Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book #8)(39)
“No.” A tiny laugh escapes me. “She’s not exactly the collegiate type. She’s more or less taking the world by the horns.” I shake my head as I pick up my drink. “Riding that bull.” For all to see, but I leave that part out.
“I get it. College isn’t for everyone. In fact, I’ll be glad when I’m done with grad school.”
“You apply?”
“Yup. Got in, too, right here at Briggs. It’s just an extra year, so it won’t kill me. Plus, I’ll get to hang out with you.” His lip tugs with a naughty grin, but he won’t give it.
“You’ll be snatched up way before then. I’m pretty sure I’ll be long off your radar by graduation. You mentioned you had a girlfriend once. Whatever became of you two?”
“She left me.” He closes his eyes a brief moment. “Actually, that’s not exactly how it went, but that’s over now. And how about you? Anyone lurking in your past?”
“Only a couple of morons that I’m more than glad to be rid of. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?”
“Amen.” Cade picks up my hand, and my heart flutters like a thirteen-year-old’s. On some level, it feels silly to have such a visceral reaction. He tips his head and openly looks to my scar, speaking without words, letting me know we’re going there again. “Can I ask what happened?”
The city lights below glisten and wink as if giving me the okay to do so.
“Let’s just say my daddy was a traveling man. He went out one night after a nasty fight with my momma, and I knew he was taking off for good.” A tight knot constricts in my throat until the next few words become too painful to push out.
Cade brings my hand to his lips and dots it with a kiss. “Take your time,” he whispers so sweetly I wish to God there wasn’t a center console locked between us.
I blow a breath through my lips. “He yelled and told me to get back inside. I didn’t listen. I watched as he melted down the road. I’ll never forget those taillights. I remember thinking they glowed like cherries in the night, and to this day, I’m still a little sad when I look at that haunting color.” A mean shudder runs through me. “Anyway, I met up with a pack of neighborhood thugs.” I wrinkle my nose at him. “Pack of dogs. They hadn’t been properly fed in days, and there I was looking like a steak.” I touch my finger to my cheek, ending that mystery for him. “I blacked out after that.”
“Shit.” Cade wraps his arms around me, dotting a string of soft kisses up around my ear before pulling back. “I take it that explains why you’re so gun-shy around Buddy.”
“Oh, it’s not just Buddy. I tend to stay away from all of that furry kind. Became a cat person on that very day.” I try to lighten the mood. Each and every time I relay that information, I can’t help but feel like a killjoy, and that’s the very reason I’ve only told a handful of people.
“It’s not a big deal, really.” I blink back the tears blurring my vision. “I don’t want to talk about it anyway. Hey, isn’t that movie about to start?” Good God, look at me cheering on the exact activity I dread to do.
Cade starts up the car and drives us over to the Cineplex where we get out and hold hands like any ordinary couple. I don’t see a soul I recognize from Whitney Briggs. It’s as if we’ve landed somewhere else on the planet entirely.
Cade and I watch some shoot ’em up action flick, and I let him hold me, openly thread our fingers together, and finally lock my lips right there in the theater. One thing is for sure, I can’t get enough of this boy.
Once he finds his unicorn and trots off into the sunset, I’ll be left with a scar on my heart far more deforming than the one on my face. Yes, this will end badly I predict.
I snuggle deeper into his arms as the movie drones on.
It’s moments like these that will make a bad ending to our story worth its heartbreaking while.
To all of the unassuming people around us, we must look like a regular couple. We feel like a couple. A few more steps in the right direction, and, for all practical purposes, we will be. But the proverbial boat is rocking. My gut says jump overboard while you have the chance and swim to safety. If I stick around too long, I might just go under.
Who am I kidding? Cade James dragged me under a long time ago.
Once the movie is over, we head through the lobby, hand-in-hand, swinging away as if we hadn’t a care in the world, and then just like that, Cade freezes. His feet stop moving, his eyes stare straight ahead, stony and serious. Before I can try to catch a glimpse at whatever it is that’s captured his attention, he spins us around and starts striding in the opposite direction at an impossibly quick clip.
“What’s up, sweetie? You look like you’ve seen the Grim Reaper holding up a sign with your name on it.” Something tells me he wouldn’t be this afraid of crossing over to the other side. Nope, whatever has Cade spooked is something that very much anchors him to the here and now.
“It’s nothing. I just thought we should get home.” His entire body sighs with relief once we hit the cool night air. “You ready to put that leash to good use?”
“Oh, hon, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will make the things I’ve done to you so far seem like child’s play.” I glance back at the movie theater with a mob of bodies bleeding out of every orifice and wonder exactly who it is Cade is running from. Then it hits me. Cade isn’t running from anyone on his own. It’s me he doesn’t want to show off. God, what if there’s a girlfriend? No way. I’ve been over way too much, and this boy is giving all he’s got.