Page 103 of The Cruelest Kind of Hate
Gage leans back, his Adam’s apple fluttering in the expanse of his throat. “Fuck, I’ve missed that,” he admits.
“Missed what?” I question.
“Missed your laugh. Your smile.You.”
Oh.
My fingers clutch his tighter, and the bluish offshoots of his veins begin to fade as color returns to his skin. “I’ve been here the whole time.”
“I know. I heard everything. And I’d get hurt a million times over just to keep hearing it. There was never once a doubt in my mind that you didn’t feel the same way about me. It just took you longer to realize it, and that’s okay. Waiting doesn’t seem nearly as long when you’re the one I’m waiting for.”
He heard everything. Every secret that I released from the vault. Every soft and squishy feeling that I’ve hidden behind saccharine sarcasm.
“Thank you,” I cry, this time not bothering to wipe the unbidden emotion spilling down my cheeks. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
Gage lifts his unoccupied hand to my face, swabbing the first of many tears while he flashes me eyeteeth. “You’ll have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me.”
I know it’s a joke, and that good-natured tone of his confirms it, but I can’t stop myself from falling into every sob-garbled noise under the sun, smearing the splotches of makeup I left on his shirt with salt-tinged moisture.
I squash my nose over his heart, needing the reminder that this isn’t some false reality I’ve made up in my head, and he holds me as my whole body rocks painfully. I unload every ounce of strength I’ve clung to, letting his arms heal me in the way they’ve always been made to do. I know he should be the one coming to me for comfort, but I can’t pretend to act like this whole ordeal hasn’t wrecked me completely.
“Shh, Calista. It’s okay. I’m right here.”
“You’ve ruined me, Gage,” I snivel, my heart concaving along with the fortress that’s kept me protected this entire time. My reinforced defenses are finally cracking to expose me to the harsh elements. I give in to the vulnerability, no longer afraid of getting hurt because I know now what the worst pain in the world feels like. “You ruined me the moment I met you.”
Gage cauterizes my bleeding wounds with his love, scars them over with his heated touch. “You ruined me first, Spitfire. All I’m doing is returning the favor,” he whispers.
Just like the first time we met, eyes from two different worlds merge into one, mixing blue and green to create an aurora borealis of color unachieved even by nature itself. But this time, there’s no hatred or calculated plan for revenge in them.
Gage never breaks eye contact for a second. “Loving you fucking hurts. It hurts in the best way. Every time I look at you, it feels like my heart’s going to burst out of my chest. And fuck, I’d die without a single complaint if it meant that the last thing I ever saw was you.”
When I pitch forward to kiss him again, I don’t even think about pulling away. “How do you imagine seeing me?”
He smirks against my mouth. “Preferably with my head between your legs. Or riding my face. I’m not picky.”
“You know, for abig,stronghockey player, I can’t wait to tell your teammates how bad you’ve got it for me.”
“Go ahead, baby. They already know I’m pussy-whipped.”
35
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
GAGE
Afew days later and everything’s still a blur. After my doctor performed some CT scans on my brain to make sure there wasn’t any internal bleeding, I had a very peaceful recovery period of low mental concentration. He told me that as long as I got some rest and monitored my symptoms, I’d be fine to go home.
And after I got wheeled off the ice, the Reapers secured another win under their belt. So thankfully, it was all worth it. Kind of. Okay, it was bad, but it could’ve been a lot worse. The headaches have ebbed for the time being, which is good news for me because I wasn’t really a fan of the whole alien-life-pulsating-shit going on in my whack-ass brain.
The minute I got kebabbed by those players, all I could think about was Cali. Granted, I wasn’t allotted a lot of time to think much of anything before my life flashed before my eyes, but still. I followed her voice back to the present—a sliver of light at the end of a tunnel, guiding me to safety past uneven terrain and rain-filled potholes.
There’s no way in hell I’d ever leave her or Teague. Not without a fight. And to know that she stayed by my side theentire time…I’m going to hold that over her head for the rest of her life.
Calista Cadwelllooovesme. She also likes my cheesy compliments. And my jokes. And my kisses. Getting head trauma was so worth it to hear her admit that.
She opens the passenger door for me and helps me out, making sure to handle me with care as we make our way to the house’s entrance. Now that winter’s well on its way, the brown of the surrounding foliage has been overtaken by the first vestiges of snowfall, dusting powdered sugar over barren lands.
I overestimate one of the steps on the porch and knock into a pillar, feeling pain niggle at my shoulder. “I’m really gonna miss that hospital morphine,” I groan.
