I laughed. Only Cade. “Yes, very good.” There was no point in lying now. Besides, I was sick and tired of denying my feelings to him and myself. I didn’t have to be ashamed. Not anymore.
He grinned like a little boy who’d just been given the best Christmas present ever.
He was cut off from saying anything further as Jace’s voice rang out around us.
Jace didn’t bother to introduce himself to the patrons. His voice was soft, almost hesitant as he started, but as the song picked up so did his voice. He closed his eyes and I knew he felt the words he was singing.
“Holy shit,” Nova muttered. “I think I just fell in love.”
I snorted at that. Cade turned to me at the sound, the same grin still on his face. I loved his smile, and maybe if given a little more time, I could fall in love with him.
Then again, maybe I was already there and too stupid to see it.
Jace’s voice might’ve been incredible, but I found myself unable to take my eyes off the man beside me.
“You want to get out of here?” Cade asked, his eyes heated.
“Yes,” I breathed. I wanted that more than I wanted anything else in the world.
Cade turned to Xander and said, “Excuse us.”
Xander smiled knowingly and slid out of the booth so we could follow.
“Can you take Thea back to the dorms?” Cade asked him, grabbing ahold of his arm before he could sit back down.
“Yeah,” Xander shrugged, “that’s not a problem.”
Cade released him and Xander sat down.
We shrugged into our coats and he reached for my hand, entwining our fingers together. His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Let’s go.”
The chaos of the bar melted away along with the soulful sound of Jace’s voice.
Cade pushed open the door and we stepped outside. In the short time we’d been inside the world had been covered in a thin sheet of white snow. It fell down around us in tiny white puffs like the feathers of an angel.
Our collective breaths fogged the air and I couldn’t help smiling.
This moment it was perfect, and Cade was about to make it even more perfect.
“Rae?” He asked, his voice thick with emotion. Little flakes of snow stuck in his hair.
“Yeah?” The one word sounded like a gasp.
“I really want to kiss you right now, but I don’t want to scare you.”
I closed my eyes, a smile on my lips. If only he knew how many times I had wanted him to kiss me and he hadn’t.
“Kissing me would be more than okay. If you don’t, I might never speak to you again.” I opened my eyes so he could see that I was serious.
“Really?” He smiled cockily, stepping forward. “You’d give me the silent treatment?” He cupped my cheeks in his large hands, and his touch managed to heat my whole body.
“Oh, shut up.” And then I did something that completely shocked Cade.
I took charge.
Yep, that’s right. I took what I wanted and that was a kiss from Cade.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and even though I was tall he was even taller so I stood on my tiptoes, and pressed my lips to his.