The Pogues are outside by the pool, flipping, splashing, tanning and doing typical Pogue stuff when there's a pool around. I didn't go in the pool today, I was sitting in a shaded area with an old easel and canvas that Sarah wasn't using. I did a basic painting of an olive tree which was bring trimmed by the gardeners.
Once my painting is complete, I take the paintbrushes inside to wash them.
"Bring back some snacks on your way back." JJ shouts to me before running over to the edge of the pool and flipping over Pope who was bending over, and landing in the water close to John B.
Sure, I'll go and see what snacks the Cameron's have.
A Rafe Cameron snack.
I hope he didn't head out this morning before the rest of us woke. I saw his car parked on the driveway, but he might have taken his bike. After cleaning the paint brushes and setting them out on a dish rack to dry, I walk upstairs and knock on Rafe's door, waiting patiently for him to open it. When there is no response, I call out to him.
Someone's footsteps can be heard from around the corner and I expected it to be Rafe, but the shadow that appears is far too short to be Rafe. I take an uncertain step backwards as I wait for the person to appear around the corner. I sigh in relief when I see that it is Wheezie.
"He's in the gym." She says, popping her headphones back on and continuing down the hall towards her room. I head downstairs and into the third garage where the gym is located. I can hear loud music blasting from the other end of the door. When I open it, I see Rafe seated on the bench press with two black dumbbells in either hand. He is shoulder pressing the weights and I watch as his back muscles tense with each thrust that he does into the air. He quietly grunts with every push.
He looks so hot right now and I have only seen him from the back. After finishing the set, Rafe stands up and wipes his face with a towel. When he turns around, I can see sweat all down his abdomen, shining against his skin from the bright lighting on the roof.
"You just going to stand there and watch or are you going to pick up some weights and tone up those scrawny arms?"
"How'd you know I was here?" I ask, stepping into the garage and closing the door behind me. Rafe picks the two dumbbells off the floor and places them on his knees as he sits back down on the bench press. He lifts his left knee in the air to assist him in raising the dumbbell up higher, then proceeds to do the same with his right knee.
"I always know when you're around gorgeous."
My hand wonders across the weight rack and I pick up 10kg dumbbells, not thinking they'd be too heavy. I am severely humbled when I can't even pick them up with one hand from the rack. I move to the smaller side of the rack and pick up 5kg dumbbells instead. I've never been to the gym before. Working on the farm was enough of a workout in itself. Lifting barrels, hay and other stock for weights. Chasing around the chickens and the goats for cardio.
I begin doing bicep curls with the weights as Rafe finishes his next set. He stands up and walks over to me, standing directly behind me. "You need to keep your elbows down by your ribcage so that you don't twist them or injure yourself." He pushes my arms down slightly until my elbows are down by my side. "By extending your arm all the way like this..." he guides my arms down slowly. "You are able to engage the full muscle and get the most out of the movement."
Rafe lets go of my arm as I continue lifting the weights, doing as he instructed.
"Like that?"
"Yeah, good." He moves over to the machine and pulls up a bar from the ground. Rafe parts his legs and bends his knees slightly before leaning forward. He moves the bar up and down in a rowing motion. I place the weights back on the rack and sit on the floor against the wall, watching Rafe workout.
"You know, I'd much prefer to watch you then workout myself."
"Whatever."
"Why do you seem pissed off? Is me being here bothering you?"
"I couldn't care less."
"Do you regret last night?"
"Of course not."
"Then what is it?"
Of course he ignores me instead of telling me the reason why his mood has changed all of a sudden. I decide to take this as a hint and drop the conversation. If he's not going to speak to me then perhaps we can communicate in a different way. I stand up and walk over to him while he sets the weights on the floor between the set. I lift one leg over his body so that I am straddling him while he sits on the slightly elevated bench press.
Rafe doesn't push me away or move for that matter. He simply sits there, waiting for my next movement. I cup his face with my hands and caress the soft skin beneath them. I stare into his dark blue eyes and that's when I notice one singular eyelash beneath his right eye. I pick it up and blow it away. Rafe reaches for my hand that was previously holding his eyelash and places it on his shoulder. He leans in and kisses me. His hands lower to my butt as he pulls me in closer to him. Meanwhile my hands make their way to his hair.
