When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark #2) (22 page)

“You haven’t ditched us.” He gives me a look and I laugh. “Okay, so maybe you have, but it happens.”

Cade stands up and looks down at me. “This thing with Thea and you is going to take some getting used to, but I can’t say having you as an official part of the family is the worst thing.”

“Thanks.”
I think.

He nods and heads inside. Before I can follow him, Thea bursts outside. She must’ve been standing just inside the door waiting.

“Did he hurt you?” she asks. “Punch you? Kick you? Slap you like a middle school girl on crack?”

I laugh and shake my head, walking up the deck steps to meet her. 

“No, nothing like that. I think we’re cool now.” 

She looks from me and back to the door. “Oh, thank God.”

I throw my arm over her shoulder, tucking her into my side, and reach for the door.

 She looks up at me and a smile touches her lips. “It looks like everything’s going to be okay.”

I nod and press my lips to her forehead. “Looks that way.”

But I know we have so many more challenges ahead of us, and I can only hope that they don’t break us.

“A blindfold, really, Xander? If you wanted to get kinky you should’ve just said something.” I twirl the scrap of black fabric around my finger, waiting for his response.

He chuckles. “That wasn’t the plan, but now that you mention it …”

Before I can blink, his arm winds around my waist and I’m slammed down on my bed. It jostles from the sudden impact and we bounce up and down. Laughter tears out of our throats. I smile over at him.

“That was completely unnecessary.”

He grins back. “You have a flair for the dramatics so I thought I’d give you a taste of your own medicine.”

I sit up and brush my hair from my eyes. “Seriously, though, why the blindfold?” I hold it up, dangling it from my finger.

“I have a surprise for you.” He smiles shyly and looks away.

I narrow my eyes. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing bad. You’re going to love this.”

“That’s what Cade and you said when I was five and you convinced me to eat that pepper. It burned my nose hairs, Xander.
My nose hairs
.”

He chuckles. “That was hysterical. You were such a gullible kid.”

“Hey.” I smack my hand against his solid chest and give him a look like
really?
 

He raises his hands innocently. “This isn’t like that at all.”

I huff out a breath. “Do I at least get a hint?”

He narrows his eyes and glances around my room. When he finds what he’s looking for, he jumps from my bed and grabs my shark slippers, then proceeds to hold them out to me.

“My shark slippers? That’s my hint? Seriously?”

He laughs. “It’ll all make sense soon. I promise.”

I snort. “It better. But do I
have
to wear this?”

He sighs. “I guess not. I doubt you’ll know where we’re going anyway.”

“Great, now I’m more scared.” 

I hold out my hand with the blindfold and he takes it from me. He tucks it into his back pocket and mumbles, “Saving that for later.”

I snort. “Keep dreaming, buddy, unless
you
want to be blindfolded.”

He grins widely. “That has possibilities too.”

I choke on my own saliva and he laughs, clearly pleased at having left me speechless for a change.

“What should I wear for this mysterious outing?”

He shrugs. “Casual. I’m changing into jeans and a t-shirt.”

“Darn,” I say, frowning. “I love those sweatpants.” I waggle my brows and eye the noticeable bulge there.

He shakes his head at my antics, but a blush lightly stains his cheeks. I’d think he’d be used to the inappropriate things that come out of my mouth, but I guess I’ve only very recently been brave enough to say them. The poor guy has
no idea
the kinds of dirty thoughts I’ve had over the years. 

“We’re leaving in an hour,” he tells me, lingering in the doorway to my bedroom. “Come on, Prue.” He whistles and the dog jumps up from the floor and follows him out.

I immediately go into overdrive to get ready. He might’ve said this is casual, but I hardly think my no makeup, messy bun, pajama-wearing self will be allowed. Heck, I don’t even have a bra on. It’s been a lazy day, which was
much
appreciated after the craziness of this week and the dinner with Xander’s family last night.

Thankfully, they were thrilled for him, and he and Cade made up, but I was so stressed over the whole thing I probably wore a hole through my stomach lining. 

With five minutes to spare, I slip my feet into a pair of black flats. I straightened my hair, opting to do something different from my norm, and dressed in a pair of dark wash jeans and a black and white striped top. I added a necklace and a bracelet to dress it up a bit.

I grab my small black cross-body bag and sling it on, then head downstairs. Xander is hanging in the kitchen with Rae and Cade while she cooks dinner.

Xander stands when he sees me. “Ready?” I nod. He tips his head at the other two. “We’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye.” I wave and Rae gives me a look that tells me she’s going to expect me to give her a play-by-play of the whole evening. I seriously feel bad for all the times I pestered her like an annoying mosquito. I’m now being punished for that behavior by receiving the same treatment from her. 

