BREAKING | rafe cameron

FOUR

"Kie, can we meet up? I need girl talk." I rushed my words out as soon as she answered, "uh, it's Pope, she's working but I'll tell her." Pope chuckled, making my face turn even redder, if that was possible. "Thanks, I'll meet her at the wreck in fifteen." I mumbled, hanging up right after. She'll probably kill me, she deeply hates Rafe, he's been known to be a fight starter. I know, toxic, but I just can't explain what he does to me.

"Oh, damn! I know that look, who was it?" Kie asked excitedly when she saw the sparkle in my eyes, Pope casually glanced up from his book in the corner of The Wreck. "More private, please." I pleaded grabbing her hand and pulling her out the back door. "Don't get mad, promise?" I held my pinky out childishly, she took a deep breath but wrapped her pinky around mine. "Rafe." I whispered, she just stared at me, her jaw hanging, I patiently waited for her to say something, but she just stood like a statue. "Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." I joked, hoping to lighten the mood. Kie slowly closed her mouth, her eyes slightly glossy. "Did he happen to tell you what he did today?" She snapped, shaking her head as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun, anger running through her veins. "No, why?" I questioned skeptically. "Oh, Charli." Kie pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head once more. "Him and Topper beat the shit out of Pope this morning." She mumbled, watching as my face turned to disgust.

"God damn it!" I shouted, slamming my hand on the wooden railing next to us, "everything okay?" Pope questioned, sticking half his body out the window, I turned walking up to him, yanking his hat off. "Hey!" He snatched it back, trying to cover the side of his head. "That asshole." I seethed, "why, Kie? Why can't I just meet a good guy?" I asked, feeling defeated as my heart started breaking into a million pieces. The last guy I dated, he started out great, then he changed, not for the better. Verbally abusing me, I left him, luckily he ended up moving to the mainland when his parents got a divorce. "Oh, girl. I don't know." Kie sighed, wrapping me in a hug, "I didn't want to tell you, but you had to know before you did anything else."

Pope finally put two-and-two together, his eyes going wide. "For real? You could do so much better than that dick." He exclaimed, making Kie slap his arm. "Shut up." She hissed, giving him a glare, I couldn't help but laugh at the action. "It's okay, I'm glad I knew now." I sighed. I just can't seem to catch a break.

***

I smiled as the only nice man I've ever served in this godforsaken clubhouse, actually gave me a big tip. He was old, he's probably wise enough to realize this kook versus pogue feud is dumb. "Thank you, sir." I thanked him sweetly, slipping the tip into my back pocket. He gave me a smile and walked out, if only more people could be like this, I thought to myself, wiping off the table as I heard the doors open again. I glanced up, "I'll be right with you." I called, then seeing who it was. Rafe was practically the only one in here, so I rolled my eyes at him, making his eyebrows scrunch up. I walked up behind the bar, "what do you want?" I asked, not giving him the satisfaction of getting to look me in the eyes. "Wow, real friendly." He joked, thinking I was messing with him, he stopped laughing when I didn't crack a smile. "What's wrong?" He sat down, resting his chin in his hand, thinking I would just spill my guts to him.

"What did you do yesterday, before I saw you at Barry's?" I asked, trying desperately not to look at him, but I have to if I want to know what he's really thinking. "Played golf with Topper..?" He answered, confused making it sound like a question. "Anything interesting happen?" I gave him a death stare, "no." He answered, way too quickly. I cocked an eyebrow at him, resting a hand on my hip. "Yeah, you see, I don't believe you." I retorted, watching as he now cocked a brow at me. "And why is that?" He had a small attitude, which just annoyed me even more. "I have a feeling you were probably beating up my friend, Rafe. Is that right?" I questioned, his eyes hardened over, looking emotionless. "You're gonna believe those people over me?" He smirked, like I had any reason to believe him over my life long friends. I scoffed, "I have no reason to believe you, don't act like there's something between us. You just kissed me, and I'm sure you've already moved onto the next girl." I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring the hurt in my heart, hearing myself say the words out loud, made it even harder for me. "That's not true!" He quipped, catching me off guard.

"Again, Rafe. Why should I believe you?" He stared at me, trying to come up with an excuse, but there isn't one, nothing is acceptable for that behavior. "That's what I thought, now, if you're not going to order something, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the bar." I sighed, instantly regretting my words, "I'll have a burger." He smiled, making himself comfortable, "I can stay here all day, but nice try." He winked at me, which made my stomach jump, which I hated. "Jake, one burger." I called over my shoulder, walking away from Rafe, trying to find something else to do until I have to get his food. "Heard." Jake called, a shit eating grin on his face as usual. I rolled my eyes, stepping on the step ladder, pulling a box of whiskey down, refilling under the bar.

The rest of my shift went like this, Rafe stayed at the bar until I clocked out. He tried talking to me on several occasions, I gave him little to no answers, only speaking to him if there were other customers so I didn't get in trouble. "Okay, I'm leaving now." I told him, "leave me alone." I added walking out of the clubhouse, feeling his eyes scanning me as I did so. Why can't I get over this jerk.