Page 36 of Chaos Destiny
“God…” Her head fell, and she kissed Thandie’s hair. “I miss him so much. Gage, what if Julien never gets a chance to meet her? We were so nervous about being parents for the first time. So nervous…”
12
TAYLER
After the mess with Allen,I momentarily forgot my oath and that I had a patient who’d recently recovered and needed my attention. So, I detoured to run upstairs to check on Thandie and Ari instead of giving Allen two middle fingers and a piece of my mind.
And they really should have shut the door.
At first, I’d justified that Gage’s relationship with Ari seemed more like a brother than a husband because it was what I wanted to see. Then, after he mentioned Julien, I told myself that there might have been infidelity, and they were trying to make things work for their daughter. Even when Ari hinted that Julien was Thandie’s father, I’d told myself that Gage could have stepped up to raise the baby his wife created with another man.
But I’d run out of excuses.
How things sounded, the possibility of a romantic relationship never existed between them.Julienwas Thandie’s father and, more than likely, Ari’s spouse or partner. If I had to guess, Gage had assumed the role of her fake husband as a form of protection. “Sister” wasn’t enough ammunition to stopthe human predators, who were often more dangerous than the Infected.
I raced down the empty hallway and hid behind a corner, needing a moment to process the new information I’d eavesdropped my way into.
It didn’t matter that Gage wasn’t married.
And it wasn’t going to.
As far as he knew, I thought he was married. That meant he was still required to take his fake vows seriously. If he came on to me the same way he did before, this new knowledge wouldn’t prevent me from turning him down.
“Doc? You all right?”
I nearly leaped out of my skin.
Gage, who’d rounded the corner at some point, stood in front of me the way he always did—entirely too close. At night, I had Allen to hold me. The likelihood of that happening tonight, or ever again, was slim after his comment earlier, but I wasn’t touch-starved. Yet, I felt as if I’d suddenly developed the condition, though only for this man.
“Yeah, yeah.” I nodded, swallowing and centering myself by glancing at the floor. “I was just coming to check on Ari.”
I went to pass him, but he reached for my forearm. His large hand swallowed the limb, his fingers so long that they overlapped.
“I know it’s not much, but you saved my life,” he said. “You saved Ari’s life. The least I can do is offer a shoulder if you ever need one. I’m also available as a punching bag if you promise to go easy on me.”
I smiled.
His brows lifted slightly, and his gaze fell to my mouth.
“I might have to take you up on that,” I said.
“By all means,” his eyes slowly returned to mine, “take me up on it. I mean every word. Sometimes, I spiral. I go to darkplaces in my mind, and not only because of all this shit. I had a past before it. But seeing Ari laugh? Having somewhere safe for Thandie after all this time? It’s like the third blessing I’ve received in the past day and a half.”
“What’s the third?” I asked. “You only named two. Was it coming to the camp?”
He shook his head. “No. A ray of hope.”
“For humanity?”
“For a chance to feel something good in a world like this.”
He leaned down and quickly brushed his lips over mine.
I stopped breathing.
Despite it not being a real kiss—no pressure, no flick of his tongue—I was suddenly less aware of the walls, ceiling, and floor.
“Open your eyes, love.”
