Chapter 6 Breaking Point
1210 Words
Teri had never been good at sitting still.
Apparently, Raf expected her to do exactly that.
Ever since her ribs had betrayed her at the worst possible moment, he had switched gears entirely.
No more smirking. No more teasing. No more of that cocky amusement in his stupidly green eyes that made her want to punch him or kiss him—or both.
Now?
Now, he was just pissed.
Not that he’d said it outright, of course.
No, Raffael Esposito didn’t do obvious.
He just hovered.
Watched.
And right now, sat by the fire sharpening a piece of wood into a very concerning-looking weapon, his jaw tight, his muscles tense as hell.
Teri scowled.
Okay. Enough of this.
“You know,” she muttered, shifting against the makeshift bedding of palm leaves and whatever else he’d scrounged up, trying to ignore the sharp spike of pain lancing through her side, “if you’re gonna babysit me, the least you could do is bring me a cocktail.”
Raf didn’t look at her.
He kept sharpening the stick.
Teri narrowed her eyes. “Are you planning to murder me in my sleep?” she prodded. “Or is that just for the next guy who tells you to lighten up?”
Still nothing.
She exhaled sharply, frustration buzzing beneath her skin.
“Raf, you cannot seriously be giving me the silent treatment—”
“You have a fever.”
The words were flat. Cold.
Teri blinked.
Not the response she expected.
“Uh. Yeah,” she said slowly. “I figured that out when I nearly face-planted into the dirt earlier.”
His grip tightened on the stick.
“You should be getting better,” he muttered, standing abruptly. Pacing.
Teri snorted. “Oh, my bad. Next time I save an unconscious man from drowning, I’ll make sure to let him float away instead.”
His jaw clenched.
“You think this is funny?”
Teri exhaled, sitting up carefully. Too carefully.
“I think,” she said, matching his glare, “that if you have something to say, you should just say it.”
His green eyes flashed.
“Fine,” he bit out, tossing the stick into the fire. “You should’ve saved yourself first.”
The heat in his voice caught her off guard.
For the first time, his irritation sounded less like frustration—and more like something else.
Something she wasn’t sure she was ready to name.
“Raf—”
“You nearly drowned,” he continued, voice sharp. “You pulled me—me—out of the ocean, when you could barely hold yourself up.”
“That’s how rescuing someone works,” she pointed out.
His green eyes burned into her. “You could have died.”
Teri swallowed.
She hated this.
Hated the way he was looking at her like she’d made some kind of irreversible mistake.
Like she should be ashamed of what she did.
She licked her dry lips, trying to find something, anything, to break the moment.
“What’s wrong, Raf?” she teased weakly. “Afraid of owing me one?”
His entire body stiffened.
And then—he laughed.
Not real laughter.
Something dark, bitter.
And when he turned back to her, his expression was unreadable.
“That’s cute,” he murmured. “You think this is about a debt?”
Teri froze.
Something about his tone—low, almost cruel—sent an unexpected chill down her spine.
And suddenly, she didn’t know if she wanted the answer to that question.
Shit.
She shifted slightly, trying to sit up straighter, and that was a mistake.
A sharp, searing pain tore through her side, white-hot and nauseating.
Teri’s breath hitched.
No. No, no, no.
Not now. Not when he was already looking at her like she was a walking disaster.
She forced a smirk, pretending like the movement hadn’t sent her vision tunneling.
“Oh, I see,” she said, tilting her head. “So it’s not me that’s the inconvenience—it’s that your rich and powerful friends are taking their sweet time, huh?”
His green eyes flicked to her, sharp and unreadable.
And for the first time since she met him, she felt off balance.
Like she’d said too much without knowing why.
The silence stretched.
Thick. Unyielding.
Then, finally, he moved.
Turned his back.
And started walking away.
Teri felt something snap.
“Oh, great,” she muttered, propping herself up on her elbows—**no, bad idea, bad idea—**vision swaying. “Silent brooding? That’s your move?”
He stopped cold.
Didn’t turn.
Didn’t speak.
She exhaled sharply, exhausted, voice quieter now.
“Why does it bother you so much?”
That—that made him turn.
And his face was unreadable.
“What?”
Teri’s stomach twisted.
She swallowed. “That I saved you. That I didn’t let you drown.”
A sharp exhale.
A flash of something dark in his gaze.
Then—without another word—he stormed off.
And she had no idea why that hurt so much.
———Raf’s POV
Raf didn’t go far.
He just needed space.
A second to think.
A second to stop himself from dragging her into his arms and telling her exactly how wrong she was.
Because this wasn’t about inconvenience.
This wasn’t about frustration.
This was about the fact that he was terrified.
And worse—he had no right to be.
She had saved his life.
She was burning up, getting weaker.
And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
His fists clenched.
He had never felt this helpless.
And he hated it.
But what scared him more?
The fact that he didn’t just hate it—he hated the thought of losing her.
And that?
That was the real problem.
He exhaled hard, running a hand through his hair.
He should be focusing. Planning. Fixing this.
But all he could think about was the way she had swayed when she sat up.
The way her smirk had faltered—just for a second.
The way she’d cradled her ribs like she didn’t want him to notice.
Like she was hiding something.
Raf’s jaw clenched.
Oh, hell no.
He turned sharply on his heel, striding back toward her.
Teri barely had time to look up before he was kneeling in front of her, his hands already at the hem of her shirt.
Her eyes widened. “Uh—excuse you—”
“Shut up.”
She gaped at him. “Wow. Romance is truly dead.”
He ignored her, pushing the fabric up—and then froze.
His stomach dropped.
“Jesus, Teri.”
Her side was a mess.
The gash was red, swollen, ugly streaks creeping outward in a way that made every alarm in his head start blaring.
“Well,” she muttered. “That’s not great.”
Raf’s jaw locked.
He didn’t speak.
Didn’t move.
Because if he did, he was going to lose his damn mind.
Instead, he exhaled slowly.
Then:
“You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?”
Teri, despite everything, grinned.
“Yeah,” she rasped. “But you’d be bored without me.”
- Writer
