Chapter 18 Cadence #2
“Was that funny to you?” I had said to him with my arms crossed over my chest with a pout in my lip.
“I think that you’re so damn cute when you’re in a panic like that.”
Soon, I had to leave the tent and shortly after, Zach found his way out too. If anyone saw us, no one said anything but I can still my heart pounding in my chest recalling the feeling of Bray unzipping the tent.
So, what do you say?
I smile, knowing that there’s no way I’m passing up spending more time with Zach.
Of course, I wanna go.
Okay, then meet me over there in fifteen.
I put my phone down and I can sense a pair of eyes glued to me. I turn to my best friend who is wide-eyed and nosy and I think she can already sense what’s coming. She crooks a grin at me.
“My sweet Hades,” I start, lowering my eyes and attempting my best at puppy eyes. She scoffs at me. “I have a favor to ask you.”
I almost got lost. I had to ask Zach to share his location so that I was able to find him easier.
I forgot about the fact that it’s dark and my phone flashlight can only accommodate so much.
But I make it, seeing Zach’s jeep parked up at the lot by the lake, and surprisingly, thankfully, he’s the only one.
I can see him waiting for me against his car, his smile illuminated by the moon light. My heart races the closer I get, anticipation greeting me as it bubbles against my chest. He watches me as I close the gap between us and a big smile paints across his face when I finally reach him.
I can’t help the way my heart blooms every time I see him, my own smile tugging on my lips as he holds his hand out to me and I walk right into him.
Zach wraps me up, and I snuggle against his chest, taking in his scent and how warm he is.
But even with his body warmth surrounding me, I still feel a chill caress my spine as the night wind breezes past us.
“You cold?” he asks me as he leans back.
“Yeah," I say. "And I kind of forgot that blanket,” I admit with a shrug and he just grins mischievously at me.
“I knew you would,” he says as he runs his hands up and down my arms. “Good thing I brought my own."
“What are we doing out here?” I ask as I turn from his hold and look out over the lake while he walks toward the back of his car.
The view is stunning; the moonlight melting into the water as the trees dance in the wind. I take it in for a second. I don't get very moments like this back in the city. It seems it's always go, go, go. So I appreciate this small amount of time we have to just soak in the beauty of nature.
“I have something I want to show you,” Zach says as he opens the hatch of his Jeep.
I turn to look and my eyes go wide with surprise.
“Zach…” I whisper as I step closer.
Blankets line the floorboard of his trunk, pillows stacked along the back-end of the back seats and a set of twinkle lights hangs from the ceiling.
An ambient sound plays in the background and it mixes beautifully with the sound of the water from the lake.
There’s also a little tray of nuts and cheese off to the side along with two single strawberry milks and something that looks like a mini telescope.
I'm in awe, noticing just how thought out this is.
“You did this?” I ask as I look over to Zach. His eyes are already on me and a feeling of adoration and reverence swells in my chest.
“It’s what I’ve been doing the past few hours,” he admits and that explains why I hadn’t seen him for a while.
“It’s beautiful,” I tell him and I can see the smile that spreads across his face.
“Wanna get in?” he asks and I don’t hesitate to agree.
He reaches for my hand and helps me up into his trunk, after I get myself situated, he jumps up and joins me. I’m immediately greeted by the warmth and I appreciate that seeing as I was starting to shiver standing out there.
“Here.” Zach reaches out next to me and unfolds a blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders.
“Thank you,” I say to him before leaning back into the pillows. “This is stunning Zach. I can’t believe you did all this.”
“Honestly, me neither but I had the thought and I made it happen.” He looks out over the lake, his open trunk leading out to the perfect view.
From here we can see the tall grass and the water that shimmers under the moon with the tips of the mountain silhouetted in the background. It truly is a masterpiece. A few moments of silence pass us by before Zach leans up and asks me a question.
“Can I tell you something?”
I look over, watching him as stares out into the night.
“Of course,” I say as I make the decision to scoot closer to him.
He welcomes me in, holding out his arm and I snuggle into him. Or feet tangle together as he wraps his arm around me and I rest my head against his chest and once I'm situated, he starts.
