He chuckled, furthering the distance between us. “Good point. Are you ready?” He asked, lifting the ball.
“Yeah,” I answered, holding up my hands.
He launched the ball at me and I caught it, but the force sent me falling to the ground while the football lodged itself in my stomach. I choked on air.
“Rae?!” He ran towards me and fell to his knees beside me. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think I threw it that hard.”
When I managed to get enough air into my lungs, I said, “Do you enjoy knocking me down?”
He laughed at that while looking me over for injuries. “You do seem to fall a lot around me.”
“Fall?” I raised a brow, my hand cradling my stomach where I knew I’d end up with a massive bruise. “Falling would mean that I’m just a klutz and trip over things.”
He chuckled and started lifting my shirt.
“Hey,” I swatted his hands away, “stop that!”
“What?” He looked at me with innocent blue eyes. “I was just looking you over.”
“Well, can you not?” I grasped the end of my shirt tightly in my fists.
“I’ve seen you in a bra before, what’s the big deal?” He shrugged. “Besides, I wasn’t going to take it off. I was only lifting it,” he defended. Suddenly, his eyes widened with understanding. “Is this about the scar?”
“No,” I lied, looking away from his eyes that always saw too much.
“I’ve already seen the scar, Rae. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” I repeated. The scar on my abdomen was large, raised, jagged, and a disgusting shade of pink. There was nothing not that bad about it.
Cade sighed and his eyes darkened. “Everyone has scars. Everyone. Sometimes, you can’t see them and those can be the worst.”
I closed my eyes and breathed out. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” I apologized. “The scar is…it’s a touchy subject for me.”
Cade looked at me and his lips twisted—almost like he wanted to laugh at me. “Most subjects are touchy for you.”
It was true.
Since our game of catch had turned into a failed kiss, and now this, I thought it might be best if we headed back to the dorms. “I think we should head back.” I pointed towards the entrance we’d come through.
“No way,” he shook his head. “It’s just starting to get dark.”
“That’s precisely why we should go back.” I sat up, picking grass off my jeans.
He shook his head. “There’s something else I want you to see. Please, stay with me a little longer?”
If this ‘something else’ turned out like everything else had in the past twenty minutes then I was sure it would end in disaster. But I agreed anyway. “Okay.”
He grinned like a little boy, his eyes lighting up, and my heart soared. I made him smile like that—and that smile of his always made my heart speed up.
“Come on,” he helped me up and didn’t let go of my hand as he guided me to the center of the field. He sat down and then stretched out on his back, so I did the same. Our hands stayed connected, making my body warm. “Do you feel it?” He whispered. “The energy? Even when there’s not a crowd here I still get a buzz in my veins.”
“Yeah, I feel it,” I whispered back. A few minutes passed. “Why are we laying here?” I mean, this was nice and all, but I didn’t understand why he’d begged me to stay for this.
He chuckled and turned his head so that his breath tickled my skin. Even in the dimming light I could still see his eyes sparkling. “You don’t have a patient bone in your body, do you?”
“No,” I laughed, smiling at him.
“Coach gave me a key to the stadium so I could practice whenever I want,” Cade explained even though I hadn’t asked him about that. “I don’t think I’ve actually come in here once to practice on my own,” he chuckled. “Instead, I come here when I need to think. I need to think a lot,” he muttered the last part under his breath. “I especially like to come here at night, when I can look up at the stars. It makes me feel like a kid again, camping in the backyard. It reminds me of a time when things were simple and there wasn’t this…this…pressure. When everyone was happy.”