Page 126 of Love Unwritten
The first thing I notice are his abs, followed by his bright lobster-print swim trunks that match the ones Nico selected to wear this morning. It’s a silly pattern that Dahlia purchased for the two of them, and one I imagine Rafael only wears because it makes his son happy.
The swim trunks stop halfway down Rafael’s thick thighs, showing off a set of Herculean-sized calves he has earned from his daily workouts.
At some point between him finishing his sunscreen application and walking over to me with a smile, I’ve lost my ability to speak.
“Eleanor?”
“Hm?” Those damn butterflies in my stomach start acting up again, their invisible wings fluttering uncontrollably as I rip my gaze away from Rafael’s toned, glistening chest.
“You good?” He wields his smile like a weapon aimed straight for my heart.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” My stomach flips, and it has nothing to do with the boat rocking to the side as we break through another wave.
“Because you didn’t even make a fuss when I called you Eleanor.”
“Mm-hmm.” I’m too distracted by the defined muscles of his hips to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth.
“Nico should be out in a couple of minutes. He’s on the phone with my aunt, who says hi, by the way.”
“Great.” I try to keep my gaze above his shoulders, but it dips toward his abs.
He leans against the rail beside me and looks out at the rippling waves. “It’s a nice day.”
“Yup.”
“Your speechlessness is doing wonders for my ego, by the way.”
I turn with heated cheeks and stare out at the horizon. “I was…assessing.”
His knowing smirk could make me drop dead right here, right now.
At least my last view would be nice.
“Is that what we call checking someone out nowadays?” he asks.
Part of me wants to flirt back, but after last night, I need to keep my distance for my heart’s sake.
“I should see if Nico needs any help,” I say instead.
He turns to look out at the sea with a frown. “Yeah. Good idea.”
I take advantage of my moment of clarity and head back inside the yacht before I say or do something else I’ll regret, although I struggle to forget the look on Rafael’s face before I left.
He was the one who made his stance about us clear, so why should I feel bad about him appearing rejected?
Because you like him, whether he feels the same way about you or not.
According to Rafael, whatever Nico wants on the yacht, Nico gets, so long as it doesn’t require me doing anything that could make me sick. Rafael thinking of my well-being was sweet and a gesture I greatly appreciated after Nico wanted to go wakeboarding and tubing.
Just the idea of being on the smaller boat made my stomach turn, so I hung out on the back deck, watching the two of them from the yacht instead. Nico is decent at wakeboarding since Rafael and Julian have been taking him out on the lake for years, but his father is something else entirely.
I should expect nothing less from someone so athletic, but watching him was an experience I didn’t know I needed to witness firsthand. Strained muscles. Bright smiles. Washboard abs clenching and muscles straining with every jump, turn, and spin.
At one point, I’m wondering if Rafael was trying to show off with all his flips and tricks, but I keep my suspicions to myself when he comes back aboard with a smile. Nico becomes excited by whatever he sees on the horizon and disappears into his cabin for the binoculars he packed.
Rafael finds me on the deck—accidentally, it seems, based on the way he freezes midstride before walking over to my spot.
“What have you been up to?” Rafael asks.