After the Rain Read Free Page A

are we still getting together tonight?”
    Emery’s eyes close like she’s affected by his proximity. “I can’t. I have study group.”
    He moves just a little closer. “When don’t you have study group?”
    “Tomorrow,” she replies, her eyes shooting open again. She spins around in her chair and comes face-to-face with the school’s golden boy.
    “I have a game.” He doesn’t move back one bit.
    “Well, then it’s going to have to be Sunday.”
    “Have it your way, but I won’t be up until noon because there’s a party tomorrow night,” he says.
    “Yeah, I’d hate for you to miss the party. Nothing like wasting a night getting drunk.”
    “Seriously you guys. Lecture is about to start.”
    “I can’t stand him,” Emery says, turning around in her chair.
    “I see that. Can you finish this later?”
    Drake sits back in his seat. “I’ll give you a call on Sunday when I get up.”
    “You gave him your phone number?” I ask Emery, surprised she would give him any of her personal information.
    “Of course she did,” Drake smirks, twirling his pencil between his fingers.
    “God, I hate him,” Emery states.
    “Sometimes people mistake hate for like,” I say, sensing some of the tension between them.
    She scoffs. “Did you ever hate Beau?”
    “No,” I say, without even giving it a second thought.
    “Exactly.”

    As soon as Beau opens his apartment door, the guilt I feel over skipping study group is gone. I almost caved when I saw the disappointed look on Emery’s face when I told her I wasn’t going. The sexy smirk on Beau’s face, though, melts away any doubt I have about where I should be tonight.
    “How’s my girl?” he asks, pulling me into him.
    He smells so good when I bury my face in his t-shirt. “Good, you?”
    “I’m better now,” he says, cupping my chin in his hand to bring my lips to his. “Much better now.”
    I wrap my arms tightly around his firm waist. “Did you have a bad day?”
    “It was horrible. I didn’t see my girlfriend until just a couple minutes ago.” A smile spreads across my face; that’s the first time he’s called me that out loud, and I really like the sound of it. “I like seeing that smile on your face,” he says, lightly running his fingertips along my jawline.
    “I like when you call me your girlfriend.”
    “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that since you got here last week,” he says before quickly brushing his lips across mine.
    “Talk about what?”
    “Us.” Grabbing my hand in his, he leads me to his bedroom, not saying another word until his door is closed. “I think we’ve already established that there is an us , Kate, but I need to clear up a few more things.”
    I nod, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.
    “Are you sure you’re ready to move on? I don’t want to be your rebound guy,” he says, sitting down next to me.
    I know the answer to this, but I need to find the right way to say it. “Beau, I’m not going to lie to you. I was in love with Asher. I’ll always love him in some way.” He closes his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair. “But you need to know that I’ve loved you for years. Before everything came crashing down on me, you were the one I wanted. I think a part of me still wanted you after, but I thought you deserved better.”
    Beau grabs my hand in his and stares me right in the eyes. “You deserve anything you want.”
    “I know that now. I just couldn’t see through the fog back then, but everything is clearer now.”
    “I’m never letting you go, and we’re going to do this right. I’m not going to speed through my last and best set of firsts. I’ve waited too fucking long for all of this to screw it up now.” He lies back on the bed and pulls me down with him so we’re face to face. “Like this. This is the last time you’re going to lie in bed with a guy for the first time.”
    “I’m not running, Beau. I’ll play by your rules because you’ve played by