When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark #2) (23 page)

Our laughter echoes through the kitchen as Xander spins me around. Turning the radio on while we cooked might not have been our brightest idea, but there are times in life where you have to pause and enjoy the little things. 

I wind my arms around his neck, swaying my hips to the beat of the song. His hands rest on my waist and he laughs when I begin to make funny faces.

“Bleck,” Cade says, entering the kitchen. “You guys are gross.” He picks up an apple from the basket on the table, tosses it in the air, and catches it before taking a bite. 

I laugh and step away from Xander, returning to the stove. “You’re one to talk,” I say to Cade over my shoulder. “You and Rae are the grossest.”

“Are not,” he argues.

I snort. “We sound like we’re six.” I throw away the burnt eggs and clean the pan. 

Xander takes the pan from me and says, “Maybe I should do this.”

“Hey.” I pout. “You’re the one that started dancing first. It’s not my fault the eggs burned in the process.”

He shrugs. “I make them better anyway.”

I gasp. “Take that back.”

“The truth hurts, deal with it.”

I narrow my eyes. “Oh, you’re in trouble.” When he turns around, I jump on his back like a spider monkey. He starts to fall from the impact but quickly recovers.

“Thea,” he laughs, “what are you doing?”

“Making it more difficult for you, obviously.” Unfortunately, I begin to slide down his body and my butt hits the floor. “Fuck,” I curse.

Footsteps pad across the floor and my brother looks down at me. “Forget gross, you guys are just weird.”

Xander chuckles and looks down at me, waiting for my response.

“I like weird,” I say.

“Me too.”

Cade gags. “I’m out of here. I can’t take anymore.”

I pick myself up off the floor and Cade pauses before leaving. “We’re going tubing with Jace and Nova at twelve and Mom and Dad’s barbeque is at three,” Cade reminds me.

“I know,” I laugh. “You told me three times yesterday.”

“I don’t want you to forget.”

“Mhm,” I hum as he leaves this time. Before he can make it to the stairs, I call, “The barbeque is at five, right?”

“Three!” he yells back as I cackle. “Dammit,” he mutters.

I shake my head. “I love messing with him.” I wrap my arms around Xander’s body, laying my head against his back. “Well, we’ve made it to July, one more month to go.”

His body stiffens. “Why do you say it like that?”

“Like what?” I step to the side so I can see him. 

He flicks his dark hair from his eyes. “
One more month to go
,” he mimics. “It sounds like you’re getting rid of me after that.” Hurt flashes in his gaze.

My heart pangs. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that August is technically the end of our agreement.” I shrug. “Who knows what’ll happen.” 

He shakes his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“What?” My eyes widen in surprise.

“I thought we were doing good and here you are talking about the end of it.”

I touch his arm and he
flinches
away from me. “Xander,” I say firmly, forcing him to look at me. “That’s not what I meant. It was stupid of me to say that. I’m sorry.”

He swallows thickly and takes a deep breath. “It bothers me when you talk like that,” he says. “We’ve waited a long time for this and the thought of not having it anymore kills me.” He closes his eyes briefly. “I guess when I put that ring back on your finger I thought the agreement didn’t exist anymore. I shouldn’t have thought that.”

“You’re right,” I say, shaking my head rapidly. “It’s pretty much null and void at this point. What I said was stupid.
I’m
stupid—but we know this.” He chuckles. “I’m sorry,” I say again. “Forgive me?”

He smiles, and it’s not quite genuine, but almost. “I forgive you.
But
,” he starts, “if you start having doubts about us
tell me
. Don’t blindside me.”

I shake my head. “I’m not going to have doubts,” I tell him.

He stares at me for a moment and then nods. “Good.” He kisses me. 

The atmosphere in the kitchen returns to more normal, happy levels as the tension from before leaves. 

While he makes the eggs, I handle the toast and pouring of the orange juice. 

We set everything out and Rae and Cade join us.

