I'm back after a very satisfying bout of inspiration. If all goes according to plan, I have two chapters left, one of which is a bonus. Wish me luck!

Also, thank you so much for coming along on this wild ride that is Teagan and Rain's story. It means so much to see the support and love this book has gotten.

Enjoy, and if you like it, don't forget to hit that star (vote) if you can!

-VIVKELLER23
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Rain

Gray's College looked like a ghost town on the last day of classes before Thanksgiving Break. The only people still present were those who had things to finish in time for finals week which took place two weeks after the holiday.

Rain sighed as she watched a pair of squirrels scurry through the nearly bare tree branches.

If she was being honest, she hadn't really needed to come to the campus today.

Professors knew not to expect all students to attend class on the day before break. It was when everyone left town to spend time with family. That was what Thanksgiving was all about.

But since Rain had left the Sullivan Estate four days ago with a very formal goodbye letter to her father, there was no practical reason for her to skip class. She didn't have a family to spend Thanksgiving with. She only had Isa, but Isa was visiting her sister down in San Diego.

That left Rain all alone to situate herself in Isa's quaint two-bedroom apartment.

The irony in relocating to a smaller place with a woman who'd loved her for years was that she'd come to feel lonelier in the past two days than she ever had in the two years she'd put up with Randolf Sullivan's endless business meetings. Because Isa made any room feel like home, and in her absence, Rain felt an emptiness she couldn't shake.

That was why Rain had spent the better part of two hours strolling through campus. She hadn't gone to the library like she wanted to because she figured the scene she'd caused the last time she was in there was still fresh in certain people's minds.

She hadn't bothered going to French either. Mademoiselle Lockley had the uncanny ability to pick apart the holes in Rain's facade to find the brewing emotions beneath. It was almost like she had a radar that caught whenever something was off. But Rain wasn't looking to be analyzed and poked at. She just didn't want to be left alone to dwell on all the changes she was facing in light of what she'd discovered about her father and his selfish plans.

And just in time for Thanksgiving.

Rain had thought leaving the letter for Randolf on his desk had been a little too formal. She'd known him all her life after all. But it seemed she shouldn't have worried. Her father had found it all too easy to feed her to the wolves in return.

It was common knowledge in Granite Woods that Rain Sullivan was an ungrateful, foolish girl who'd ruined the only chance she had at finding a man who would have her. She had to admit, she'd been stupid to think Randolf would let her leave without a fight. The Woods' Newspaper wasn't much for journalism anyway. All they needed was a story that would get them readers.

Fallout in Paradise: Sullivan Princess turns Real Life Ice Queen?

Rain glared at the bold print on the front page. They weren't very subtle in naming their stories, were they?

According to the words her father had fed the writers to print, she had lost her mind. The person responsible for her sudden act of rebellion: Teagan Miller.

It wasn't like she'd expected Randolf Sullivan to finally grow an honest bone in his body. He'd spent too long perfecting his head for business to waste time on something so frivolous. It was much easier, smoother even, to blame the very guy he'd paid to help snap her out of the past that haunted her.

Who cared why she'd been so haunted to begin with?

No one. No one cared. But she was working to change that.

Her father might have The Woods' Newspaper in his deep pockets, but there were other ways to shed some light on the truth.

Rain closed the newspaper and tossed it into a trash can she passed on her way back to the parking lot.

She was the Ice Queen again to everyone. She'd never really stopped being that icy persona, at least not in the eyes of the strangers she walked past everyday. But for a moment, one sweet, blessedly magical moment, she'd believed she was more to the one man who saw her.

It had been a lie with Teagan. But at least now she knew she could be more if she truly wanted to leave the shadows.

"Sullivan!"

Rain winced at the sound of her name. She really didn't need this right now. "Good morning, Dr. Tilden," she greeted with a bright smile pasted on her face. "No classes today to share your profound wisdom?"

Oh, gosh. She'd really said that.

Thankfully for her, the man was too crazy to catch the sarcasm in her words. "You know, my intelligence comes in waves. Sometimes I need a break to rewind it all. Take some time to just be thankful for all that I have."

In waves? She was afraid to even ask what that meant in case the explanation turned into an avalanche of philosophical information. "So you have plans for the holidays as well? Family to visit and catch up with?" Rain asked though she couldn't muster the strength to care about his answer.

Tilden laughed, twirling the end of his colorful scarf. "There's only one of my kind, Miss Sullivan," he informed her. "I've been alone all my life."

She blinked, recognizing the loneliness in the older man's weathered features. Now there was an emotion she knew very well. "Then Thanksgiving can't exactly be a very fun time for you."

"I've a lot to be grateful for though. And I don't need a roomful of people to help me eat an entire turkey."

He sounded proud of himself. Rain gave him a small smile. "Well, there's a silver lining."

"And you?" he questioned. "There's been quite a bit of talk about you for months. I've never believed any of it, you see, because I prefer to do my own research on people." Tilden made claws in the air, startling Rain into taking three steps back.