“Every time I look at you, Cadence, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always seen you as the sun.”
I sit up, way too overcome with emotion to his statement, and I turn my head to look at him. “Zach, what?”
“You never fail to light up the room. Everywhere you go you have this sparkle to you. It’s in your smile, in your eyes. It’s even buried in your laugh, Cadie. It’s why I call you Sunshine.”
I watch him as he speaks to me, looking right into his eyes as my heart thuds with an insane amount of exaltation.
Zach leans up and pulls me in, turning us so that our faces are in line with one another. "But every time the sun sets and the moon comes out, I look up at the stars and I see something familiar in them too. I realize that you don’t just remind me of the sun, but you remind me of the stars also.”
“Why’s that?” I whisper.
Zach reaches a finger up to my face and I let my eyes flutter shut as he presses it gently against my skin. He starts to move around in a line across my cheeks to the bridge of my nose. I gasp lightly, loving the way his contact lights my skin ablaze.
“Because your freckles remind me of the constellations in the sky," he whispers and I open my eyes. Zach's finger drops.
Is this real? How is this moment so damn perfect?
We stare into each other’s eyes for a beat, the intensity between us bursts as he wraps his hand around my neck, gently cupping me and pulling me in.
I let myself lean into him and as we close our eyes, and for a moment too long, our lips brush together.
It’s fleeting, a whisper of a kiss but enough to send my heart shattering into oblivion. The blissful kind. It causes every nerve ending in my body to bloom, giving me butterflies and sending chills across my skin.
“I’ve missed you,” I whisper over his lips and I feel his smile widen as he holds on to the kiss.
“I missed you too, Sunshine.” I reach up and wrap my hand around his neck, pulling him in more and urging him to deepen the kiss. And he does. I open my mouth for him, allowing him to slip his tongue in to dance with my own.
We kiss with wild abandon, passion teetering the edge of our control as we tangle with each other. It’s heaven on earth, the way he holds me and treats me with care. The way he’s soft and gentle, but his imprint on my soul is intense and all-consuming.
We let go of the kiss, both of us gasping for air as he lowers his forehead to my own.
“Zach that was-”
He leans back and I stop myself, not sure what I was just about to divulge in the heat of the moment. There are a few things that come to mind, but I keep my mouth shut and watch him as he leans over for the telescope.
“Come over here.” He waves me closer to the edge of the car.
I crawl over to where he sits and I prop myself up on my knees, blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, and I wait for his further instruction.
“This is a unique telescope,” he starts as he hands it to me and I take it, still not fully having caught my breath.
“It looks kind of regular to me,” I quip and it causes Zach to chuckle, but I look at him with a puzzled expression.
“It’s regular-modified,” he clarifies with sarcasm as I examine it in my hands.
“It has three dials that show different settings of the constellations in the sky.”
“Zach,” I lower my tone to something playful as I grin at him. “Hate to break it to you, pal, but that sounds more regular than you think.”
He smirks at me as he grabs the telescope, placing his hands over where I hold it and he assists me in bringing it up to my eye. “I made it,” he reveals and I watch his smile fade from view before the skinnier end of the scope covers my eye.
“Squint your right eye,” he directs me and I do as I’m told. He helps me position my hand over the neck of the telescope and the other over the end of it where the dial is.
“Now, the setting you're on right now is the basic setting. If you look up in the sky, you can see the stars a little bit clearer than you would just looking at them in person."
I observe the view, and he's right. But I can't help myself. “Yeah, like a regular telescope,” I deadpan and he just scoffs.
"Stop being a brat," he tells me and I have to hold back my gasp. “Now, twist the dial over to the right one click.”
I feel the grooves at the end of the stick and I twist. I feel it click into place and immediately the stars appear closer and brighter.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Zach says next to me and I can’t deny that the view is spectacular. "This is the enhanced setting, and it allows you to see stars that are beyond what we see on the surface of the sky."
“There’s no way you made this.” I remove the telescope from my face and inspect it, turning it over in my hands but Zach doesn’t say anything.
He simply raises the scope back up to my eyes and repositions my hands in place.
