Page 123 of After All The Wreckage
The ambulance doors slammed behind us, and Gage stepped away. Our eyes clung to each other for a long moment before he said, “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything about her condition.”
And then he spun around and hurried out the cargo bay doors.
“You should go with him,” Dad said. “I can have someone take the Jeep back to Cherry Bay for you.”
“I haven’t been debriefed.”
Dad shrugged. “It’s not like they don’t know where to find you. They’ll want to talk to Gage too.”
A week ago, I would have wanted to stay. I would have soaked up everything about the crime scene, watching and learning and filing it away for the future I’d seen for myself. But the thought of Gage having to go to the hospital alone, worrying about his mom, and not having someone there when he needed it, suddenly felt more important than anything else. Just being with him felt more important. I needed the comfort of him as much as I needed to offer it.
Maybe that was where Dad and Mom had gone wrong. They’d put the job above their marriage. Above the love they’d felt for each other—and me. Did I want to repeat their mistakes? Especially when I wasn’t even sure I could continue with the career I’d laid out for myself?
I leaned up and kissed Dad’s cheek and then ran for the doors.
Outside, the sun had eased its way over the horizon, the soft glow peeking through the clouds as the storm broke. A soft mist still fell, and in that rare moment of sun and moisture, a rainbow appeared. It arched over the buildings across the way, and Gage was caught in a glow at the midpoint
My feet stopped, my heart thudding loudly at the breathtaking picture he made painted in the vibrant colors. Witha sudden clarity, I knew there had never been a first or second or last time I’d fallen for Gage Palmer. The number of times would be unending. He’d always been and always would be the person I loved.
I took off at a sprint, calling his name, and when he looked up, a soft smile took over his face. I ran straight into his arms and kissed him. With love and passion and hope. I handed over my heart and soul to him and he took them, mouth angling over mine and offering the same pieces of himself right back. We’d hold on to them for each other. Hold on with all we had.
“I love you,” I said, breaking away. “I’ve always loved you. Since the minute you played The Guess Who and smiled at me. I can’t go another day without acknowledging it. Without you knowing it. I may not fit into your life, and I may not be what you need?—”
He cut me off with another kiss. Wet and hungry and passionate. But also fierce and almost angry. “You’re exactly what I need, Rory. I want to have the brave, smart, beautiful woman you’ve become, showing me how to live past all the damage that’s come before.”
“My teenage self would have exploded at those words.” I swallowed hard, rubbing a thumb over his bottom lip. “But adult me would really like to hear three very different words.”
The glint of humor in his eyes matched the wide grin he gave me. “Yeah? Three words? Like… let’s get breakfast?”
I shoved him in the shoulder and went to pull away, but his arms wrapped around me, tugging me closer as his smile disappeared. “I love you. Is that what you needed to hear, Pipsqueak?”
“It’s not completely despicable,” I said softly.
He kissed me again. Long and hard, until our breath came out in small pants and our bodies were aching to be joined.
“As much as I’d like to continue where this is going, I really need to get to the hospital,” he said.
I nodded, stepping out of his embrace and heading for the passenger side. “I’m coming with you.”
His smile returned, and as he glanced over at me with a look that was everything I’d ever wanted from him—desire and love and belonging—my heart finally did explode.
Inside the Pathfinder, his hand found mine, lifting it to his lips. “What’s the Logan line?”
“Which one?”
“The one about their relationship being epic?”
I swallowed hard. In my opinion, those lines were the most romantic in the entirety of the show, even if Logan did screw everything up after he’d said them. “He said he thought their story was epic. That it would span years and continents. That it would last past all the lives ruined and all the bloodshed. That they’d be epic together.”
Gage nodded, but his face turned somber once again as he looked back across the street at the warehouse. “I like the epic part. Not sure I want to experience the bloodshed and lives ruined anymore. Let’s try to limit that, shall we?”
I choked out a laugh, and he grinned, turning on the car and backing out of the lot.
The love between us didn’t promise to be any easier than Veronica and Logan’s had been. Too many things were still up in the air and unknown about us and me and our future, but I wanted the epic. I wanted it so badly I was willing to set aside a few of the things I’d once thought would be mine. The sacrifice would be worth it to keep Gage and his siblings. To have this feeling with me every single day. I’d do just about anything to hold on to them.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Gage
