Page 207 of Love Unwritten
Her smile expands. “If you ever plan on winning family poker night, we need to work on your game face.”
“I—” Words evade me.
She reaches out and gives my hand a little squeeze. “I’m just teasing you. It’s nice to finally see Rafael look happy, so thank you. For everything.”
I’m hit with itchy eyes. “You’re thanking me? Why?”
“For bringing him back to us.”
My throat swells from pent-up emotions. “I didn’t do anything.”
“And you’re humble too. No wonder he is obsessed with you.”
Obsessed? With me?
A tingle spreads through my chest before worming a hole into my heart.
“He is, by the way. During Sunday lunch—which we keep begging him to bring you to—he brought your name up three separate times.” Dahlia’s eyes brighten before they narrow at something behind me.
“What?” I turn and look in the general direction of her stare. It doesn’t take me long to find the cause of what disrupted our conversation.
Julian is busy speaking to the bartender while Rafael leans against the countertop, scowling at a brunette woman I recognize from his graduating class. She has her hand wrapped around his bicep, staking a claim that isn’t hers to make.
A spike of hot jealousy shoots through the center of my chest when she throws her head back and laughs. My hands clench beneath the table, and my shallow breathing can most likely be heard by Dahlia.
I know Rafael isn’t interested in this woman. That much is obvious based on the curl of his upper lip and the tightness in his shoulders, but I can’t control the jealousy raging inside, and it scares me.
I’ve never felt this way in my past relationships. I didn’t have a real reason to because I never cared for someone like I do for Rafael.
I want to be his just as much as I want him to be mine, and I want everyone, including the beautiful bombshell with perfectly painted red lips and a veneered smile, to know it.
“Ellie?” Dahlia asks as I rise to my feet.
“Be back in a second.”
“He doesn’t want her,” she says with a hint of panic.
“I know.”
She scrambles to her feet. “I could go over there and—”
I toss her a reassuring smile over my shoulder. “No need. I’ve got this.”
I may not know the woman well, but she is about to figure out exactly who I am.
Rafael’s eyes find me as soon as I start pushing through the crowd, and my cheeks heat as I follow that tugging sensation in my chest directly to the man holding the other end of my heartstring.
His eyes sparkle with poorly hidden amusement as he turns to face me. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I repeat back.
The woman glances over at me. “Can I help you?”
“Nope, but I have a feeling I can help you.”
Rafael’s small smirk turns into a full-blown smile.
Bastard.