Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

I wrinkled my nose. Watch me? Like I needed a babysitter? Great.

“I’ll be right back,” Cade kissed my cheek. “Five minutes tops.”

He eased out the door, giving me a reassuring smile.

Brady threw an arm around my shoulder. “We don’t bite. You have nothing to be afraid of. Contrary to popular belief, most of us are quite lovable. Like big, muscular teddy bears.”

I laughed and he smiled.

“See? Nothing to be afraid of.” He dropped his arm and stood in front of me. “I remember you,” he stated.

“Remember me?” I asked, laughing. “But we’ve never met.”

“I distinctly remember lover boy tackling you on the sidewalk,” he smirked. “Who would’ve thought that would’ve spawned a relationship. The guy hasn’t dated anyone in all four years he’s been here. We would’ve thought he’d taken a vow of chastity if it weren’t for the…well…” He winced.

“It’s okay,” I laughed. “We’ve talked about it. I know he’s had hook-ups.”

“Well, then, that’s good. Otherwise this conversation could’ve been very bad for Cadie boy.”

I liked this guy. The others looked on curiously as Brady continued to talk. He was obviously the chattiest of the bunch.

I was surprised when Adam spoke up, sweeping his hair from his eyes. “We heard about what happened with Eric. That wasn’t cool.”

I flinched. I didn’t want to be reminded about Eric.

“Coach heard about it,” Brady informed me, sitting on the bench again. “Eric won’t be playing in our last game next week.”

My eyes widened in surprise. I hadn’t expected that.

Cade returned, changed into his workout gear. “You better not have scared her way,” Cade warned good-naturedly.

I smiled up at him. “Not at all. Your friends are great.”

“So,” Brady chuckled, “does this mean I can bring my girlfriend to workout?”

Cade snorted. “Yeah, if you can get her to stop talking about her nails for five minutes.”

Brady shook his head, smiling. “Yeah, she does talk about them a lot.”

Cade chuckled, bumping his friend’s shoulder with his fist as he passed. I followed him over to the row of treadmills.

“It’s not as good as running outside,” he shrugged, and waved a hand at the treadmills, “but it will do.”

I stood on one of the treadmills and he climbed on the other.

Once we started running there was no room for conversation, but that was okay. With Cade I didn’t need to fill every moment with chatter, being with him was enough.

twenty-four

“I want to kiss you.” Brett’s voice skated over my skin. My heart fluttered like a little bird trapped beneath my ribs. My first kiss. It was finally going to happen. I’d always known it would be Brett. Even as a little girl I’d known the boy next door was the man I was going to marry. He was my best friend, my everything. We shared everything together so it seemed natural that we’d share the rest of our lives too.

I stepped closer to him and draped my arms around his shoulders. Other couples swayed around us at the school dance but I was oblivious to them.

Brett lowered his head and his lips glided lightly against mine. It wasn’t even a kiss, just a simple brush of his lips, but I already felt my knees weakening.

His hand at my waist tightened and he deepened the kiss, slow at first, and then with more urgency.

He pulled away and murmured into my hair, “I love you, Rae.”