Saving Rain(99)

How the hell had I not realized I felt the same when I looked at her?

“Sounds like you guys had a good day.”

Noah nodded, clearly proud of himself. “It was freakin’ awesome.”

She dropped her purse beside the door and wrapped her arm around Noah’s shoulders to kiss his cheek—until she leaned in close and scrunched her nose with disgust. “Oh God, kid, you stink!”

He pulled his shirt up and gave it a whiff. “Yeah, I smell like fish guts.”

“Lovely,” Ray grumbled, giving him a playful shove. “You’d better get in the shower before we eat.”

He rolled his eyes but agreed with a muttered, “Okay.” Then, he trudged his way down the hall to the bathroom, leaving us alone.

Ray approached slowly in her work clothes. A tight knee-length skirt. A formfitting sleeveless shirt. Modest black heels with just enough height to get me excited. I loved her in shorts and T-shirts, and there was something so attractive about her in my shirts. But this version of her … the librarian …

This was Sexy Ray. The Ray that screamed to be called Rain while on her knees in front of me.

“And what about you?” she asked, hips swaying. “Did you shower yet?”

My eyes were hooded as they met hers. “Yes, ma’am,” I replied before groaning at the warmth of her body pressed to mine.

One hand molded to her hip while the other slid up the length of her side to grip the back of her slender neck. Her lips curved into a relaxed smile as my fingers toyed with the curled ends of her hair hanging from her ponytail.

“Good,” she appraised, flattening her hands on my chest before tipping her head up, offering her mouth.

I kissed her softly, not intending to deepen the moment until she parted her lips with a silent plea for my tongue. It was unexpected when her desire for intimacy had been understandably hesitant at best since Seth’s attack weeks earlier. I hadn’t pushed for more than she was willing to offer, hadn’t even hinted at wanting more, but I couldn’t deny that I was grateful now as her hands slowly grazed the length of my shirt to hook her fingers through my belt loops, tugging my hips closer to her belly.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered against my lips, and whether that was to mean specifically today or the weeks since our world had been shaken, I wasn’t sure.

My hand on her neck slid around to graze my thumb across her cheekbone. Her smile widened as she looked into my eyes, and the words dangled at the tip of my tongue. Those three words I hadn’t uttered since my grandparents had died decades ago. Three little words I’d never thought I’d utter again. I wanted her to know. I wanted there to be no more time passed between now and her hearing the truth of my feelings for her.

“Here,” I said, nudging my head toward the couch. “Come over here with me.”

We sat together. Ray insisted on sitting in my lap, her fingers stroking the lengths of my hair. It was almost as if she needed to touch me, the contact necessary, and I found it nice. Relaxing. Every touch a reassurance of the truth in what we had between us.

“What’s up?” she asked, her brows coming together with a look of trepidation.

“Something happened today,” I began, wrapping one arm around her waist and laying my other hand against her thigh.

The worry lines on her forehead deepened. “Okay …”

“I told Noah why I was at Wayward.”

It was a point-blank statement, and judging by the look on her face, it wasn’t one she’d expected. In fact, she didn't look happy at all as her gaze fell to her lap and her jaw shifted with obvious irritability.

“Soldier … you had no right—”

“I know I should've run it by you first, and I'm sorry I didn't,” I quickly interjected, already jumping into fight-or-flight mode to keep her from getting mad. To keep her from leaving. “But he had asked, and I thought it would be better to just … lay it out and be honest instead of making him even more suspicious.”

“But why was he even suspicious at all?” Her eyes met mine, accusation heavy in her glare.

“Because he wanted to know why Seth had called me a murderer.”

Her eyes softened, and her shoulders slumped. “Oh …” She brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Oh God, that poor kid …”

“Yeah, so I guess he's just been trying to work this out in his head for the past few weeks, and today, he finally confronted me about it.”

She reluctantly nodded. “What did he say when you told him?”

“Well, he was a little shaken up at first, but after I explained it a little—while leaving out the dirty details, of course—he was okay.”

“So, he's fine with it?” She eyed me skeptically, and I laughed in response.

“Well, I don't know if I'd say he's fine with it, but … he gets it. And he's fine with me, and honestly, I really can't ask for more than that. But”—I forced a lighthearted chuckle—“I guess his therapist is gonna get an earful about this now.”

It was meant to be a joke, but, man, I was just on a roll today because Ray didn't laugh. Instead, she turned away as her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip wriggled ferociously.

Quickly, I pressed my palms to her cheeks, cradling her face in my hands as I turned her gaze back to mine. “Hey, what's wrong?”