Heartless

There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back

'Cause if we lost our minds and we took it way too far
I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright
If you were by my side and we stumbled in the dark
I know we'd be alright, I know we would be alright

——There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back, Shawn Mendes

March 6, 2018

Luke woke with a grin already in place at the weight of Rae's arm stretched across his chest.  He loved coming home to Rae and he loved waking up with her.  The one benefit to her working second shift was long, lazy mornings in bed on his off days.  And those were the best days. 

Luke felt her stir a bit and rolled to his side, her arm wrapping around him.  "Good morning, angel," he whispered.  "There's nothing better than waking up with you."

*****
They eventually made it out of bed and to the kitchen. But Luke kept distracting her while Rae was trying to make what was turning into a very late breakfast.

"Luke, I'm gonna burn your eggs if you don't knock it off," Rae moaned softly, as she felt his lips on the back of her neck.

"We've got more eggs," he whispered against her skin.

"Enough," Rae laughed. "You're insatiable, Kennard." She pushed him away and glanced at her phone.

"Hey," Luke frowned. "I was away. I missed you. And what could be more important on your phone right now."

Rae smiled at him. "Nothing is more important, Lukey. But I think you should eat." Rae hesitated. "And I texted Cait to see how she's doing and I'm watching for a text back."

Luke sighed. "That was really bad, wasn't it?"

"It was scary," Rae admitted. "And I thought her dad was gonna lose it when he heard the words 'internal bleeding'," she sighed.

Luke swallowed hard now. "I really do admire how calm you were."

But Rae shook her head. "I was calm when I was with her, because I knew she needed that. But when they took her to surgery, I was really scared for a few minutes." Rae studied him. "But I thought about you, about what you said you'd be doing. And I did it too."

Luke looked confused for a few seconds. Then he blinked and looked at her intently. "You prayed?"

"I absolutely did," Rae told him.

*****

Rae had left for work and Luke was a bit bored.  Grayson was on his way to New York for the ACC tournament.  Cait was still recovering and he knew Sherry was probably keeping close watch on her.  And he'd exhausted his patience for video games for a little while.

The season was rolling along, just about five weeks left.  And unless things turned around, they wouldn't be in the playoffs.  To add insult to injury, he was hardly playing at all right now.  That might change once they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but that was small consolation. 

He flipped on the game between Wake and Syracuse, but he really wasn't paying attention to it.  Instead, he was lost in his own thoughts.