Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

I pulled my arm from his hold, since he still hadn’t let go. Unfortunately it did nothing to alleviate the feelings he produced inside me.

He saw the ball and looked behind him. That’s when I noticed the other sweaty guys watching us. They were all good looking but they had nothing on the Adonis in front of me.

“They can wait,” he grinned, looking boyish. “What’s your name?”

I couldn’t understand why Hottie-McHot-Pants was talking to me. I was nothing special. From the looks of him he had to be a junior or a senior and I was a freshman. Besides, if he was interested in an easy lay he needed to look elsewhere.

“Why do you want to know?” I countered.

He chuckled. “I mean, I did lay on top of you, so I figured I should at least know your name.”

My cheeks heated further and I bit down on my tongue. Something told me he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I told him my name. “Rachael,” I answered automatically. “But I prefer to be called Rae,” I hastened to add.

“Rae,” he repeated, a small smile causing his lips to crook at the corners, “I like it.” He held out his hand. “I’m Cade.”

I looked at his hand and then at his face before taking a step back. “I didn’t ask for your name.”

He let his hand fall and smiled like he wasn’t at all upset by my actions. Chuckling he said, “Well, now you know it.”

Giving him an awkward smile, I turned to leave.

I only made it three steps before he called, “Rae?”

I swiveled around to face him and tilted my head to the side. “Yeah?”

“I’ll see you around.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. I could tell Cade was the very determined type. Unfortunately for him, I was very determined not to know him or anyone for that matter. I was here to get my education and disappear again. I wasn’t looking for any connections. Connections meant feelings, and feelings meant attachments, and attachments made you do stupid things.

I’d lost the piece of paper with my dorm information and I almost went back to get it. But since I had it memorized, and going back meant taking the chance of running into Cade again, I decided not to.

The amount of people bustling around campus made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but it was easier to blend in and appear normal so I’d have to learn to deal with it.

I jogged up the steps of my dorm building and breezed inside.

I was nervous, but you wouldn’t know it if you saw me. I was a master at concealing my emotions.

Muttering my room number under my breath, I stopped outside the door when I found it.

I took a deep, steadying breath, and wrapped my hand around the knob.

This was it.

This was the moment that would forever change my life.

I knew it.

And then I walked into an explosion of Pepto-Bismol.

“What. The. Fuck?” I gasped, looking around at all the pink.

Pink be

dspread. Pink rug. Pink pillows. Pink blanket. Pink chair.

Pink everything.

“My eyes!” I cried as I slapped a hand over my face.