Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

“Who’s everyone?” I whispered, rolling onto my side to face him.

“My dad. My mom. My whole family,” he answered after a moment. His face darkened and an immeasurable sadness reflected in his eyes. Something bad happened to Cade, I could feel it. You didn’t get that kind of look in your eyes because your ice cream fell on the ground. No, Cade had suffered some sort of tragedy and that made me wonder if maybe he would understand what I’d been through—but I wasn’t willing to risk telling him the truth.

I saw that he didn’t want to elaborate, and since he hadn’t pushed me to reveal my secrets I would respect his boundaries.

“I like it out here,” I said instead, changing the subject.

He chuckled. “You do?”

“Mhmm,” I hummed. “I can see why you come here to think.”

I shivered from the cold and he murmured, “Come here,” as he pulled me into his arms. I laid my head on his chest, cradled below his neck. It didn’t feel stiff or awkward being in his arms. It felt right. More right than anything ever had before and that scared me. I didn?

??t try to move though.

He rubbed a hand up and down my arm, trying to create friction.

It didn’t take long for the whole sky to grow dark and for the stars to twinkle above us.

If I was honest with myself, I didn’t care about the stars or the moon or any of that.

I was here for one reason and one reason only—because Cade asked me to stay.

thirteen

“What the hell is going on here?” A gruff voice invaded my sleep.

I blinked my eyes open and the world came into focus—and the world, was not my dorm room like it should’ve been.

Instead, I was curled against Cade asleep on the football field.

And the man looming above us had to be the coach.

I looked beyond him and sighed in relief when I saw that it was only him. I’d been afraid the whole team might be looming behind him.

Cade sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Hey, coach.”

“Don’t ‘hey, coach’ me, Montgomery,” he scolded. “What the hell do you think you’re doing out here? And with a girlfriend no less?” The man plucked a toothpick from between his teeth.

“Sorry, coach,” Cade shrugged, seeming unaffected at being caught, “we were looking at the stars and fell asleep.”

“Well how romantic,” the coach droned. “That key is for practice use only. Not wooing this little lady here.” He waved a hand in my direction.

“It won’t happen again, coach,” Cade chuckled. I thought he should be more worried about us being caught, but he was completely at ease. I felt like running away.

“Like I believe that one, Montgomery.” The coach turned to walk away. “Walk that one back to her dorm and get ready for practice.”

“Yes, sir,” Cade called.

“Oh my God,” I clutched at my shirt, because I needed something to hold on to, “I can’t believe that just happened.”

Cade chuckled. “It’s okay. Coach was cool.”

“Cool? Cool? He did not seem cool with this to me,” I babbled, pushing my sleep mused hair off my forehead.

“Trust me, he was fine, and he didn’t really care. Coach likes to act tough but he’s really a softy.” Cade stood and stretched his arms above his head.

“I am mortified,” I continued, still sitting on the ground. At this point I wasn’t sure if I could even walk. “This is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me.”