Page 33 of It Takes Three To Tango

“I said nothing,” Constantin almost growls.

“You know you’re a lousy liar, don’t you?” I say peevishly.

I flick my eyes to Rafe, who is worrying his bottom lip, refusing to speak. My stomach drops to the pit of my core and nausea takes its place. Whatever this is, I know I’m not going to like it.

“Tell. Me. What. Happened.” I spit out, folding my arms and waiting for an answer.

Rafe turns to look at Constantin. A flash of anguish crosses his face and a silent question passes between them.

Constantin shrugs and Rafe deflates slightly.

He turns back to me and takes a deep breath.

“Um, we kissed.”

I feel like I’ve been punched straight in the stomach. My legs can no longer hold me up and I sag onto a stool.

“Noooooooooooo!” I wail loudly.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I thought Rafe was growing to like me. Me! I’ve wanted to kiss him for so long, but I’ve held back, waiting, finding a level of patience I never knew I had. And then Constantin just swoops in and takes him from under my nose. I don’t stop to think that Rafe might have something to do with it. No, it’s all Constantin’s fault.

I try to blink back tears, but they fall anyway.

“Are you all right?” Constantin moves to my side and places a hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off violently and he backs off slightly from my glare.

I can hardly breathe with the crushing in my ribcage. How could he do this to me? The final wire holding me together snaps and my heart falls, shattering at my feet. Anger pours through the hole in my chest.

“No, I am not all right,” I grind out. “I’m very far from all right. Everything is ruined. You’ve destroyed everything. Rafe. Was. Mine. He was mine.”

“I kind of thought you were joking,” Rafe says quietly.

“No, I was definitely not joking.” I round on Rafe thistime. “Who wouldn’t want to kiss you? Have you looked at yourself recently? With your British accent, your golden eyes, and soft hair. Your sexy-as-fuck tan?—”

My outburst is cut off as he takes the two steps that separate us and cups each side of my face in his warm hands, fusing his lips to mine.

It isn’t soft either; it’s hard and grasping and primal. I can hardly breathe, but I don’t want it to stop. He takes from me, his tongue searching and exploring, and I give to him. There’s no way I can resist. Whatever I was expecting kissing Rafe to be like, it wasn’t this, and I’m very glad I was wrong about that. He deepens the kiss, his teeth grazing my tongue and making my head swim with pleasure. He’s taken my anger, and as he eventually slows, the soft tenderness kindles a new hope inside me.

I vaguely hear Constantin mutter. “Christ, that issofucking hot.”

Rafe pulls back and rests his forehead against mine, his eyes locked onto me and his hands at the back of my neck. His chest heaves as his breath comes in short pants and his face glows with a rosy flush.

For a full minute, there’s no sound except our breathing.

The oven timer beeps, breaking the silence, and Rafe releases his hold on me, stepping back slightly.

I stop the noise of the timer and turn back round to face them.

“Sit. Eat. I think you have some explaining to do.”

I look at the remains of Florencio’s pizzas on the table in front of us. They were as delicious as their aroma promised, and we demolished the lot. We did what Florencio told us to do—we sat and ate. We even managed to talk. Just small talk, though. No one wanted to disturb the essential task of devouring the pizzas. But it was good that we didn’t lapse into an uncomfortable silence.

We discussed toppings, and I received various reactions from incredulity to disgust at the English predilection for putting pineapple on pizza.

But now the plates have been cleared away, and Constantin is making coffee, I know I have to say something. I need to try to make sense of it all, but I’m not sure that I can, let alone put it into words.

Constantin places a coffee in front of me and slides back into his seat. Florencio brings his and sits too. I look at them both. Constantin is sullen and withdrawn, and Florencioseems fragile, which is not a look I’ve seen on him before. It’s all my fault, but I have no idea what to say except that Ineedto make it right again.

I’m confused by what’s happening to me, while exhilarated and terrified at the same time.

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