Page 24 of Rainstorm

I try taking a deep breath, filling my lungs.

It’s impossible. They are filled with something else. Loss. Tears that I refuse to shed in front of him.

I ignore his pleas, closing the door behind me. In my entire life, nothing has ever been as painful as this.

He wants to be free? Well, he can be as free as he wants, I’m outta here.

I will not be his burden anymore.

I can take care of myself. I have no idea how, but I’ll find a way.

I might have to give up on everything we have built together, but I will hold onto my dignity, my pride, and my courage.

Miraculously, I manage to get in my car before I break down and start crying. Tears escape from my eyes like rain drops from the sky above, and sadly there is nothing I can do to stop the flood once it starts.

The rainstorm and I are becoming one.

Chapter 6

Chase

About six years ago

I was walking on clouds.

I had this beautiful sunshine girl sashaying alongside me, close enough for me to place my fingertips against the small of her back.

Feeling her shudder. Feeling her breath change with every little touch. Ecstatic because the night—our night—had just begun.

I was enjoying all these subtle foreplays, just thankful that she seemed impressed by the restaurant I’d picked out, since I’d struggled to come up with somewhere perfect.

When you haven’t a clue where to go, what do you do?

You Google it, right?

So I’d put my laptop to good use, searching for the perfect place to impress the perfect girl. It was all about having a good time, showing her how captivated I was, how much that evening meant to me. The caveman inside me screamed ‘just make her forget all previous first dates. Make a memory, a fucking great one’.

That’s why a patio table for two in a highly rated trendy Mediterranean style restaurant located in West Hollywood awaited us.

The big smile pulling up her lips was my first reward of the night.

“Like it?”

It was a redundant question, but I wanted her to acknowledge her approval of my choice of venue for our first date. The self-indulgent side of me was taking over, as if emerging from the shadows the surrounding trees cast onto the cobblestone tiles, with little hanging lanterns creating a magical path for us.

“This is awesome, thank you.”

“So how am I doing? I hope you’re impressed,” I teased, already pretty sure of the answer.

“You’re impressing me just by being you.” As those words left her gorgeous pouty mouth, I was dying to kiss her, but I didn’t want to rush things and scare her off.

I had to be patient, so I could only anticipate how she would taste, if her lips had the spice of her sassiness, the sweetness of her smile and the warmth of her honeyed skin.

But the spark was undeniably there between us heating, burning. Shining.

The things she was doing to me. My head was dizzy with hot, hard lust, but also with something more powerful.

A fierce thread entwining me. As lush as her thick, dark hair.

---