We continue kissing, only pausing momentarily to take a breath of air before locking lips again in quite a steamy kiss. I can feel my lower region burning, craving his touch again. Rafe's phone starts ringing and he instantly pulls away from me. I lean forwards, trying to kiss him again because to me, this moment is more important than that phone call. Rafe places his hands on my shoulders and pushes me backwards to create distance between us.
"Get up, I need to take that."
"Can't you call them ba-" I am cut off mid sentence as Rafe stands up, bringing me along with him. He sets me down on the floor and rushes over to his phone which is set on top of one of the other machines on the other side of the garage.
"Hello?" ... "Yes, it's Rafe Cameron. Who's calling?" His expression changes from confused, to intrigued with raised eyebrows and a strong focus on whatever information the person on the other end of the line is conveying to him. "I see" ... "yes" ... "well I don't see why not" ... "yes" ... "alright." He brings his fingernails to his mouth and bites down on his nails. Something I have caught him doing a few times when he is stressed. "Alright" ... "got it." Are his final words before ending the call and placing his phone back down. Rafe walks straight past me without a word or even a quick glance in my direction. He goes back to complete the next set of weights.
"Who was that on the phone?"
"An old friend of Ward's."
"What did he want? Something business related?"
"You could say that."
Why does holding a conversation with Rafe today feel like I am running my fingernails down a chalkboard?
"What? Did it have something to do with the gold and the cross? Are you still on a mission to find it or have you given up after your life was put at risk because of your father?"
Rafe takes a large drink from his water bottle and wipes his face with his towel again before walking back over to the machine.
"I know where it is."
"What? Where is it? Does Ward know that you know?"
"Yes because he told me where it is himself. He wants to meet with me to make me a deal."
I wonder when all of this went down. Before we were kidnapped, Rafe didn't have a clue of where Ward was storing them.
"You agreed to meet with him, right?"
"Obviously."
"Rafe, can you please just stop with the short responses and save me the trouble of asking you one hundred questions and just tell me what you know."
"It doesn't concern you though. I'm heading out of town for a couple of days. Other than that, I've told you more than enough already."
"Can I come with you?"
He laughs to himself, mockingly. "Why would I bring you to see my father? He definitely wouldn't trust me if I had a Pogue by my side."
Deciding not to be offended over the fact that he is ashamed of me since I am a Pogue, I decide to not bring it up because then he would shut down the conversation about this trip of his completely. Though it does hurt that he sees me that way. If I am just some Pogue, why give me all of those compliments? Why tell me that I make him want to be better? Why have sex with me?
"He wouldn't have to know I'm there. I'll stay hidden. I should go with you to make sure you're safe."
"How are you meant to protect me when you couldn't even pick up a 10kg dumbbell."
"Shut up."
Rafe shakes his head at me and wipes down the bar he was holding before picking up his drink bottle. He turns off the speaker that was playing the music and I stand up, following him out of the garage.
"Can you at least tell me where you're going? What if something happens to you and nobody knows where to find you."
He turns around to face me. "I'll take my chances" he says before turning back around and heading up the stairs.
"Scarlett, there you are. What happened to those snacks?" Kiara asks as she walks in from the back door. Thankfully Rafe already disappeared up the stairs by the time she turned around after closing the door.
"Sorry, I was on the phone."
"To who? All your friends are here. Did you finally call your mum back?"
I shake my head. "Job hunting."
"Oh cool, where for?"
"The supermarket. They're not hiring though."
She nods her head, thankfully not asking me anymore questions. I hate lying to her but it is easier for me to lie about what I was doing instead of telling her that I was watching a half naked Rafe flex his muscles and tell me about meeting up with his father who is meant to be dead.
"Do you need a hand with them?"
"No, I'll be alright. I'll be out in a minute. No more phone calls, I promise."
"Right, well I'm just going to the bathroom."
After grabbing some chips, cans of soda and a packet of peanut m&ms, I return to to Pogues outside. JJ and John B flip into the water, landing a few metres away from Pope, splashing him in the face with water. Sarah laughs at them from the side of the pool as she lays on the deck chair, catching some sun. I take the seat beside her and she sits up to take a look at the snacks.
She reaches for the sea salt flavoured crisps and opens the packet.
