Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

He shrugged. “Coach gave us the morning off. I thought we could run together.”

“Don’t you want a break?” I questioned. If this was a chance for him to relax and sleep in I didn’t understand why he was here.

He shook his head, his lips curving up. “Nah, I’d rather run with you.”

I started at his words. He wanted to run with me? Even though it shouldn’t have, his words pleased me. I stood up, hiding my smile, and descended the rest of the steps. “I guess we better start running then.” Without giving him a moment to join me I took off. It didn’t take him long to catch up. He shortened his strides to match mine. I didn’t mind having him run with me this time. In fact, I found his presence almost comforting. I hadn’t liked him, didn’t want to like him, but just like his sister he’d weaseled his way into my life and made it impossible to resist him.

By the time I would’ve normally started heading back to my dorm, Cade slowed to a walk. He grasped my arm and tugged slightly. Nodding his head in the other direction, he said, “Come this way.”

I followed him, because apparently all rational thought had been flushed down the toilet the moment I saw him sitting on the steps.

He found a grassy spot and sat down, drawing his knees up and draping his arms overtop.

I sat down too, plucking at my damp top.

“Why are we here?” I asked, my breath coming out as a pant.

“No reason,” he shrugged, flicking his hair out of his eyes. “I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to you.” He grinned boyishly.

“Hey, you shaved.” I couldn’t believe I’d just now noticed.

He chuckled and scrubbed a hand over his bare jaw. “Yeah, coach doesn’t like us to look homeless when we have a game and interviews, so it had to go.”

“Homeless?” I laughed.

“Coach’s words, not mine.” He held his hands up defensively.

“So you have a game coming up?” I wasn’t into football so I never kept track of such things.

“Yeah, on Saturday.” He looked away briefly at a spot where a flock of birds were fighting over a crumb. “Will Sunday work for our…non-date?”

I laughed at his terminology. “Sunday is fine.”

He stared at me for a moment, his blue eyes like twin flames. “Will you come to my game?”

“I-I-” I stuttered. I hadn’t been expecting him to ask that and I didn’t know how to respond. “Football isn’t my thing.”

“Please?” He begged. “I want you there.”

I didn’t know what to make of that.

When I didn’t reply immediately he said, “If you won’t come for me, will you at least come for Thea? It’s a home game, obviously, and I don’t want her being harassed because of who I am.”

Cade knew exactly what to say to weaken my resolve. Damn him.

“I’ll go,” I finally relented. “For both of you,” I added, and he grinned. I liked Cade’s smile. It lit up his whole face and softened his chiseled features.

“Thank you.” He reached for my hand and grasped it briefly before letting go.

My hand tingled with warmth where he’d touched it. I schooled my features so he couldn’t see how much that single touch effected me.

A part of me wanted to believe that the reason Cade had such an effect on me was because I’d spent so long without human contact like this. But I knew deep down that wasn’t the case. It was just Cade.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked.

“Nothing.” I lowered my head.

“Liar,” he chuckled warmly. “That wrinkle between your brows says otherwise.” He waved a finger towards my face. “Come on, tell me. Don’t make me beg.”