Page 58 of Capri

“You made soup for me, Jones?” I blush.

He nods, and my arms wrap around his neck. “That’s the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. I hate that you’re so sick.” He laughs. “I knew we should have stuck with the pizza.”

“Eh, I’ll be good as new in the morning.”

His eyes lift from his lap to mine. “I hope so. You leave in two days.”

I’m not sure if it’s sadness, but he seems withdrawn.

“I do. We better make it count.”

Jones’ soft smile does nothing to ease my nerves. Nerves that cause my stomach to sink, and not because of the food poisoning.

He kisses me on the forehead and tucks me under the blanket. “Rest up. Soups warming on the stove. I’ll check on you in the morning.”

“Okay,” I whisper, watching him leave the room, leaving me stewing over these unfamiliar emotions.

I’m not supposed to fall for Jones. But why does it feel like saying goodbye is going to be harder than I thought?

16

CAPRI

“Morning, sunshine.”

“Morning,” I mumble, my mouth full of the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had.

“You look better,” Collie says, making herself a cup of coffee.

“You’re too kind.” I smirk.

“I’m serious. I went to check on you after Jones left, and you were passed out. That’s good.”

Jones.That’s all I hear. And all I can taste is the soup he worked hard on and made from scratch…for me.

“Yeah, I needed it,” I tell her honestly.I did.Thankfully, I feel much better, given it’s our last day on the island.

“How’s the soup?”

“Great,” I slur, drinking the last bit in my bowl.

Collie grabs a spoon from the drawer and opens the pot to taste test. Suddenly, there’s soup splattering in the air.

She spit it out.

“Jesus, what’s in this? Grass?” By the look on her face, you’d think it was much worse than chicken noodle soup.

“Bok choy.”

“Whatever the fuck that is. That’s disgusting, Capri.”

“Jones made it from scratch,” I tell her matter-of-factly.

I reach for more, finally feeling like I have an appetite again.

Her face scrunches up in disgust. “That doesn’t make it good, babe. I’m not sure anything can.”

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