When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark #2) (19 page)

“How’d your day go?” I ask her.

She shrugs and the blankets ruffle. “We got our nails done, grabbed some lunch, and shopped. The usual. They asked me about us and I told them that we’re together.” She looks at me with uncertain eyes like she’s worried
I’ll
be mad they know.

“Good,” I say, and relief floods her eyes. 

“What’d you guys do?” she asks. 

“We met Jace at the gym and had lunch. Cade and I came back here and I mowed the grass. Exciting stuff.”

She laughs and snuggles closer to me, entwining our legs together. 

“We have to tell Cade tomorrow,” I whisper.  

There’s a long pause before she whispers back, “I know.”

I settle my chin on top of her head and we focus on the show. Eventually, we both fall asleep, wrapped around each other like we’re terrified we’re about to be pulled apart. 

Light shines through the blinds when I open my eyes. I glance at Thea’s clock beside her bed and see that it says it’s a little after eight. She blinks her eyes and yawns, slowly coming awake.

“Hey.” I smile down at her. 

She smiles back, her eyes still closed as she stretches her arms above her head and nearly punches me in the process. After a moment she says, “Morning,” and her voice is thick with sleep. 

Prue lifts her head and looks at me with wide begging eyes. I overslept and she’s probably desperate to go out.

Before I can move, though, I hear my bedroom door close, and footsteps walking down the hall and stopping in front of Thea’s door.

You know that feeling you get before something bad is about to happen? The one where the air around you goes still and your whole body grows cold? Well, I feel that right now times ten.

The door swings open. “Thea, have you seen—” Cade doesn’t finish his question as he finds Thea and me in bed together. We could try to play this off innocently, like I fell asleep in here watching the show—which is true—but the way we’re tangled together hardly appears innocent. 

Thea sits up, panic all over her face. “Cade—”

Cade clenches his jaw, his blue eyes filled with a fiery rage that’s directed smack dab at me. “She’s my
little sister!
” he yells, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. “How could you do this? I told you to
never
go there and you fucking promised.”

His breathing grows rapid and the vein in his forehead looks like it’s about to pop. He looks like a red version of the Hulk with the color he’s turning. 

He looks torn between running the other way and sacking me on the floor. I’m prepared for either option. 

“My
sister
,” he repeats. “I can’t fucking believe you.” His hands flex at his sides. 

Thea is silent beside me, but I think she’s crying. 

I push the covers back and stand. “I love her,” I say, holding my head high. 

Cade snorts. “You think you
love
her?” He shakes his head rapidly back and forth. “You’ve never even had a real girlfriend and you think you
love
her?”

I grow angry. “Because it’s
always been her!
” I yell back. “Always,” I add softly, glancing at Thea. She looks back at me with wide, surprised eyes and parted lips. 

Cade’s eyes widen in surprise when he hears the truth in my words. He places his hands on his hips and tilts his head to the ceiling, exhaling a heavy breath. When he looks back at us, there’s no mistaking the hurt in his eyes. “So, you guys are together?”

Thea looks at me and I look at her, communicating silently. She slips from the bed and goes to her brother. She looks up at him, clasping her hands together with nervousness. “Actually,” her voice shakes, and I
know
she’s crying this time, “we’re married.”

It’s like all the air has been sucked from the room. We’re all eerily quiet, waiting for someone else to say something first. Cade shakes his head and says, “What did you say?”

Thea bites her lip, stifling a sob.

I step up behind her, placing my hand on her hip. “We got married in Vegas.”

Cade shoves his fingers through his hair. “I can’t fucking believe this. I need to get out of here.”

Before we can say anything else, he’s pounding down the steps and the door to the garage slams a moment later.

Thea turns her body into mine, sobbing into my chest. Her brother means the world to her, and we were ready to tell him, so having him find out this way isn’t good. 

The door to Cade and Rae’s room down the hall opens and she pokes her head out, meeting my gaze over Thea’s head.

“Well, that went well.”

I press my lips together. I don’t have a response, and frankly, I don’t know how to make this right. If I was in Cade’s position, I’d be pissed too. I guess we just have to let things play out. We’ve fought before and we always work everything out in the end, I’m sure this won’t be any different. At least I hope not, because I don’t want to lose my best friend. 

I can’t believe that happened.

Hours later I’m still in a state of disbelief. I haven’t spoken more than three words since Cade left and I’m pretty sure Xander thinks I’m in some sort of catatonic state. He keeps giving me really worried looks, but I don’t have the energy to reassure him that I’m okay, because I honestly don’t know if I am. 

I’m pissed. Pissed at myself for not manning up—or I guess in this case,
womanning
up—and telling my brother. 

In fact, I sort of feel like some divine entity is mocking me. I
finally
decide it’s time to tell him, and
bam
he catches us together. Someone, somewhere, is laughing their ass off at me. The fucker.

