Praying for Rain (Praying for Rain Trilogy, #1)(53)

“Oh.” Rain’s face falls as she turns to look at the twin mounds of dirt again. “No,” she says with a heartbroken yet somehow hopeful look on her face. “I’ll tell them in person when I see them again.”

I nod, hoping that time comes later rather than sooner.

“So, what do we do now?” Rain sniffles, looking around. “What’s the new plan?”

“My only plan is to sit in that tree house”—I point in the direction of the wooden box a few yards away—“watch the sun set with this super-hot girl I kidnapped a few days ago, and then maybe make her dinner. I saw that this place has spaghetti and pancake syrup.”

Rain pulls her thin, dark eyebrows together. “You mean, you’re just … giving up?”

“No,” I say, taking her by the hand and leading her toward our home away from fucked up home. “I’ve just had a change of priorities; that’s all.”

“What could you possibly prioritize over surviving?” Rain asks, becoming eye-level with me as she steps onto the first rung of the tree-house ladder.

“Living.” I smile.

Then, I lean forward and kiss my girl while I still can.





Rain


Living.

The moment Wes’s lips touch mine, I understand exactly what he means. All the death—both past and future—falls away, and there’s only him. My living, breathing present.

I’m overwhelmed with love for him. I love him for coming back for me. I love him for saving my life even though I only have a few hours of it left. I love him for doing for my parents what I was too weak to do myself.

“I love you,” I whisper against his lips, needing to say it out loud. Needing him to hear it.

Wes doesn’t respond at first. He simply closes his eyes and presses his forehead to mine. Whatever he’s about to say feels important, so I hold my breath as he takes one big enough for the both of us.

“The moment I saw you, I knew I was fucked.” His voice is raspy and low. “I knew it when I used my last bullet to pull you out of Burger Palace instead of saving it. I knew it when I pulled that stupid fucking stunt with the dogs instead of leaving you at Huckabee Foods. I knew it when I got shot for you, when I got a flat tire because of you, and when I went back into a burning building to find your ass. The whole time, I thought you were distracting me from my mission, but it wasn’t until you left that I realized you were my mission.” Wes opens his eyes, and his pupils drink me in. “I think I came here to find you, Rain. I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure that out.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I whisper around the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry. It sounds like I’ve been a real pain in the ass.”

Wes laughs, and the vision is so beautiful that I feel like I’m looking into the sun. I take a picture of him with my mind, the way he looks right now—backlit by an orange sky, white teeth glowing in his crescent smile, and a lock of brown hair grazing his perfect cheekbone. I want to remember this moment forever.

Even if forever is only for tonight.

“I fucking love you,” he says with that perfect smile just before it crashes against mine.

I let go of the ladder and wrap my arms around Wes’s neck, knowing without a shred of doubt that he won’t let me fall. What I don’t expect is for him to grab the backs of my thighs and wrap them around his waist in the process. It’s fitting that I’m no longer attached to the earth because that’s how I feel whenever I kiss Wes—supported, secure, suspended above my problems.

His tongue and teeth aren’t gentle as they take what they want, and neither is his body as it presses mine against the ladder. Desperation fuels us as we bite and suck and push and pull. We have so much lost time to make up for and so little of it left to spare. April 23 is almost over, and every heartbeat that pumps through my veins is another second I’ve wasted not making love to this man.

I lock my ankles behind Wes’s back as he reaches over my head to grab the ladder. Squeezing my eyes shut, I hold on tight as he begins to climb, never once breaking our kiss. As soon as Wes reaches the top, we become a blur of hands and zippers and shirts and skin.

I lift my ass off the plywood floor as Wes shimmies my pants and panties off. Then, I part my knees for him as he frees himself from his jeans. As he climbs over me, I reach for him, desperate for him to fill me—to make me whole again—but Wes stills and gazes down at me instead.

“What is it?” I ask, reaching up to cup his stubbled cheek.

Two deep lines have formed between his dark eyebrows. I feel mine do the same.

“Nothing. I just … wanted to look at you …”

One last time, his sad smile says.

I don’t want to see that look, so I kiss it away as I lift my hips to let him in.

But something happens as soon as Wes and I are joined. All that time that felt like it was slipping away? It doesn’t just slow down. It stops. We inhale. We exhale. We kiss. We connect. And when we finally start moving again, it’s with the lazy grace of melting ice cream.

Because that’s all we are.

Something to be savored before it disappears.





Wes


“This is so nice.” Rain sighs as she rests her head on my shoulder.