I saw his eye and the dried blood crusted on the stud of his medusa piercing, I started getting tense again. He was so naturally pale that the bruise was already visibly darkening, turning the corner of his eye a mottled purple. It was small—he was right, it probably wouldn’t become a full shiner—but it was still there. He was still hurt.

Those fuckers had hurt him.

I took a slow breath as I sat down, trying to remain calm. “Will you tell me exactly what happened?”

He shrugged, already hungrily shovelling pasta into his mouth. “Sure. So, I had to park in front of an alley when I went to the store because it was the only free spot, and I was about to get back in my car when someone—it was Frank—rushed up behind me and held what I thought was a gun to my back.”

My hands clenched into fists. “Are you fucking kidding me? He held a goddamn gun to your back?”

“Hot dog,” Rafe corrected. “It was just a frozen hot dog.”

But he’d thought it was a gun. They’d pretended it was a gun. I was so fucking angry that I couldn’t speak, which gave Rafe time to tell me the rest of what had happened. Including the fact that Frank and Beans were apparently the notorious criminal duo he’d been learning about on the podcast he liked.

“What?” I said tightly, only half taking that in because it wasn’t my main focus right now. “That can’t be true.”

“It is.” Rafe nodded enthusiastically. “It’s definitely them.”

I clenched my jaw. “They’re too goddamn foolish to be successful criminals.”

“Well, I mean, they definitely suck at muggings.” Rafe chuckled as my nostrils flared with rage. “Anyway, after they’d run off I realised it was just a damn hot dog, so I just walked back to my car.” He snorted. “And then this guy I’ve seen before at the grocery store came up to me—”

“Who?” I asked instantly, not liking the thought of someone else being there for him when I wasn’t.

Rafe snorted again. “Oh, it was this creep with a billy goat beard who lurks in the store and hits on everyone.”

My spine snapped straight as my nostrils flared again. Billy goat creep? Billy goat guy with the donkey dick had been there to make sure Rafe was okay when I hadn’t?

“He asked if I was okay, which was nice I guess, but then he hit on me. Asked if he could buy me a drink.” Rafe rolled his eyes, then winced a little.

I could feel my muscles starting to swell as I stiffened with anger, my hands clenched so tightly into fists that my knuckles hurt. “He hit on you? After you’d just been mugged?”

Rafe shrugged, leaning forward to set his empty bowl on the coffee table. “He’s a creep.”

I knew it was wrong of me to be jealous, that it was the wrong thing to focus on here. But I was. I was suddenly seething with jealousy, and cursing myself for being such a fucking idiot.

I’d been so adamant about making sure Rafe knew this was all casual when we started this thing together. No chance of a relationship. Just sex.

If that billy goat guy weren’t such a creep, there would’ve been nothing stopping Rafe from accepting his offer and going to get a drink with him. There was nothing stopping Rafe from going on a date with anyone.

He was gorgeous and funny and so sweet underneath his grumpy bluster. If he went out more, I bet he’d get hit on all the time. Constantly. I knew we’d agreed not to sleep with anyone else while we were doing it together, but he could easily meet someone and start seeing them. Going on dates. Falling for them.

And then he’d tell me that he was done with our thing, because he’d met someone who wanted to truly be with him when all I’d offered him was casual, no-strings sex. I’d have to see them coming and going from his house. I’d know every time they spent the night. Slept in his bed with him. Touched him.

It hadn’t even happened yet and I was already devastated. Panic was rushing into my chest, making it ache, because suddenly it felt inevitable. Rafe wouldn’t be happy with this situation forever. He’d want a partner, not just a neighbour he had casual sex with.

I had to do something. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t lose him.

I parted my lips to blurt… something, but stopped when I noticed how worn out Rafe looked. He’d probably been riding an adrenaline high without even realising it. Now wasn’t the time for a conversation like that, not after what he’d been through tonight.