Page 31 of The Cauldronball Run
"Then we live in the dark and fuck by candlelight."
The crude words from her perfect mouth short-circuited his brain."Farrah—"
"No.You don't get to decide I'm too good for you.That's my choice.And I choose the orc who goes feral when someone flirts with me.Who rebuilt an entire ambulance by hand.Who's so careful with his strength he could hold a butterfly without crushing it."She grabbed his face between her hands."I choose you, you stubborn, insecure, magnificent bastard."
The partial bond between them flared hot, her certainty pouring through it like molten gold.For a moment, he let himself believe it could be real.That she could actually want him, debt and all.
J.J.stared at the highway ahead.How could he explain that every good thing in his life had eventually been taken away.That maybe he didn't deserve to keep her.
"You remember when I told you about working three jobs just to make loan payments?"he said finally.
"The discrimination after the construction accident video."
"That's not the whole story.The worker I saved?His name was Tobey Roberts.Twenty-two years old, engineering student working construction to pay for school."
Farrah was quiet, waiting.
"Three months after I pulled that beam off him, he was dead.Overdosed on fentanyl he bought on the street."J.J.'s voice went flat."Started with legitimate pain medication for the injuries I couldn't prevent completely.When the doctors cut him off, he found other sources."
"J.J., that's not—"
"His mother called me at the hospital.Wanted to know if there was anything else I could have done, if I'd missed something."The words tasted like ash."She wasn't angry, just...broken.And I started thinking maybe she was right to ask.Maybe if I'd been more careful, if I'd thought about long-term consequences instead of just getting him out..."
The confession hung between them.This was why J.J.couldn't have good things.Why every job disappointed, every relationship failed, every hope turned sour.
Farrah was quiet for a long moment, her hand still resting on his arm.
"How many people have you saved in the three years since Tobey died?"
He blinked at the unexpected question."I don't know.That's not really—"
"Guess."
He thought about it.Heart attacks stabilized, overdoses reversed, car accidents where his strength had meant the difference between life and death."Maybe fifty.Sixty."
"Sixty people are alive today because of you.Sixty families didn't have to plan funerals."Farrah's voice intensified."But you're torturing yourself over one person whose addiction you didn't cause and couldn't cure."
J.J.felt the first crack in three years in the armor of self-imposed guilt he had almost smothered himself with.
"Construction workers get addicted to painkillers from routine injuries every day," Farrah continued."People overdose after perfectly normal surgeries.Tobey's death is tragic, but it's not your fault.You gave him three extra months of life.That matters."
She reached over and placed her hand firmly on his thigh, the contact sending heat through him even as he tried to focus on the road.
"Listen to me.I don't care about your debt or your guilt over Tobey Roberts.I don't care about Sheriff Lawman or federal crimes."Her voice was absolute."I care about you.The orc who saves lives for a living.”
The partial bond washed over him like sunlight after years of darkness.For the first time since Tobey died, J.J.let himself believe it might be true.
"The question is," Farrah continued, her hand still warm on his thigh, "are you going to choose me back?Or are you going to keep punishing yourself for tragedies you couldn't prevent?"
J.J.looked at her fierce dark eyes, her stubborn chin, the way she was standing by him while he drove toward an uncertain future.
"I choose you," he said, and meant it completely.
"Good."Farrah squeezed his thigh."Because we have a race to win."
J.J.pressed harder on the accelerator, feeling something settle into place.Not complete healing—that would take time.But the beginning of forgiveness, of possibility, of a future where his past mistakes didn't define his worth.
"Hold on," he said as their speed climbed past one hundred."We’re going to catch up to the race leaders and show them whose boss."