She yelped as the backs of her tight-clad legs hit the stone bench behind her. She landed hard, the skirt of her navy sweater dress serving as no protection for her bottom as she hit the seat.

The old man's blue eyes flashed down at her. "I'm usually never wrong," he told her. "But recently, you've made it very hard on me to continue my studies."

"Me?"

He nodded. "You've gone and made it very hard for Miller to give me an unbiased summation of who Rain Sullivan really is."

Rain frowned, finding the possibility that Tilden was completely insane just a little more plausible. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how Teagan's refusal to submit the analysis assignment is my fault."

"You haven't a clue."

Nothing made sense. She'd come to Gray's this morning to take her mind off of Randolf, his devious plans for more money, and Teagan frigging Miller. Maybe she should have taken a page out of Teagan's own manual and left town.

He hadn't even had the decency to stay and face the guilt of what he'd done.

Tilden whistled, bringing her attention back to him. "Miller submitted the assignment."

"What?"

"Late, of course, but sometimes you have to wait for the things that are actually worth something," The man shrugged and pulled a neatly folded paper from his tan cardigan. "He asked me not to read it because he hadn't submitted it for a grade, but I don't take orders from nobody."

Rain shook her head. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she'd understand what he was trying to tell her. "Why should any of this matter to me?"

He didn't like to read into the rumors people spread, but in this case, there was some truth to the story circulating campus. Teagan Miller had played her for a fool. Tilden should have brushed up on that bit of information.

The old man dropped the paper into her lap. "Do me a favor. Read it." Before Rain could recover enough to throw the paper back at him, he turned away, whistling merrily as he strolled towards the library.

And Rain was just tired enough to listen.

As her eyes glanced over the page, she realized Teagan Miller had more secrets than she'd first contemplated.

They say to watch what you wish for, cause you could get more than you could ever want. Well, what do they know anyway? I've always been the kind of guy who thrives on proving people wrong, so that one was pretty much a dare for me.

But I think they might be onto something.

I've always had a weakness for the things I was told I could never have. Seemed someone had a little fun at my expense when Fate gave me a way with words. What the hell are fancy words going to do for the bastard guy who can't outrun his dirty secrets? Nothing, but what do I know, right? This stupid paper was supposed to be just another fun way to bend the rules, maybe set off some sparks.

It turned into a freaking fire.

Rain Sullivan. Can you believe I've always followed the woman with my eyes but I never knew her name? To me, she was the Ice Queen, the untouchable, frosty royal everyone admired even as they whispered about her. My first glimpse of her happened a semester after I began attending Gray's. She wore a polite smile that pushed you away without you even realizing it. I remember the fiery paint on her toenails, how much that contrasted with the rest of the icy persona she presented to the world. I don't have a foot fetish, so don't judge me. It was just that with her, everything was so precise that my eyes automatically went to whatever was unexpected.

She offered to break my friend's nose. I'd never known someone who could so politely turn the tables on an overconfident brute, but she was the Queen so I should have expected it.

I ran into Rain again, as the Ice Queen, at a party she had no business attending. Something about the way she strode into the crowded house commanded attention. She had mine from the moment she arrived. I didn't know it then, but I was already under her spell even before she looked at me over the rim of her spiked glass of lemonade. Here's one thing you wouldn't know just from watching her from afar. She's got the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. That's a fact. They're violet, majestic, royal, and can see way more than you probably want her to see. She also can't handle any amount of liquor.

You can spend years listening to the things people say about her and you still wouldn't know a thing. She's strong, but no one sees the strength beyond the ice they call her out for. She's brave, so much so that she would stare down a mean drunk just to make sure he behaves himself. She's caring and selfless, donating so much of her time to people she hardly knows, but none of that is visible when you're sitting across from her at the library. Oh, she also prefers Red Bull to green tea. Found that out the hard way.

There's so much I've learned from my time with Rain Sullivan. A lot of things I could say would shock people, make them ashamed of the way they've interacted with her. But I don't think it's my place to share all of that. One essential piece everyone should know is that she's so much more than a guarded woman covered in ice. She's a Daughtry fan and she can shoot a gun, though I haven't had the opportunity to see that last part.

I know I was supposed to come up with some data to share. Truth is, I forgot after I got to know the girl who stumbled into that party and made me an offer I was stupid enough to refuse. But the one thing I can say with all certainty is that Rain Sullivan did more than teach me about burdened pasts and polished masks.

Rain Sullivan proved that I hadn't outgrown my weakness for things I couldn't have.

And my little wish for some fun? I got way more than that.

I fell in love with Rainy Day.

So as far as analyzing goes, I guess I can't give you the factual, impersonal take on the Ice Queen. Cause I'm biased. Sue me.

Rain closed the letter neatly once more.

The words weren't as polished as she would have expected. But there was no denying one very important thing.

