Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) by Elle Devrou Page A

I looked at him.
          "No
killing," he reminded me, entirely at ease
          Somehow those
words were enough to calm me. I turned and headed to my bedroom, stopping when
my hand touched the door knob. I gazed over at Ethan again, who was now right
behind me.
          "What is
it?" he asked gently.
          "It's
just…not even my roommate comes in here."
          "I
see."
          I tried to
gather both my thoughts and my wits. "It's my bubble. Once you go
in…that's it, you know?" I desperately hoped that he would get the idea,
even if I didn't. "It's mine. Only mine. I don't…" I felt horribly
foolish for not being able to play it cool, and even worse for not being able
to express myself clearly. I could almost feel my eyes starting to sting.
          Ethan brought
his hand to my face. "Hey," he said softly. "It's alright. I
understand."
          "Do you?
Because I can bring the painting out to you. You can see what you need to
see…and then you can leave, and we can both be okay. But if you go in, I will take it as you wanting to be…more than casual buddies. So if you have any
doubts or you don't want anything serious, you should tell me now. I'll
understand complet-"
          He cut me off
by placing his finger over my mouth. "Let me in, please." His
expression was calm as he waited patiently.
          Staring back
into his eyes, I knew it would be okay. He was more than my ocean. He was real.
This should have scared me, but of course, all I could feel was safe...even if
I didn't understand why. I opened the door and walked in quickly, switching on
the light.
          The first thing
he noticed was the daybed. Then the easel and stool by the window. "You do
all your work in here?"
          "Mostly,
yes. Although I've only been living here for two months, so I haven't done too
much yet."
          His eyes
continued searching the room, pinpointing all of the drawings and paintings I
had leaning against the walls and shelves. I was glad that I kept my room so
clean, but then again, I didn't have anything else in here aside from the bed,
the desk, my laptop, my artwork and supplies, and the iPod dock. I never knew
when I would have to move, so I made a point of not wasting money on knickknacks
and such. I made up for it in clothes, though.
          "You're
over there." I pointed to picture above the bed. Reaching over, I pulled
it from the wall and handed it to him before taking a seat. "Blue," I
said quietly, looking at my feet. "A special kind of ocean blue. Like the
surface of the sea on a sunny but overcast day. The dazzling kind of blue. I
thought it was only the fluorescent lights. Real eyes don't sparkle like that -
like dozens of diamonds dancing on water. That's what I thought, but it seems
that I was wrong. I mean, the light certainly helped, but…"
          After a few
moments of silence passed, I looked at him. He was staring back at me, but I
couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Too cheesy, you think?" I
laughed and stood up. "But it's the truth." While he gazed back down
at the painting, I moved to my closet.
          "The
things you see within a moment…" he said quietly. Then he shook his head
and smiled, placing the painting back on the wall. "Well, you know what
this means, right?"
          "Hm?"
          As soon as I
turned to him, his arms were around me, hoisting me up into the air. He held me
up against him with one arm under my rear and the other around my waist, almost
like a parent would hold their child.
          "It's not
just you in your bubble anymore." Lifting his head up, he kissed my
forehead before pulling back to smirk at me. My heart stopped.
          Happy .
          When was the
last time I had felt this kind of happy? I was about to kiss him right then and
there when something from behind me caught his attention.
          "Your
wardrobe is…overflowing," he commented.
          "Oh…yeah." He set me down and