Page 91 of Wicked Player

“I get that. And obviously there are things we should have done differently, even me once I knew who you were, but we can’t go back.”

“But can we go forward?” I asked. My throat burned at the question. The doubt. The fear. The wondering.

“I’m hoping we can figure out a way to get there, yes.” Oh, my heart. My poor aching heart melted at his words. The sweetness in his dark, stressed eyes.

Next to me, Haley sighed and placed her hand to her chest. “Oh, you two are so sweet.”

Only she would think any of this was sweet. I glared at her and she shrugged. “What? I mean, he’s hot and he’s taking care of you. I like it.”

“He’s also in the room,” I told her.

“Yeah, I don’t think he minds.” She winked at Gage who didn’t look amused.

“Actually I do.” He held out his hand to me. “Come home with me. Let’s figure it out.”

Smart or not, being with him was the only place I knew I’d be able to think clearly.

I grabbed my purse and dug out my keys, tossing them to Blake. “I’ll come get my car sometime, but in case you need to move it.”

He grabbed them out of the air and skewered Gage with a poisonous glare that would have most men melting to ash. Fortunately for Gage, he wasn’t most men. “Swear to God, you make this right for her. And expect I’ll be calling Jaxon as soon as you leave.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” Gage said. He held out his hand and Blake only hesitated for a split second before gripping it. “I’ve got this. Promise.”

“Good.” Blake let go and turned to me. “Take care, sis. And call me if you need anything.”

“Um.” I scratched the back of my neck and flinched. “Well, can you tell mom and dad?”

“You wantmeto tell mom and dad you met your guy at a sex club? You fucking insane?”

Haley slapped him on the chest. Fortunately she was closer or I would have. “You can leave that part out dumbass,” she said.

“Crazy. You’re all fucking crazy,” I said. Gage was next to me, grinning down at my mutterings and when our eyes met, his lips lifted at the edges. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” I gave Haley and Blake a quick hug and followed Gage out to his SUV. It wasn’t until we were buckled in and out of his neighborhood that two thoughts came to mind.

“How’d you find Blake’s house?” I asked.

“Public addresses online. Looked up all your family’s and drove by. By the way, the house you grew up in is really cute.”

“You did… you know what?” I waved a hand in the air. “It doesn’t even surprise me.”

“Went to your apartment and you weren’t there so I tried to figure out where you’d go. I’ve been driving around for hours looking for you. I’ve been worried.”

I hadn’t meant to make him worry, but at hearing he did, my heart skipped a beat.

I slid my hand to his thigh and he covered it with his, squeezing tight. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to make you worry, I just wanted some time before I called you back. Also, before you send Jaxon to rip off Connor’s balls, you should probably know he texted me.”

“The fucker did what?”

“Yeah.” I unlocked my phone and pulled up his texts. I’d had dozens of notifications on my phone and it took awhile to find them. “Basically he said it wasn’t him. He can explain and he was sorry. I was thinking of calling him right before you showed up.”

Gage’s hand on mine squeezed tight. “Do it once we get to my house. I want to hear what he has to say.”

Funny. I figured he’d say that.

The rest of the drive to Gage’s was quiet, and long since it was Friday afternoon and we were headed out of the city like so many others. But it gave me time to settle my thoughts too.

I loved being with Gage. The fact he’d driven all over Raleigh and Durham looking for me spoke volumes. So did the way he took over to try to fix everything.

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