"And how do you know so much about stars and telescopes? " I ask, but he doesn't answer.
“This next setting is my favorite because you get to see a very specific constellation that not many people have the privilege of being able to see with the naked eye.”
“Is that so?” I ask as I ready myself to click the dial over. I squint my eye and focus my other eye over the sky through the telescope.
“You ready?” Zach asks and I nod my head.
I twist the dial, and it takes me a minute. I’m not too sure what I’m looking at, but I focus.
“Let me know when you see it.”
“I don’t know…” I squint my eye, trying my best to make out whatever it is that he’s talking about and after a few moments, I almost give up.
But then my eye catches on something.
“Wait, I think I see something,” I say out loud as I trace the stars with my eyesight. The pattern seems to be spelling out a word of some sort but it’s hard for me to keep track of the letters all at once.
“Do you need help?” Zach asks, likely sensing my struggle and as much pride as I have when it comes to figuring things out on my own, I accept.
“Turn the dial one more time.”
I twist it and when the image clears, the words are easily visible in the shape of a constellation against the sky.
Will you be my . . . homecoming queen?
My breath hitches when I read the whole thing. There’s no way this is real.
“Did you find it?” Zach asks and I lower the telescope, my heart thundering in my chest.
I look over at him and I can see how impatient he is, but I'm speechless.
I hold the telescope up one more time and read the words again. Right there, buried into the mess of stars . . . Will you be my homecoming queen?
Yes,” I whisper, dropping the scope and turning to him. “Yes,” I say louder as my eyes beam with happiness.
“Yeah?” Zach looks at me and smiles.
“Yes, Zach, I wanna go with you.”
He leans in and wraps me up, pressing his lips to mine and I savor this kiss for only a second before I push away with my palms against his chest and I lean back to look into his eyes.
“I want to hear you ask me.”
His dimples appear as he looks at me. I can't help but feel so overflowing with emotion as I watch him carefully, lowering his mouth back down to mine as he whispers, "Will you go to homecoming with me, Cadence?”
I press my lips to his and smile back. “Yes.”
Zach lifts me up and places me over his lap as he leans back into the side of the car. I straddle him, letting the blanket fall from my shoulders as I wrap my arms around his neck and close the space between us.
His hands travel up my back and into my hair, then back down again and I can’t help but let my body move on its own accord, gently rocking against him as I feel the pressure grow between my legs.
I let out a little moan against his lips and he fingers dig into my sides and the heat between us ignites. But then it simmers.
“Cadie,” Zach breathes out as he breaks our kiss. “We need to slow down.”
I lean my head against his, panting as he too attempts to catch his breath.
He’s right. That was becoming too much too fast and I’m glad he has the right mind to stop it.
I’ve thought about it though. Losing my virginity to him.
I know it’s what I want but I’m not sure when the right time would be.
Ryen told me I’d know when the right time was because my body would feel different and it would feel right with the right person.
I’m not sure what any of that means but I don’t really have a choice but to just trust her.
I lean back into Zach, letting him wrap his arms around the front of me while I rest the back of my head against his chest and we look out into the stars. He reaches for the blanket and layers it over me and I relax into him.
We’re silent for a moment. Letting the stars and the moon do all the talking in the sky, the loud beauty that graces us and the silent secrets they keep.
I feel my heart fill with wonder and admiration; lucky enough that I get to experience a view like this at least once in my life.
“What are you thinking about?” Zach asks and I smile.
“I wonder if the stars are looking down on us right now, whispering amongst themselves and thinking how monumental it is that we’re finally together.”
I can feel Zach’s heartbeat underneath me and I close my eyes as I study on the rhythm of it.
“I think that’s exactly what they’re saying too, little one.”
I feel myself peacefully fading. The sway of the breeze, the warmth of Zach’s arms and the sound of his heart. The ambient music playing in the back and the bliss that shelters itself in my heart all work together to bring me to a calming sleep.
And I relax into it, letting the emotions and the pure affection I’ve felt tonight rock me gently toward my dreams and before I know it, I’m asleep in Zach’s arms.