I smile at Xander beside me. I hate that we had a tiff, but I guess it’s bound to happen now and then. No couple has sunshine and rainbows moments all the time. You have to learn to move past things, and I think for our first kinda-sorta fight, we did pretty good.

Go us. 

“This looks dangerous for my boobs,” I say, adjusting my bikini top. “If a nip slips out, someone better tell me.” I glare around at my group of friends.

Cade pales. “I’m not going to be looking at your boobs, so sorry.”

I look up at Xander. “You’re in charge of nip duty.”

He chokes on a sip of water and spews the liquid all over the ground. “Um, okay,” he says, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. 

“Whose idea was it to go tubing again?” I ask, gathering my hair up into a messy ponytail. 

“Mine.” Jace raises his hand. 

I narrow my eyes on him. “If this doesn’t end well, I might never speak to you again.”

I already saw one girl come back soaking wet and covered in
mud
. I could handle getting wet—you’re going to dry off, obviously—but
mud?
That would require at least three hot showers to get all of it off and disinfect my body. I don’t have time for that today.

Jace chuckles. “I don’t think that would be a bad thing.” I glare at him. “What?” He raises his hand innocently. “You talk a lot and I like silence.”

“Says the guy who works in a bar,” I mutter.

He laughs and counters, “Maybe that’s why I appreciate the silence.” He claps his hands together loudly and a group of girls looks over. They immediately make googly eyes at him. It’s the tattoos all over his arms. Tattoos make girls do stupid things. It’s a fact.

One of the girls gives Xander an appreciative look and I bristle, making a hissing sound.

Xander snorts. “Did you just
hiss
at them?”

I hadn’t meant to do that. I square my shoulders and lift my chin, owning my moment of jealousy. “Yes,” I say. “And I’ll piss a circle around you too if I have to,” I joke. 

He throws his head back and laughs. “You’re amazing.”

Cade shakes his head. “Are you sure you want to stay married to her? She’s kind of weird.”

Xander laughs and wraps his arm around me. “Yeah, she’s stuck with me.”

Jace picks up his black tube. “Can we talk about the fact that I was the
last
person to find out you guys got married? I feel the love, guys.” 

I laugh. “We haven’t told our parents yet, so technically you’re not the last one.”

He points a finger at us. “You didn’t even tell me. I show up here and you’re both wearing rings.”

“Technicalities.” I wave my hand through the air, dismissing his words.

He chuckles. “Are we going or not?”

“I’m so not ready for this,” I hiss to Xander.

“You’ll be fine.” 

We pick up our own tubes and follow our little group to where we get in the water.

There’s a person there, giving us instructions on what we can and cannot do and which way to go when the river splits. 

“I hope you were paying attention to that,” I whisper to Xander, plopping my butt in the tube. “Because that went in one ear and out the other for me.”

He laughs and gets in his own tube. “You’ll be fine,” he repeats his words from earlier.

“For some reason, I don’t believe you.”

He grabs onto the rope attached to my tube and holds on tight. “Feel better now?”

“Somewhat.”

We begin to float down the river and I eventually become comfortable enough that I lay my head back and close my eyes. It’s a hot day, but the cool river water helps keep me comfortable. I wasn’t keen on tubing, but this isn’t so bad. It’s actually rather relaxing. 

Minutes pass, and I eventually open my eyes.

No one is around us.

“Xander?” I ask hesitantly.

“Hmm?” he hums. His head is tilted back and his sunglasses hide his eyes.

“Where is everyone?”

He sits up at that and looks around. “Shit.”

Panic rises inside me. “Are we lost?”

“Of course not,” he scoffs.

“We’re totally lost,” I cry. “We’re going to get eaten by alligators.”

“This is Colorado, not Florida, I think we’re safe from alligators.”

I look around and around, but everywhere I look, there’s only water and trees. The river is too wide and the current is moving too fast for us to get to the bank. 