Xander pauses in the garage and turns around abruptly so I smack into his chest.

“Ow.” I rub my forehead. “What are you? Half rock? That hurt.”

He chuckles and rubs his thumb over the spot. “You’ll live.”

“Easy for you to say,” I mumble. “You didn’t walk headfirst into a boulder.”

He shakes his head at me. “I wanted to ask—truck or bike?”

“Bike,” I answer without a moment’s hesitation. 

He grins. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

He heads over to his motorcycle and grabs one of the helmets, turning around and placing it on my head. He secures it and does the same with his. Then he hands me a riding jacket of my very own. 

I slip my arms through the holes of the jacket. “If I didn’t love you before, I love you now,” I say.

He laughs. “Wow, all I had to do was buy you a jacket? Noted.”

“Well, that,” I begin, “and rub my stomach and tell me I’m cute—oh wait, that’s Prue.”

His laughter echoes through the garage and his eyes twinkle when they meet mine. “I’d like to say I don’t do that, but I’d be lying.”

“Mhm,” I hum, and push the button for the garage door. It whirls and creaks as it goes up. 

He rolls the bike out of the garage and I follow him out onto the driveway. It’s a little after five and the sun shines down brightly on us. 

I look over my shoulder at the house and laugh when I see Prue peering out the window beside the front door.

“Look,” I say to Xander. “She’s watching us.”

He straddles the bike and looks up, letting out a laugh. “Poor girl, she just wants to go with us.”

“You’ll have to make it up to her later with extra belly rubs,” I tell him.

“Enough chit-chat,” he says. “Get on.”

I don’t have to be told twice. I’m insanely curious about what he has planned. The fact that he’s obviously put so much thought into something makes me really excited. 

He starts out heading for the city, but after about thirty minutes, he changes course and then I have absolutely no idea where he’s going so I can’t even begin to guess.

He drives for another twenty minutes before we come upon a quaint little town. It’s cute with antique and coffee shops on every corner. He comes to a stop outside a movie theater, complete with one of those lit up things that jut out from the roof of the building.

The movie playing today?

Jaws.

The boy is good.

We hop off the bike and remove our helmets.

“Jaws, huh?” I ask.

He nods, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah. This place shows a different classic movie every week. This week happened to be
Jaws.”

“Our favorite,” I say, and a sudden rush of emotion clenches my chest. 

He nods and takes my hand, leading me to the ticket counter. He purchases two tickets and then we get drinks, popcorn, and candy. When we take a seat in the theater there’s only one other person—an elderly man that’s enjoying his popcorn so much I doubt he’d know if the place burned down around him. 

We take our seats in the back—the back is the best, and anyone that says otherwise is a gremlin—and wait for the movie to start.

I munch on a piece of popcorn and Xander fumbles in his pocket. His pack of M&Ms falls to the floor and I reach down to the grab them. “What are you doing?” I ask, sitting back up and dropping the candy pouch in his lap. “Oh,” I gasp. “
That’s
what you’re doing.”

He smiles sheepishly, holding my wedding ring out to me. “You said you’d wear it if I gave it back, but it seemed weird to just hand it to you at home.”

“So,” I draw out the word, “you brought me to a movie theater?”

He winces. “Okay, it sounds really dumb when you say it that way, but it made total sense in my head.” He swallows thickly. “There’s more, though.”

My brows furrow together. Now I’m really confused. “Okay?”

He wets his lips. “I brought you here, because the first time we watched
Jaws
was the moment when I really
knew
you were someone special to me. I remember you getting scared when the shark came out of the water and you whimpered and curled into me and I knew then that I wanted nothing more than to make you feel loved and safe for the rest of your life. So, that’s why we’re here. For me, this is the start of it all.”

Swoon rating? Off the charts, ladies and gentlemen. 

I take his face between my hands and kiss him, because I don’t have any words that can measure up to that. I hope through the kiss he can feel just a fragment of what I’m feeling.

I pull away, both of us breathless now, and he holds my hand as he guides the simple silver band onto my finger. It rests there, a perfect fit, like it was always meant to be there.

He goes to put his ring on, but I grab it. His dark eyes flick up to meet mine and I think he’s afraid I’m about to throw the ring into the depths of the theater, but then I take his hand like he did mine and put the ring on. I struggle to get it passed his knuckle but I manage, and I’m surprised by the happiness it brings me to see it there. The morning we woke up in Vegas I felt anything but happy at the sight of it.

I lay my head on his shoulder as the movie starts. 

“Can we do this?” I whisper softly, so as not to disturb the man a few rows down.

I feel Xander nod. “Yeah, I think we can.”

I think we can too.