Always, I'll Care | Rafe Cameron

one

Chapter One

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Erika

"Rafe!" I follow him out into Top's front yard, escaping the crowd in the house and backyard, the mumbled noises fading into the background as I catch up to him and grab his arm. "Can you just talk to me for a second?"

He finally turns to look at me, his eyes darker than I've ever seen them. I immediately drop my hand from his arm, scared that he'd beat me to it. I didn't want him to be the one pushing me away.

"Get it through your head, Erika," he said, his voice laced with venom. My heart drops to the pit of my stomach at the sound of him calling me by my first name. Since our first date a year ago, it's only been Coop. Occasionally Rik or Rika, but never Erika. "I don't want to see you. And I sure as hell, don't want to talk to you right now."

His words cut deep, but I keep a straight face. I'd never give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. "What the fuck is your problem?"

An annoyed scoff leaves his lips. "My problem?" he asked, slowly closing the distance between us, a chill running down my spine as he did.

I'd never seen him look at me this way before. I wasn't sure if he was high or drunk, or both, but this wasn't the Rafe I knew. This wasn't my Rafe.

"My problem is you," he spat. "You've turned me into someone I'm not. Someone I don't want to be. You think I want to be thinking about our future or planning it out? No. I want to have fun. I want to fuck around. I want to live my life without concerning myself with how it's going to affect you."

I take a deep breath, forcing away the tears that threaten to well up in my eyes. "Then man the fuck up and break up with me, Rafe. Stop leading me on and just say it."

For just a moment, his exterior breaks, and a glimpse of the Rafe I know appears in his eyes. But just as quickly as it comes, it goes.

He leans in to my ear, making sure I hear him loud and clear, and I feel my body go limp. One sudden movement and I'd fall over for sure. "We're done," he says. "I don't ever want to see you again."

He walks away without another word, as if he didn't just break my heart and stomp on it, and that's when I make up my mind.

I can't stay here. It's time to go.

"Ms. Cooper, we've just landed," the flight attendant addresses me and I realize that I'm no longer staring off at the clouds, but a field of wildflowers.

I never planned on coming back. But when I walked into my New York apartment with everything packed into boxes and a note reading, "It's time to come home. -Mom and Dad," I didn't have much of a choice. They paid for everything. There was no way I'd be able to survive in New York without them, so here I was—back in the place I'd grown to hate; back to playing the role of the perfect, dutiful daughter.

I stand up from my seat and walk down the aisle, towards the exit. The pilot opens the door to let me out and I give him a small smile, as the sun illuminates my face.

"Thank you," I say, before facing out into the open landing.

The first thing I see is Evan, leaning back against his car with his arms crossed and a grin on his face. A smile immediately spreads across my lips.

I run down the stairs of the jet and headline straight for him, throwing my arms around his shoulders when he meets me halfway.

"I missed you, Ev."