Anything but Minor - Kate Stewart Page 0,78
as she eyed their table and turned worried eyes back to me. “Please don’t hate me.”
“You could’ve hated me. You could’ve played it so differently. You never even threw your hat in the ring.” I shook my head as I choked on the burn of the shot.
“I never had a chance,” she said as she turned to me. “And I’m so happy for you both.”
I shrugged. “It was a fairytale, and it’s midnight. How am I going to do this without you?”
“Don’t think like that,” she insisted. “And I’m only going to be five hours away.”
“I want this to be different for both of us,” I said wistfully.
“Me too. But, hey,” she assured with a shaky voice, “I’ll find him. He’s out there. Or you know what, fuck that. He will find me.”
“Toast to that,” I said as she filled our glasses again and I tossed back the sweet but potent concoction.
Kristina and I were a disaster an hour after that. We’d downed one too many shots and ended up spraying each other with the bar guns as angry patrons waited for beers.
Endless I love yous were exchanged between Kristina and I as Rafe looked on with a smirk, and Andy fought us for our guns and got soaked in the process. Dripping wet and still shattered, I looked over to Rafe as the worst of the buzz hit me, and I realized my mistake. My devastation must have reared its ugly head because minutes later, I was in his Jeep, staring at the sky above as I fought for breath.
Hours after I helped Rafe pack, I lay in his bed, wrapped in his arms, and stared at the ceiling fan in the dark. His room was half-lit by the moon coming through the window and the blue lights emitting from our charging iPhones. I couldn’t bring myself to look anywhere else. I knew on the floor next to the bathroom was a set of bags that held his essentials for months, not weeks. I knew on my keyring on the table next to that luggage was a newly added spare key to his Jeep. He hadn’t given me too many details, but I knew that soon the whole room would be empty and he would be living in Denver while I remained in Charleston.
He was leaving.
He was leaving to start his Major career, a career that would probably mean the end of us. I stared at the fan as it circled, and Rafe tightened his grip on me. It had been hours since he’d taken me and made me whole, only to rip me apart again with the look on his face. I braved a whisper in the dark, too afraid to look at him, and unsure if he was awake.
“Rafe?”
“Yeah, baby?” Tears threatened as I realized he was just as pensive as I was.
“I need you to teach me how to play it cool.”
His lips brushed my temple as my chest finally exploded, and I stifled a sob. Soft lips brushed my shoulder before he moved to whisper softly in my ear. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” I heard my voice shake as he pulled me closer and whispered again.
“I fell for you the way you are.”
“That’s selfish.”
“And I always will be when it comes to you.”
“Promise?” I turned to look over at him, and despite the lack of light, I could clearly see the worry in his features. I hated myself for dampening a day that should be the greatest of his life.
“Alice—”
“You’re right. You can’t promise me anything. You never have.”
“That’s not true.”
He moved to hover above me as he attempted to wipe the pain from my face with his fingers, and then with his words and kiss.
“Do you believe that I love you, Alice?”
I nodded, furious with myself. “Yes.”
“That’s my promise.”
I nodded again as he kissed me deeply and sank between my legs.
“Alice, listen to me,” he said as he eased my t-shirt up and over my head. “The world could disappear tomorrow and I’d only worry about a fucking tiny list of people. But the thing I would need in order to breathe again would be to see your face,” he declared as he pushed his fingers inside me and my breath caught. I arched my back and spread wider as he sipped my nipples and then rubbed the thick head of him through my folds. I was deliciously sore but moaned my welcome.
“Rafe,” I rasped out as he drove into me.
“We won’t disappear,” he promised