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Immediately, I see red.
But one glance at her, and I realize shereallywants this. Especially as I remember how her one stunt at a club ended up—at the police station.
"Fine," I sigh. "But we do it on my terms, ok?"
She looks taken aback by my easy acquiesce. After all, this insane jealousy I feel at anyone who dares look in her direction ismyissue. And I won't let it affect her happiness.
No, I'll just have to devise certain…ways to make everything bearable.
And make sure everyone knows she's off limits.
"Fine. You pull the strings," she says before she burrows deeper into my chest.
A smile pulls at my lips. Well, it could actually turn out to be a wonderful learning opportunity for us, too.
Happy she's not mad at my abysmal date planning, I take her home, spending the whole night making it up to her in other ways.
SEVENTEEN
RAFAELO
Punchingin the security code at the warehouse, I stride inside.
To my everlasting surprise, Noelle had suddenly declared that she wanted to have agirls' dayand that she'd reached out to Sisi herself to set up a date.
Taken aback, I could only nod as she'd recounted how she hadn't had the best time with female friendships but she wanted to make an effort because she'd felt very comfortable with Sisi and Catalina.
"I need to step out of my comfort zone, Raf," she'd sighed, her head on my chest as she burrowed into my embrace. "We can't live isolated from people forever, no matter how much I'd love that."
Though it had taken me a few moments to let the words sink in, I'd soon agreed with her idea. The last thing I want is to isolate her, or make her feel lonely. I may hate the fact that we have to be apart for that to happen, but I promised her I'd make an effort.
Especially after she'd chastised me for conducting all my meetings virtually.
"When's the last time you saw Carlos in person?" she'd sneakily inquired, and rightly so.
After moving in the new apartment, I haven't met withanyone. Neither has Noelle.
And so I'd taken her advice at heart with this surprise visit.
The moment I'm inside, everyone stops moving, all turning to look at me as if I were an apparition.
"Raf?" Anita is the first to speak, looking at me through narrowed eyes. Panchito is by her side, sitting a littletooclose to her—so close one has to wonder if there isn't anything else going on.
Since she'd found out that he'd made a deal with the devil—erm, Michele—to save her, she'd stopped teasing him as much, their interactions taking a new nuance.
But that had been my observation before. It's already been two weeks since I've seen them and things might have progressed since then.
"What a surprise," Thomas drawled from the next room, peeking his head through and giving me a mock salute.
"Is Carlos here?"
"He should be in the back," Anita pointed to the storage area.
"Thanks," I say just as I'm about to head there.
But midway, I stop, turning slightly.
"Is everything alright with you guys?"