“We’re going to die,” I mumble. “They’re going to write: Here lies Xander and Thea, the idiots who got lost tubing and were never seen from again. We’ll become one of those ghost stories they tell kids around a campfire.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he says in a calm, sure tone. “We’ll be fine. This probably just brings us out in a different area. We’ll meet up with the others in no time. You’ll see.”

I strain, listening closely. “Do you hear that?”

He listens too. “What is that?”

I look behind me, but it’s hard to see. I squint my eyes, trying to piece together what I’m hearing. “Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“Waterfall,” I say. 

Xander’s eyes widen, and for the first time, I see him begin to panic. He lets go of my raft and grabs onto my hand. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

I want to argue that I might not have any choice in letting go, but I’d rather pretend everything is going to be okay.

The sound of rushing water grows louder the closer to the waterfall we get. I look again and see that it’s about six-foot drop, so thankfully not too steep, but it’s going to be a drop nonetheless. 

We go over, and I scream as the tube falls out from under me. Xander’s hold on my hand tightens to the point of pain, but he still has me so I’m not going to complain. We go underwater and the cold water sears my skin with its iciness. I kick my legs, propelling myself up where much-needed air is. Xander’s hand is still in mine and he surfaces a few seconds before I do. Perks of being a giant, I guess. 

We look around, but our tubes are long gone. 

“Kick as hard as you can,” he says. “We’re swimming for that rock and then to the grass. Okay?”

I nod, my teeth chattering. It might be early July, but the water is frigid enough for January. Now I have a new worry to add to my previous ones. Hypothermia. 

We swim over to the rock, kicking and using our arms as much as we can without losing our grip on the other. The current is fast and keeps dragging us in the opposite direction which makes it hard to get where we’re trying to go. 

Finally, after what feels like an hour, we make it to the rock. I’m out of breath and panting like I’ve lost a lung. Heck, maybe I did and it’s now floating down the river.

Come back, I need you.

Xander’s out of breath too, which makes me feel a little better since he’s an athlete. “Ready?” I shake my head no. “Thea, we have to. We’re going to wear out from trying to hold onto the rock.”

I whimper and nod. I’m too out of breath to offer him any words.

“Three, two, one.” He counts down, and then we’re off, swimming for the bank that seems a mile away even though I know it’s only fifteen or so feet away.

I kick hard, fighting against the current that seems desperate to send us further away. 

“Almost there,” Xander says.

When we tumble out of the water onto land, I burst into tears. I don’t even know why I’m crying, and it’s embarrassing, but I can’t stop them.

Xander hovers above me, pushing my wet hair from my eyes. “Are you okay?” He looks at me worriedly. “Why are you crying?”

Anger rushes over me and I push his shoulders, shoving him away. “You said I’d be fine. This is
not
fine,” I practically shriek at him.

“I’m sorry, I guess we sort of dozed off and floated down the wrong path.”

I rake my fingers through my hair. “This is a mess. We’re soaking wet, lost, and I don’t know about you, but I’m currently exhausted.” As if to drive home my point, I fall back into the grass, staring up at the sky. “Great, and my sunglasses are gone too. Fucking fantastic.”

He laughs. “It could be worse. At least we’re alive.”

“
At least we’re alive
,” I mimic. “From the guy who said we weren’t going to die.” I inhale a deep breath. “How are we ever going to find the others?” I question.

“Well—” he looks back the way we came from “—hiking back that way isn’t an option, so we’re going to have to go this way and hope for the best.”

“Xander,” I whine, “there might be bears. And snakes. And I’m in
flip-flops
. I can’t outrun a bear in flip-flops.”
Wait
. I lift my foot and look. “Fuck, I lost my shoes.”

“I’ll carry you piggy-back,” he says.

I lift a brow. “For how long? We have no idea how far we’re going to have to walk.” I cover my face in my hands. “This is unbelievable.”

Remember when I was worried about mud? Yeah, I’d take the mud over a hike through the woods barefoot with wild animals.