I flip the pages of the magazine I’m supposedly reading, but I don’t even have the energy to look at the pictures. Xander sits on the stool opposite me at the bar counter and Rae left a while ago to go look for Cade. I made her promise to text me if she found him, but I don’t even know where my phone is. 

Xander sighs and picks up Prue from the floor, sitting her in his lap.

“Thea,” he starts, “talk to me, please. You’re scaring me.”

I flip another page in the magazine.

“Thea,” he says more firmly this time.

I lift my gaze to his. “I don’t want him to hate you,” I whisper. “You’re best friends. I don’t want you to fight over me.”

Xander’s shoulders sag and he lets out a relieved breath. “That’s what you’re worried about?” I nod and he smiles. “We’ll be fine, Thea. Don’t worry about us.”

“He’s really mad.” I frown, flipping another page in the magazine. 

“Yeah, and I was really mad when we were six and he broke my Nerf gun. I got over it.”

I snort. “Yeah, well that was a toy and this is … This is big.”

He shrugs. “We’re guys. It’s the same difference to us. Things will be fine in no time, you’ll see. He just has to work through it in his head.”

“I hope you’re right.” I close the magazine and slide it across the counter. 

“Maybe we should take Prue for a walk?” he suggests. “We’ve been in the house all day. It might do you some good to get out.”

I sigh. Going for a walk doesn’t sound appealing, but it might help me clear my head so it’s worth a shot. “Sure,” I say.

He lets out a relieved breath. “Good. I’ll get her leash.”

He carries Prue out of the room and I stand, stretching my arms above my head. My legs are stiff from sitting in the same position for too long, so I end up stretching them too. 

I meet Xander by the front door and Prue wags her tail happily. We head out and down the street, not saying anything for aways, so I’m startled when Xander finally does speak.

“If I give you your ring back, will you wear it?”

I’d been looking at the ground, but my head shoots up at this. He appears nervous and looks away from me, letting the shaggy strands of his hair hide his face from me. 

I swallow thickly. There are still lots of people who don’t know about this, but I suddenly don’t care. 

After a lengthy pause, that I’m sure makes him sweat bullets, I say, “I’d love to wear it.”

He twists his head my way so quickly I’m surprised he doesn’t get whiplash. “Really?” He smiles like a sheepish little boy. 

I nod. “Yeah.” I smile. 

“Seeing a ring on your finger isn’t going to give you hives, is it?” he asks seriously, but his eyes sparkle with laughter.

I toss my head back and laugh. “I think I’ll survive.”

He grins at me and reaches for my hand. He grows quiet again and I think the conversation is done, but then he surprises me yet again. He stops in the middle of the sidewalk and I’m forced to stop too. Prue looks up at us quizzically, wondering why we’ve stopped, but she promptly shakes her head and starts smelling the ground.

“I wasn’t lying,” Xander begins, swallowing thickly, “when I told Cade that I love you—but I’m really sorry that’s how you heard it. I should’ve told you first.” He lets go of my hand and glides the backs of his fingers over my cheek before tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I love you,” he says again, more firmly this time. “I always have, and I always will.”

My heart pitter-patters in my chest. When your dream guy says he loves you it feels pretty damn good. “I love you too,” I whisper and my chin quivers. It’s stupid to cry over this, but the love I feel for him honestly scares me. It’s intense and all-consuming. The kind of love that has the power to destroy you if things go wrong. 

He grasps my chin. “Why are you crying?” 

I breathe out. “Because I’m scared.”

“Don’t be.” He presses his lips to mine softly. It’s just a simple meeting of lips but it feels like so much more. It feels like the final seal on a deal we didn’t have the right to make. 

He steps back and calls to Prue who has run as far as her leash will let her. 

We start walking again and then circle back to the house. 

Rae and Cade’s cars are both back in the driveway and I stop. Fear holds me prisoner but it’s stupid to be afraid of my own big brother. He’s always been my protector. He won’t hurt me.

I turn to Xander. “Would you mind walking Prue some more? I want to talk to Cade.”

He nods. “Sure thing. I need to run to the store so I’ll do that instead.”

“Thanks.” I smile and stand on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek before dashing in the house.

The house is eerily quiet when I step inside and search around, looking for the two of them. I come across Rae first, sitting in their bedroom fiddling with her camera. 

I knock on the open door and she looks up. “Where’s Cade?”

“He’s out back.”

“How was he when you found him?”

She frowns. “In one word?” I nod. “Sad.”

My heart breaks and I duck my head, nodding. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

I quickly turn away and head downstairs. I open the back door and step out onto the small deck. It boasts a grill and a small table with two chairs. Cade sits in one, a beer bottle dangling loosely from his fingers and he sits, watching the sunset over the trees.

He hears the door open and his shoulders flex, but he doesn’t turn to look.

I tiptoe across the small space and pull out the chair across from him. He lifts his eyes to mine and I wave awkwardly. “Hi.” I bite my lip. I have no idea what to say.