Page 42 of Into the Light

“Really?” I responded, as Rain rarely spoke about such matters.

“It just felt too intimate,” Rain explained. “Aside from the fact that I find it utterly ridiculous.”

“I know Marissa and Pico enjoy it, but I don’t think I could ever do it again,” I admitted.

“If you were mine,” Rain murmured, his fingers gently tilting my chin upward. “I’d never share you.” His possessiveness startled me, as I had always envisioned myself with someone equally possessive, not someone who could share.

“Do you regret it?” Rain asked, his voice laced with hesitancy.

“No,” I replied without hesitation. “I consider it a life experience, but honestly, it’s not something I’m eager to repeat. I think I have other . . . preferences,” I confessed, my cheeks warming at the admission. It was a word I wouldn’t have uttered years ago, but I had evolved since then.

The corners of Rain’s lips twisted slightly. “You have other preferences, mi pareja?”

“I . . . I don’t know,” I stammered, feeling my cheeks flush even deeper. “Yes,” I finally admitted.

“Oh,” Rain responded, not pushing further. “Me too,” he whispered into my ear, and I turned to face away from him. I sensed his hand hovering near my waist, and then he shifted so his back pressed against mine. He lifted the covers, enveloping us both. Sleep began to claim me, but amid my drowsiness, I couldn’t help but reflect on everything Rain had done for me today—the risks he had taken, the confessions he had shared, and the deepening connection between us.

It was a revelation I hadn’t anticipated, but it kindled a fire of affection and desire within me that I couldn’t ignore.

Chapter fifteen

I woke up to a warm hand against my stomach and my body pressed tightly against a chest. It also felt like one of those weird déjà vu moments, where it felt so familiar yet so different, and I couldn’t quite place where I was.

I blinked in the morning light, realizing I was in Rain’s bed and his arm was wrapped around me. Rolling over, I faced him. His chest rose and fell, and his thick lashes rested on his cheek. His body was hard . . . all over. His boner poked my stomach, and he moaned.

“Are you going to stare at it or do something about it?” he murmured.

“Ew,” I exclaimed, playfully punching him on his rock-hard abs. He chuckled, stretching out and opening his eyes.

“Mornin’,” he mused. “What’re you doing today?”

I rolled over, lying on my back and gazing at the blank ceiling above me.

“I think I’m going to see Walsh,” I murmured. “But then I figured if you’re not busy, we could walk around campus and work on our project.”

“I know you want me to come with you to see him . . . I just can’t right now.”

I pressed a finger to his lips. “I know.”

As much as I wanted him to join me, I also understood the reason he couldn’t. Any movement toward the house would alert the others that we were investigating what was happening, and not in the way that Ash’s dad wanted us to. We were searching for the truth, trying to uncover the evidence.

I jumped out of bed, got dressed back in the same clothes I had worn yesterday, not caring I wasn’t dressed up, and shot off a text to Walsh, asking him to meet me at the coffee shop in town, away from the center of campus.

I grabbed my purse and looked at Rain, who was still watching me, propped up on his elbows.

“What?” I asked, shaking my head at him.

“You just got dressed in front of me.” I playfully slapped him on his chest again. “Come on, mi pareja, don’t fault me for being a man and looking.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I laughed and then started to leave the room before he grabbed my hand.

“Wait . . . you’re not waiting for me to walk you down?”

“Uh, honestly, I don’t know how this is supposed to go?” His hand held mine as he got out of bed.

“At the end of the day, Ember, I am your friend. If you were at a friend’s house, would they walk you to the door?”

“Yeah.” I remembered Marissa often walked me to the door.

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