Page 69 of Knot Their Girl
“But will you be happy if you sell? Or will you spend the rest of your life regretting it?”
His shoulders slump, and he shakes his head once. “I don’t know. Does my happiness even matter?” The way he asks it, so softly, so seriously, makes my heart break for him. He thought he had his life figured out, he was happy in what he did… and then his sister and his brother-in-law died and everything changed. He probably hasn’t been happy since before the accident, not really.
That breaks my heart, and I’m not someone overflowing with empathy.
I move so I stand directly in front of him, so he’s forced to look at me. “Yes,” I whisper. “It does matter. Of course it matters.”
“You don’t have to say what you think I want to hear—”
He stops when I place a hand in the center of his chest. “Trust me, I’m not just saying what I think you want to hear. I mean every word. You’re…” How can I say everything I want to say without sounding like I’ve lost my mind?
Whatever. Seeing him in pain like this, I have to try.
“You’ve been through so much, done so much. You, Gideon Chase, deserve to be happy. You and Colter both. I’m not… good with feelings and shit, and I’m not the smartest girl around, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you deserve the world.”
He lifts a hand and gingerly places it above mine on his chest, his fingers slow in curling around mine. His eyes are covered in shadows, his back to the house, shielding us both from the escaping light. “And what if I don’t want the world?”
I swallow hard. “What do you want, then?”
“You already know.”
Maybe I do, but still I find myself whispering, “What if I don’t?” For some stupid, silly reason, I want to hear him say it.
“I don’t want the world… I want you.”
It would sound cheesy coming from anyone else, but from Gideon? It hits me like a wall, and I have to lean into him for support, my knees suddenly so weak. This was not supposed to happen, and yet it did. Hearing those words from him makes everything in me soar to heights I never knew possible.
There’s a long list of things I could say back, a list that involves me admitting my growing feelings for the man. Me coming to terms with the fact that I wound up in the one place I swore to myself I would never end up.
But tonight’s not the night for those kinds of declarations, so I just tell him, “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Gideon nods. “You are.” His hand drops from mine the same moment his top half bends. Those hands of his curl around my lower back and hold me against him in an inescapable grip as his mouth lowers to mine.
This kiss is different than the others. It’s softer and yet more eager at the same time. His lips are gentle and yet firm. It’s not a desperate kiss, but a slow kiss that tells me he’s not afraid oflosing time with me out here. He doesn’t want to rush, he wants to revel in it, in me, in all that we are together.
And it’s… nice. It’s amazing. It’s the kind of kiss you get lost in, the kind where the rest of the world fades away around you and you don’t even care. It’s the kind of kiss that makes your head buzz with lightheadedness and your lungs burn with a lack of oxygen because you don’t want it to end.
It’s a kiss that can change the world.
Against my lips, Gideon whispers, “Let’s go home.” He leans his forehead against mine, his nose brushing up against mine as he waits for me to respond.
“Are you sure?” I breathe out the question.
“These people don’t matter. Everything that matters to me is in my arms right now and back at the house.”
We couldn’t say that tonight was a complete waste; we still met and chatted with most if not all of the board members, along with a few other important people. Odds are my parents would hear that I went out for the first time with my alpha—I’ll probably get a call from my mom in a day or two, and tons of messages from Nicole. Nicole is dying to meet Gideon, but until we figure shit out, I’d rather she stay away.
So, tonight isn’t a total bust. We came and chatted, and so we’d leave.
I give Gideon a grin and say, “Then let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
Crazy thing is, as he takes me by the hand and leads me back into the house so we can get the hell out of here, I’m actually excited to get back home. I want to see Pax and Colter. Even though it’s only been like three hours, I still miss the crap out of them.
Mind-blowing, right?
Unfortunately, when we finally get home, we come home to a pissed-off Pax and a confused Colter.
Pax is sitting at the base of the main staircase, a small black pouch unzipped in his hands… a pouch that contains my scent-blocking needles. Colter stands near him, a worried look on his face, and the moment Gideon and I spot him down the hall, the other alpha scowls at me.
