𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, RAFE CAMERON

5.

| Chapter Five |

A crack of thunder brought me out of my sleep state as I squirmed in the arms that engulfed me. I blinked rapidly and could barely make out my surroundings in the dark room.

I was in Rafe's embrace as Topper and Sarah laid next to each other. I carefully removed the arms around my waist and slipped from under the blanket that seemed to suffocate me.

I trailed to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, trying to forget the nightmare that still freshly haunted my mind. I seemed to get those a lot, and I hated it.

I made my way back to the living room and sharply inhaled as I gazed at the silhouette standing in front of the couch, the lightning strike illuminating their face.

I narrowed my eyes as I made out his face. "You're a horrible person." I mumbled as he snickered and took hold of my shoulders.

"Thunder wake you up too?" He asked, doing his best to scan over my face in the dark.

I kept quiet for a minute before clearing my throat, "Yeah, just thunder." I whispered.

Even in the dark, I could tell he was uncertain but he disregarded it and let go of me. "Do you want to go to the beach? I know I'm not going to be able to fall back asleep."

I thought about it for a minute as I looked down at Rafe and Sarah. "Yeah, let me grab my keys and I'll meet you out there."

I could hear the faint noise of him sliding on his shoes before he creeped out of the room and arrived outside, leaving the door cracked for when I exited.

I swiftly grabbed my keys from the counter before my eyes caught sight of the jacket that hung over the chair. I quickly decided to put it on, the smell of Rafe's cologne enveloping my nostrils as I tried my best to shut the door as quietly as possible.

Raindrops soaked into the fabric of the jacket as I rushed into my Jeep. I breathed out and glanced over at Topper, finding his eyes half closed as he fiddled with a clip that I had left on the handlebar.

The whole ride there was silent as we were both equally tired, just for different reasons. I tried to block out any images of the nightmare that had flashed in my sight of vision as I drove.

The light from a streetlight broke me out of my haze as I pulled into the parking lot. The two of us sat there in silence, the sound of my windshield wipers enveloping us just as the airflow hit us in the face, freezing up our cheeks.

"You look like you've just relived some sort of PTSD." His voice broke out and I held back the grin that wanted to spread on my lips.

"Still as sarcastic as I remember." I smirked and turned to look at him. "You've been quiet too, you know."

He shrugged and took a look out of the window, collecting his thoughts. "Just tired."

My hands found warmth in the pockets of Rafe's jacket as I sat back in my seat, trying to find an appropriate thing to say.

"I've been thinking about something since it happened, but I didn't really want to ask Rafe." I announced after a few beats of silence.

He turned to face me as I kept my eyes trained on the waves that wiped the shoreline.

"Who's Gemma? Like, I know that she was Rafe's ex-girlfriend but what happened?" I questioned.