We’d reached my car and Kade’s Mercedes was right next to it, which was an apt paradigm for how I felt standing next to him. Like his elegant car, he was beautiful and drew the eye. From the wave of his inky black hair to his clear blue eyes, square jaw, lean biceps and shoulders encased in thin cotton, he looked like an expensive luxury. My lips curved in a sardonic smile at the analogy.

Kade leaned against my car, blocking the door. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Just a stray thought.”

He raised an arched brow, waiting.

I sighed, feeling stupid. “I was thinking that our cars look like us.”

Kade frowned in confusion.

“You know,” I said, waving a hand toward the Mercedes, “yours is gorgeous and perfect, and mine is cheap and forgettable.” So forgettable, he didn’t even remember making love to me. Yeah, it was for the best, but it was still a blow to my pride whenever I thought about it, which was way too often.

Now his lips twitched in a near smile even as I wished I’d just kept my mouth shut. The comparison had sounded ridiculous when I’d said it out loud.

He reached out and snagged a finger in the band of my shorts. “C’mere,” he said, tugging lightly. The roughness of his voice made my stomach tighten. I let him pull me closer until we were nearly touching.

“So you think I’m gorgeous and perfect?” he said, settling his hands on my hips.

I deliberately recalled the image of his face as he lost all control, his body inside mine. “You’re beautiful,” I blurted. Kade’s ego didn’t need stroking, but I couldn’t help it.

His smirk faded. “I wish you were as forgettable as your car.”

Kade’s eyes searched mine as though trying to read what I was hiding. My hands were clenched in fists at my sides so I wouldn’t touch him, and I was hypersensitive to every brush of his fingers against my bare skin.

“Come on,” he said, stepping away and taking my hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked, following as he led me to his car.

“There’s something I want to show you.”

“But what about my car?” I protested.

“We’ll get it tomorrow. Get in.”

I thought I should probably say no, should just get in my car and drive away, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to miss a single moment I might have with Kade, not when they were numbered.

I got in the car.

A half hour later, Kade was pulling into a deserted high school parking lot. It was a big school, one everyone in Indiana knew about. He turned off the engine and pocketed the keys.

The sultry night air hit me again when I emerged from the air-conditioned car. You could almost feel the wetness in the air, it was so thick and heavy.

Kade took my hand and we started walking. The night was moonless, the clouds obscuring the night sky, but he seemed to know where he was going, his steps sure.

We left the parking lot and walked across grass toward a gentle hill dotted with trees. A breeze had picked up and I could hear the rustle of the leaves around us. We didn’t speak, and the gradual incline combined with the humidity had me sweating after a few minutes. We eventually broke through a copse of trees and I halted in surprise.

The hill had crested, and spread out below us was the heart of the town, nestled among the trees. Lights blinked in the darkness, warm and friendly. It seemed like something out of one of those Thomas Kinkade paintings.

Kade sat on the grass, drawing me down next to him. The grass was cool and soft on the backs of my thighs. I leaned back on my elbows with a sigh.

“I used to come here when I was a kid,” he said. “It was quiet, peaceful. I could think here, and just… be.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said.

We sat like that, in companionable silence, for a while. I deliberately didn’t think about anything. I just wanted to enjoy being there, in the moment, with Kade.

“I came here when Blane told me he was joining the Navy,” Kade said. He turned on his side to face me, propping himself on one elbow to rest his head in his hand.

It was too dark to see his features clearly, though I tried.

“I was… angry. Scared. Hurt. I felt betrayed,” he said.

My heart went out to the younger version of Kade, one I could see in my mind’s eye, who wasn’t as self-assured as the Kade before me now. That Kade was unsure and just learning to trust his brother.

“Did you tell him?” I asked.

“He knew.”

“What happened?”

“He had about three months before he left for basic, and he spent nearly every waking moment with me. He taught me to shoot and took me to the range to practice. We played basketball, went to the arcade, the batting cages. All kinds of shit.”

Of course Blane had done that. He loved his brother, and as much as he’d wanted to join the Navy, he would have hated leaving Kade.

“I asked him one night, why he was spending so much time with me instead of Kandi,” Kade continued.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Because you mean more to me than anybody else, and you always will.’ ”

The tightness in my chest spread, making my stomach ache.

“Why are you telling me this?” I managed to ask. Regret clawed at me, guilt making me nearly nauseated. Too disheartened to even hold myself up any longer, I lay back on the ground and looked up at the black sky.

“Because it’s not true, not anymore, for either of us. Blane or me.” He moved closer and rested a hand on my stomach, sliding it around until he gripped my waist. I gazed up at him, trying to see his eyes in the darkness.

“You’re part of us now,” he said softly. “And somehow, we all have to find a way to live with it. Even if I thought I could stay away from you, I’d just be lying to myself.” His thumb brushed against my ribs and my skin seemed to tingle at his touch.

I shook my head. “When this is over, I’ll go home. It’s the only way for you and Blane to fix this between you. That’s the way it should be.” I moved to get away from him, but Kade’s grip tightened and he braced himself over me, pushing a denim-clad leg between my thighs to hold me in place.

“Like we’d let you go,” he scoffed. “One of us will have you, that’s for damn sure.”

I shook my head again, more vehemently this time, but my throat was closed off and I couldn’t speak.

His arms were on either side of my head, his weight resting on his palms. I could barely breathe, anxiety and pain combining in my chest to smother me.

Almost of their own volition, my hands crept up to his shoulders. I could feel the heat of his skin through the thin cotton of his shirt. My fingers brushed the nape of his neck. His skin was damp from sweat, just like when we’d made love.

Kade didn’t move, didn’t seem to even blink as my fingers threaded slowly through his hair. My body thrummed as though an electric current was passing between us, from him to me and back.

Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating his face, his expression tortured as he looked at me. I curled my arm around his neck, urging him down. He resisted, his arms locked in position. I licked my lips, unable to tear my gaze from his mouth.

Lightning split the sky again, then the heavens opened up. I gasped in surprise as the first icy drops hit my overheated skin, then let out a high-pitched squeal of dismay as the torrential downpour began.

Kade pulled me to my feet. “Come on, princess,” he said, taking my hand in his. “You won’t melt.”

I could barely see a foot in front of me and latched myself onto Kade’s arm. He led us down the hill, catching me twice when I slipped and would have fallen. When we finally reached the car, we were both drenched to the skin.

“I don’t want to mess up your seat!” I protested when he opened the passenger door for me.

“Feel free to strip naked,” he said, leaning against the car and crossing his arms over his chest as though he was getting ready to watch. The lights illuminating the empty parking lot were a welcome change from the dark.