Kade's feet move loudly across the porch and Dad slams the door. He takes several deep breaths as though he's holding himself back. Then he looks up to notice me for the first time, and tears are gathered in his eyes just as they are in mine.
He starts to speak, but there aren't any words. Instead, he nods once to me, and I nod back as a silent conversation passes between us. Then he walks away, leaving me to sob on the steps. Maybe now Kade will just leave me alone.
A loud thud in my room and a slight groan startles me, and I rush back up the stairs to find Kade climbing back up from the floor under the window. How the hell he did he get in here? That tree is almost five feet away, and it's the closest means of climbing.
"I knew you'd be on the top floor," he mumbles, rubbing his side as though it hurts.
"Kade, are you crazy?" I gasp, ignoring the pang of desire I feel when his eyes meet mine.
He shakes his head as he dusts his clothes back into place and he heads over to the door to shut it, letting his body brush against mine along the way.
"Crazy?" he asks, turning back around, looking as weary as I feel. "Raya, I passed crazy a long damn time ago. I've done everything I know to do. I'm not letting you go. I can't. Not unless you can tell me you don't give a damn about me at all. Can you do that? Because judging by those tears in your eyes, you still want to be with me, but you're just too fucking stubborn to listen to me."
His tone is attempting to be even, but his exhaustion makes it come across as frustrated. He takes a step toward me, and I take one step back, keeping the distance between us.
"Your father is right. You're so much better than me, too good for me. You're the most incredible person I could have ever found, and I'm the biggest jerk in the world."
He's being too loud. Dad has to be able to hear him. Maybe he'll come up and toss Kade out... through the downstairs doorway, of course. Not my window.
"He didn't phrase it like that," I softly interject, trying not to sound as breathless as I feel.
Kade smiles, and my heartbeat speeds up even more. He keeps himself between me and the door, cutting me off from any escape. The window is out of the question. I still don't know if he jumped from that tree, but I'll kick his ass if he did. Well, I'll try to kick his ass.
"He should have," Kade says, taking another step toward me and making me step back again.
"Please go, Kade," I almost whimper.
"Not this time, Raya. Even if you forced me out, I wouldn't give up. I'll jump from that fucking ridiculously scary tree everyday if you make me. Just try to leave the window up for me from now on. It's hard to hang on and force a window up."
His playful grin doesn't match his serious eyes. Another step forward for him, and another step back for me. This time, my
back hits the wall, ending my room for retreat, and Kade smirks before taking another step toward me, keeping that predatory gleam in his eyes.
"You don't feel like you're good enough, and that doesn't make a damn bit of sense to me. I couldn't give a fuck about your father or what he did. I wouldn't give a damn if you had done the same thing," he says, destroying any illusion of strength I thought I had left.
Be strong, Raya. Please be strong.
"My father is a con. Even if he's not out conning the world the way he used to, his past will haunt you just as it does me. No one in this society will ever back you if you have me and my reputation tethered to you. They'll whisper, gossip, and run your name through the ground. Just like they did mine back home. It'll catch up with me here. I'm sure Courtney is already spreading the word. You need to-"
"I need to be with you. That's all I need. My father's name holds more weight in this town than Courtney's or her family's. Even if it didn't, so what. I don't care what anyone thinks. I've spent my life worrying about the opinions everyone else has. I've spent too much time playing some stupid, elaborate game that I don't care about anymore. I was hooked. That's all.
"I was hooked on the game... just like your dad, Raya. I'm nothing more than a con. I don't have a single genuine friend outside my family. I realized that almost as soon as you left. I'm the one people should look down on. I'm the one who could tarnish your name. But I won't be this way anymore. Fuck it all. I want real friends - people who are there for me when I need them, just like my family. Just like you were."
More of my tears heat my cheeks as they trail free, but I'm paralyzed. I can't move to wipe them away, because he's shocked me into a frozen state. I should say something, probably, but I can't. What in the hell could I possibly say?
He takes another step, and then another, until at last he's close enough to touch me. And he does. He tilts my head up with one hand, and then cradles it, while his other hand moves to be at my waist.
"You were all I wanted to see when Granddad went into the hospital, and you came. Even after all I did, you came. After the way I treated you, you risked it all to help me. I lost more than my girlfriend when I pushed you away. I lost the only friend I had ever made on my own. I don't want to lose you, Raya. I can't. I'm not hooked on the game anymore. I'm simply hooked on you. I love you," he murmurs softly, leaning down and brushing his lips against mine.
His confession of love melts every bit of lingering strength I have, and my arms fly up around his neck to pull him down to me, deepening the soft kiss. His daring tongue sweeps in, and my fingers thread through his hair when I start losing what little control I have.
I hear the front door open and shut, a car crank and pull out of the driveway, and then I feel Kade's smile. We're all alone. Dad apparently knew what was about to happen.
Kade jerks open the button on my shorts, and I don't waste any time pushing them down, letting them take my panties with them. He rips me up, and my legs wrap around his waist as his glorious tongue ring makes me think back to all the delicious things he can do.
The only sounds in the room are our torrid moans and clothes dropping. At last, we're both naked, but still entangled as he presses my back against the wall. Without warning, he's suddenly buried inside me, and I gasp as the feel of his bare erection makes my eyes roll back in my head.
"Fuck," he hisses, tugging at my lower lip with his teeth, and then he starts moving when he needs more.