"You were in there for a while."
"Kie said the same thing. I was on the phone."
"Right, I thought you had a run in with my brother."
"Rafe's home?" I ask, acting as though I don't know.
She nods her head and lays back down on the chair. "Yeah, I saw him heading towards the gym an hour or so ago."
He spent a long time in the gym. I guess those muscles won't grow themselves. Rafe is fit and his body is very well defined. He clearly spends a lot of the time in the gym to have built the body that he has. No wonder people don't want to mess with him. Not only is he tall but he is strong too.
My phone beeps and I place my hand over it to shield it from the sun. It's hard to see the screen, but I can see that the text is from Rafe. I place one of the towels over my head so that I can read the text.
Rafe: Party at Topper's tonight if you want to spend one more night with me before I go away for a few days.
He was a dick to me earlier. And last night his dick was inside of me. Gosh, he really is bipolar. I should turn him down on his offer and let him go out of my life completely. But of course I can't do that. No, my feelings for him are too strong.
Scarlett: I'll be there.
Rafe: No Pogues.
Scarlett: I'm a Pogue.
Rafe: No ugly Pogues.
I laugh quietly to myself as I lock my phone and set it down beside me. I don't have my swimmers and I know Sarah offered to lend me hers, but I'm happy to lay down on the deck chair and relax in the sun.
*
"I like this." Rafe says to me, tugging on my red top to reveal more of my cleavage. "You look sexy in red."
I'm wearing a red co-ord. A red v-neck halter neck with matching pants. I brought this set at the markets a couple of years ago. Mum would take me there on the first Sunday of every month. We stopped going in the beginning of last year because dad didn't like it when we spent money on unnecessary stuff.
I reach up and wrap my arms around Rafe's neck, getting closer to him and gently swaying along to the music. "Tell me where you're going."
He smirks down at me and places one of his hands on my hip while the other holds his beer. "You think you can put your hips against mine and look up at me with those seductive eyes in hopes that I'll tell you?"
I nod my head at him.
He laughs and I feel his hot breath on my skin. I step up on my toes and grab the back of his head, pulling him down to me and kissing him hard. Rafe kisses me back, slipping his tongue into my mouth and I let it roam around for a moment before pulling away.
"Think about all of the fun we could have on a little getaway."
"You'll be here waiting for me when I get back."
"Maybe not. Maybe I'll get bored while you're away and ask Topper to hang out." I purposely mention his best friend because I know this strikes a nerve. Rafe hates that I speak to Topper sometimes.
"No you fucking won't." He skulls the rest of his drink and is about to toss the empty but on the floor but he stops when I raise my eyebrow at me. Rafe rolls his eyes and removes his hand from my hip so that he can put his cup in the trash can. In the meantime, I pick up some twigs from the floor and toss them into the flames to make them grow.
When Rafe walks back over to where a small group of old us are standing around the fire, Katerina cuts off his path and stops walking directly in front of him with her drink held loosely in her hands. She swings her long black pony tail over her shoulder while leaning into him. "So are you two like together together, or are you just fucking around?"
Rafe leans backwards to create a small distance between the two of them. I stop throwing sticks into the fire and stand up. I step in front of Rafe protectively and am face to face with Katerina. I flick the switch to ignite the flame on Rafe's lighter which u used to light the fire earlier, and stare down at it while the orange flame flickers in place. I slowly look back up at Katerina.
"If I kill you, are you like dead dead, or just not breathing?"
I raise my eyebrows, waiting for a response from her. The response never comes, she simply takes two steps backwards and sits down on one of the rocks. She brings the plastic cup to her lips and sits in silence while the rest of the group are both laughing and murmuring 'oooh' sounds.
I turn around to face Rafe and see his lips curved into a smirk. He hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me backwards. I loose my footing and fall into his chest. He holds me tightly and kisses the top of my head. "That's my girl" he whispers into my hair.
I enjoy the sound of that. My girl. It's nice to be able to hang out with Rafe and kiss him openly in front of everyone. You'd think that the Kooks would be the judgmental ones, disgusted that Rafe is with a Pogue. When in reality, I have to hide my feelings for Rafe from the Pogues. The Kooks probably are judging us but they're just too scared to say anything because of Rafe.