𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑻 𝑾𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 | 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

CHAPTER TWENTY

Ughshs first of all I just want to say I'm so sorry for the lack of updates, I just got caught up with other things but I'll be posting more often. Thanks for being patient with me :)

Evelyn Banks

"Rafe-- stop!" I exclaim, my laughter belting out as his hands grab at my waist, squeezing and tickling them. I try to catch my breath, swatting his hands away from me as I push away from him in the sand.

"Fine-- I'll stop, sorry" He says, a smile etching on his face as he watches me stand. I dust the sand off the back of my shorts before offering my hand out to Rafe to help hoist him up.

"This is nice-- being on a beach far away from home" I hum, my hand entwined with Rafe's as we walk along the beach. He leans into me, pressing a kiss against my temple as his thumb strokes over the skin on my hand.

"One day I'll take you to a beach further than this one-- somewhere in Italy or Hawaii" Rafe says, and I glance up at him.

"That sounds like a dream" I sigh, my mind wandering as I imagine the both of us flying to another country alone.

I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, so I stop momentarily-- pulling my hand away from Rafe to answer it. JJ's contact flashes on the screen, causing me to exhale heavily before I answer it.

"Hey, J"

"Where the hell are you? We're leaving in an hour" JJ exclaims in the phone, he sounds out of breath so I'm assuming he's running errands.

"What do you mean we're leaving in an hour-- to where?" I give Rafe a small smile as I create some distance between us so that I can have some privacy.

"Seriously Evie, it's Pope's birthday-- we're going to drive out to that lookout we found a few months ago"

I curse under my breath, kicking my shoe at some pebbles in the sand as I remember what the plan was today. Not to mention the fact that it's Pope's birthday, I just sent him a text in the morning but I haven't seen him once today because I've been with Rafe.

"Yeah I'll be at the chateau in thirty-- just wait for me" I say, waiting for JJ to huff out an alright before I hang up the phone.

"Everything alright?" Rafe questions me, his hand reaching out for mine when I'm closer to him.

"Yeah but I uh-- have to go home now. We have this birthday thing for Pope that I totally forgot about and I can't be a bad friend and miss it" I say, giving him an apologetic smile. He nods, flashing me a smile before he tugs me toward him gently.

"Let's get you home"

The music plays quietly in the background as we drive home, the sound of Rafe humming to the song causing a smile to spread on my face.

"You're a good hummer" I comment as my hand moves to rest on his thigh-- he looks down at my hand briefly before he glances over at me, a smile on his face.

"A good hummer?" He scoffs, letting out a chuckle as he moves one hand to rest on top of mine, he squeezes it-- causing me to hesitate as I retrieve my hand.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have put my hand there. It was rude of me to assume--" I apologize but he quickly grasps ahold of my hand, repositioning it back onto his thigh.