Page 189 of Affair
“Go on an adventure with me. If we have to leave, join me. I know I can’t give you much, but I’ll promise to always find you too if we get separated. I’ll always hunt you down because I’ll beworried about you being out there alone. Come with me, and we can figure this out as we go. I want that adventure with you,” he admitted.
Poe was surprised.
“You’d let me go with you?” he asked.
“The only reason I told you I’d leave is to protect you. I don’t want to go. I want to be with you. If you’d come looking for me anyway, then what’s the point of going without you? You’re tenacious, and stubborn,” he said. “I like that in my person.”
At the words, Poe had tears in his eyes.
Then, Gamble continued.
“BUT…”
That stopped him in his tracks.
“Oh, bloody shite, what?” he asked, expecting the worst.
“If we stay, don’t stop doing what you do. There are too many men and women like me who need you to be in their corner. We can help them together. That’s what The Hunters started out doing. All gave some, some gave all. Stay and help them. For me.”
He sat there.
“I know in your head you believe that you broke the rules, but you didn’t take advantage of me. I lied to stay longer. I was interested in you for a while. Keep doing good things. Keep fighting until you can’t fight anymore. Have you ever felt compelled to sleep with any other patients?” he asked.
He was horrified and sputtered.
It was very English of him.
And adorable.
“Absolutely not. You were my first and only. It was your eyes. I think you have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen in my life.”
That’s what he wanted to hear.
Well, the part about him being the only one. Most of the time, people gawked at his eyes.
He held out his hand.
“Then, I was the aberration. Will you cheat on me with another broken soldier?” he asked.
He wasn’t insane.
“Again, absolutely not. I would never hurt you like that,” he admitted. “I know how lucky I am to be part of your world,” he added. “I’ll fight to stay in it.”
That solved that.
“Then fight for more soldiers. That makes you my hero. That makes you their hero.”
It never occurred to him that he was someone’s hero. In that moment, he made up his mind.
“I’ll keep fighting until I can’t anymore. I’ll keep doing good, as long as you help me. I want a partnership, Gamble. I want my person.”
And that’s what Gamble wanted.
“And I need my emotional support Poe,” he stated.
Poe had never heard anything better in his whole life.
“I’ll be your emotional support Poe,” he repeated.