Teagan Miller sure knew how to break a girl's heart.

xXx

What was a twenty-two-year-old girl with no family supposed to do on the one day out of the year dedicated to family?

She threw herself into celebrating with others just like her.

You *cough* are so hiding from what Mr. Hot Tee had to say about you.

Rain forced a smile on her lips as she turned the corner from the shelter's kitchen to the large glass table in the formal dining room. It was one of the few pieces her father's money had helped pay for before he'd stopped sponsoring the program.

Setting the cooked ham down next to the turkey, Rain straightened away from the set table to look around.

The shelter was a two story brick house that needed a lot of repairs to accommodate the growing number of victims seeking a place to stay. It wasn't exactly a picturesque home, but it was an escape to women who'd lost the safety of their homes.

Right now, the walls were filled with framed pictures of several women living in the house. Drawings made by some of the children that had been relocated with their mothers were set on display on the refrigerator. The living room had been split down the middle; one half functioned as a safe space for the adults to converse while the other half was filled with children's books and toys.

There were a total of six bedrooms in the house. An office room and a game room existed on the second floor, though with the growing number of women and families moving in, the two rooms had been doubled into makeshift bedrooms as well. The garage had also  been remodeled into a family room for those who had more than one infant and needed the space.

It wasn't much, but they were making this a home.

Coward.

Okay, so Rain was making herself busy setting up a Thanksgiving feast so she wouldn't have to think about what Teagan had written. Call it self-preservation.

She wasn't so immune to the pretty words that she hadn't been moved initially. She'd never received a love confession before. Even her supposed engagement to Donald Jeffers had been a cold transaction her father set in motion.

Now that she'd burned that bridge, it was safe to say neither the Jeffers family nor Donald himself would feel the need to keep up appearances.

Pretty soon they'd be busy looking for a lawyer if she got her way.

Rain glanced at the clock on the wall and clapped her hands. "Dinner's ready!"

She smiled as the room filled with voices. This was what she'd counted on. A table full of friends to fill the time until she had to return to an empty apartment.

Rain was halfway to the kitchen to retrieve some plates for dessert, when the voices turned into whistles and cheers. And while it was extremely possible that Rain had just lost touch with what Thanksgiving dinners were really like when you had a houseful of people, she knew turkey and ham wasn't something most people cheered for.

Cinnamon rolls? Sure, she'd cheer for that. Turkey, gravy, and ham? She'd eat it, but she wouldn't cheer.

Feeling a slight unsettling flutter in her empty stomach, Rain left the plates on the counter to investigate. Twelve women of all different ages sat at the table Rain had worked so diligently to set. Yet the beaming smiles on their faces weren't directed at the varying dishes on the table.

Their smiles were all for two men sitting just beyond the dining room, in the center of the living room. Two gorgeous men sitting on stools with matching flirty smiles meant to send female pulses soaring.

A set of piercing green-grey eyes met her astonished gaze, and his confident smile faltered.

"Good evening, ladies," the other man in the room greeted. He had clear green eyes and hair as black as midnight.

And Rain knew instinctively why the women hadn't touched their food.

Dimitri Hale. It seemed Teagan had found a way to bring the concert to her after she'd given the tickets he gifted her back.

She'd be lying if she said her heart didn't melt a little at the realization.

"I'd like to treat you all to an exclusive performance alongside someone very special," Dimitri continued, a knowing look in his eyes as he looked from Rain's face to Teagan's. "This handsome man right here made a bad play recently, but we're related so wrong decisions tend to run in the family."

It was as if Teagan Miller hadn't spent his entire life in the shadows. As if he hadn't been a ghost his father and Dimitri's mother had tried to bury with hurtful words and checks made out of guilt.

"This man is Teagan Miller, a brother I had the pleasure of finally meeting three days ago." Teagan's gaze flicked down to the guitar he held in his hands as Dimitri made the introduction. "This intimate performance was his way of trying to make amends and bring a little light to you all during the holidays."

Rain couldn't believe she'd heard the pop star right. Teagan didn't even like the kind of music Hale was known for.

But the first stroke of Teagan's fingers against the guitar strings silenced all her thoughts.

He'd chosen a song by Daughtry to sing for her. It wasn't perfect, anyone in the room could tell he wasn't a natural born singer, but he more than made up for it with the emotion he put into the lyrics he sang.

"And when you build those walls to keep you safe. It's like a prison you can't escape. You tear 'em down, you just might hear me say..."

Rain felt the cool trail of tears fall down her cheeks before she'd even processed she was crying.

It wasn't fair. She could have fought them back like she had since he'd left town without a word to anyone. She'd made up her mind to never again think about him when Tilden gave her his paper.

And now? Now he sang to her.

"I love you as you are."

He hadn't been able to say those words to her at the park during their run in with the fry loving goose.

What did the playboy who'd never been able to say those small three words to another human being do?

He broke her heart singing those words over and over again, making it impossible not to hear them.

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