02

« Crystal. » She swallowed back her words, nodding instantly before she swivelled around and made her way out of that lecture hall. She was getting the hell out of there. Fast.

She was supposed to spend the night packing ready for her spring break vacay with her boyfriend, Elijah, and his family. He had invited her to his family vacation home in Palm Springs.

Rainy had been looking forward to the little getaway the entire semester.

Storming up the stairs, she pictured her professor as a voodoo doll and found herself thinking of ways to torture him. « Fucking asshole. » She muttered under her breath, the tint of red in her cheeks spreading like wildfire.

« I can still hear you, you know you might want to think about putting some of that passion into your essay. »

Rainy ignored him, walking up the stairs and finally reaching the door. Pulling it open, she halted not daring to look back at him.

« Have a lovely spring break Professor Rivera. » Not.

« Will do, happy writing. »

With that, she slammed the door shut.

« Prick. » She expressed out loud although it seemed as if she was too loud since a second later she heard a voice respond to her sudden outburst.

« Try waiting until you’re fully outside Miss Love. »

« I’ll miss you. »

Rainy sniffed dramatically watching as her loving boyfriend let out a loud groan, he was busily preoccupied loading the truck up with their belongings. She had managed to pack enough for two weeks and more, and after careful consideration, she had decided to lessen her load.

Therefore, she had only four suitcases worth of stuff to take with her instead of five.

She was letting one of her cases go.

It was an extremely difficult decision for Rainy to make and one that she was currently deeply regretting.

Well, more like a decision she was forced into making. It wasn’t like Elijah had laughed in her face when he saw the amount of bags waiting for him on his driveway or anything. He immediately told her that there was no way he’d let her take so many and that was the end of that.

Maybe having a suitcase just for heels was a little ridiculous after all.

Rainy moped, looking over at her lonely case. With her arms crossed over her chest, she stood there in her small summer dress with a pout.

« Babe, stop sulking. It’s either the case or you, now c’mon we’re gonna be late for the flight if we don’t leave now. » The comforting voice she adored greatly said. His words alone were substantial enough to make her stop in her tracks.

« Are you sure you want me to come ? » Rainy fretted, her voice soft and full of anxiety. This was the hundredth time she had asked that same question.

Elijah rolled his deep blue-green eyes, he came around from the back of the car twirling the keys in his hands. As he neared her, she couldn’t help but take all of him in. He had on a black T-shirt and fitted black sweats, since they’d be on a 7+ hour flight, he hadn’t bothered with anything too nice. He had one full sleeve of ink which was on show, and a simple gold chain on.

She bit her bottom lip thinking about how good he looked.

He leaned against his car, his tempting eyes entirely on her.

His hair was black, it had been dyed black as his natural colour was a light brown. It was styled back with gel supporting his hold. She loved the way he was looking at her, his eyes skimming her own body before making the way up to her face slowly.

« They’ll love you, now relax. » He reassured, well as reassuring as he could be. « Why haven’t I seen you in that dress before ? »

He wasn’t exactly the sentimental type, nor was he the most expressive. Elijah Banks was one of a kind, and she was grateful he was all hers.

Rainy felt her cheeks flush at his question and walked her feet over towards him when he didn’t bother to make a move. « Because it’s new. I bought it the other day, do you like it ? »

Clenching his strong jaw, he tugged his black lip ring playfully. « Hm I do, you know what else I like ? »

Rainy laughed, puckering her lips whilst she tiptoed up to place a kiss on his soft lips. « Me ? » She battered her darkened lashes at him.

He snorted, smacking her ass playfully before pushing her off him and opening the car door for her. « I’d like it if we’d get a move on and be at the airport already. Now get in the damn car. »

She grumbled at his lack of romance and got into the car begrudgingly. After buckling her seatbelt, she yanked the mirror down to look at her reflection. She had no makeup on, letting her natural skin breathe. Her long lashes and dark eyebrows made it appear as if she was wearing mascara and brow product. Pushing her tight curls up into a ponytail, she took the pale pink scrunchie that matched her summer dress from her wrist and tied her hair up.

As Elijah got into his side of the car and started the engine, she opened the glove compartment finding one of her many lip balms inside.

Though, before she could put any on, she felt a finger come up underneath her chin turning her head. Rainy sighed, glancing at her boyfriend and raised one eyebrow.

« What ? » She snapped sassily.

« Oh it’s nothing. » He shrugged, faking innocence. « Just wanted to tell you something that’s all. »

She shyly met his eyes, her gaze dropping and wavering on his lips as he bowed his head toward hers. « What did you want to tell me ? » She met him halfway, her mouth was drawn to his by an invisible force. His lips were soft, his kisses tender and teasing.

« Eli… What did you want to tell me ? » Rainy quipped breathlessly against his lips. She leaned into him, wanting his mouth on hers as he held his lips just out of reach. His breath was warm ; they breathed in tandem.

« I love you. »

His hand stroked hers, his fingers tracing a path along her palm before he laced his fingers with hers, pulling her hand to his as his mouth found hers again. He squeezed her hand before releasing it to wrap one arm around her back, holding her close to him. Her hand lifted to cup his cheek, then slowly slid around to the back of his head, her fingers tangling in his dark locks.

She moaned against his lips, wanting something she couldn’t quite put a name to, his touch was enough to cause a fever. It was so hard to think when he kissed her like that, alternating between light and teasing and hard and insistent. He kept her guessing, and with each kiss, her desire grew

Elijah was drinking his drink again, a hungry look in his eyes as he pulled back.

« Still mad at me baby ? » He asked sheepishly, a smirk growing onto his lips as her eyes darkened with lust.

She couldn’t believe he could tease her like that and act like nothing had happened.

Rainy jabbed him back roughly, settling back into her seat with her arms crossed. « Just drive. »

And with that, the journey began.

The drive to the airport was short-lived ; not long after, they were unloading their things and passed through security and baggage. They were waiting for his family members to arrive so that they could board the plane together.

Eventually, they started showing up one by one, she greeted each family member and much to her surprise it was smooth sailing. However, she had yet to meet his parents who were already in Palm Springs. They had gone early in order to get the house ready and prepared.

So far she had met his nephew Cairo and niece Kaya and Aunt Felicity and Uncle Rick, who were the lovely parents of his two little cousins. Next was his crazy Aunt Lisa, who had introduced herself before making herself scarce talking animatedly about how it was up to her as the eldest in the group to find the alcohol for the plane ride.

All that was left for her to meet was his sister and his uncle. Both people he spoke highly of so she absolutely did not want to mess either introduction up.

Rainy tapped her feet nervously against the floor, the sounds of the kids running around and playing with one another could be heard in the background.

Busy searching the crowd of people, Elijah let out a holler, bouncing up from his seat. Rainy imitated his actions by also standing up.