Page 51 of Entangled
“Fine, but we’re stopping by Chick-Fil-A on the way,” I mumbled, already moving into a seated position.
“Works for me,” a sing-song voice that could only come from Vanessa said from the doorway.
“Thank you, babe,” Sawyer said as he made his way over to her and kissed her tenderly.
“You guys make me want to throw up,” I groaned, loving more than anything to give my older brother shit.
“I love you too,” he said, grabbing me in a hug. “Now seriously, go shower. You smell like a bag of feet.”
I walked out the doorway past a laughing Vanessa, flipping him the bird as I went.
“She’s goingto be fine you know,” Vanessa said, disrupting the otherwise quiet car ride home from Chick-Fil-A, where I’d eaten so many chicken sandwiches I was afraid I would puke. I hadn’t even realized how hungry for good food I truly was.
“And how could you possibly know that, Mrs. Sunshine?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.
“Because she’s Soren. She’s one of the strongest women I know. Plus, she’s entirely too stubborn to let a bullet kill her after all this time.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” I laughed. Because it was true. If my girl was anything, she was absolutely, undoubtedly stubborn, and although it was a fact that I loved, it was also what drove me crazy.
“That’s what you love about her, right?” Vanessa teased, as if reading my mind.
“Yeah, it is,” I replied, a smile gracing my face for the first time in weeks just thinking about how much love I held in my heart for Soren.
“So it’s true then?” Vanessa gaped, her eyes flicking between me and the road. “You love her?”
Shit.
I hadn’t meant to slip up and actually admit that, not having even fully admitted it to Soren yet, but if anyone was going to catch my slip up, it would be Vanessa.
“Fine, you caught me. Yes, I love her,” I admitted, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting while she laughed at me.
“It’s okay to admit it out loud. Believe it or not Kade, you do indeed deserve happiness,” Vanessa said kindly, and it warmed a part of my soul to hear that. Vanessa’s personality reminded me so much of Ava’s, and what I would have imagined she’d have been like when she was older, always reminding us we were still humans under the darkness we wore as a shield.
No matter how much I used to deny happiness to myself, for the first time in my life I was finally feeling like maybe Ididdeserve something good. Like maybe happiness was in my radar. Like I wasn’t a lost cause, unloveable in every sense.
Because even if we hadn’t said the words directly to each other yet, I knew that Soren loved me back. I just hoped I’d get the chance to tell her when she could hear me.
After getting a surprisinglynice bit of rest I got, a shower, shave, and a decent meal, I felt somewhat human again. But I had been dying to get back to the hospital, loathing the fact that I was away from Soren for so long. Life happened so quickly that something could happen in the span of a minute, and the pressure in my chest built up the longer I stayed away.
I was currently sitting next to Soren’s bed, my head in my hands. There was some medical drama rerun playing in the background talking about some dude named McSteamy and I was losing my grip on my sanity. I’d barely left the hospital for weeks besides yesterday. I hadn’t been able to force myself to leave again, worried I’d miss any sort of update. Plus I knew if I left, the universe would laugh at me and cause something to happen. Whether it was good or bad, was still up in the air.
A noise startled me out of my spiraling thoughts, and it felt like I was dreaming it. But then I looked at Soren and it came again. A groan from her beautiful lips.
“Soren?” I whispered, terrified to break whatever spell I was currently under.
“Kade,” she said, her voice so hoarse from lack of use. I couldn’t help myself — I gripped both sides of her face and brought my lips gently to hers.
I looked at her face, and a ghost of a smile graced her lips. Seeing it made me feel grateful that I was able to bear witness to it again.
“What happened?” She asked, her face tired and her eyes unfocused, her mouth set in a frown.
“You don’t remember?” I asked, taking her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the top of her hand, careful to avoid the IV.
“Not really,” she laughed softly, a noise that I’d missed. “All I remember is going into the building, your father…” she paused, gauging my reaction. “And then gunfire started and not long after everything went black. I honestly don’t even remember getting hurt or being brought here or anything.”
“It’s been almost three weeks,” I said softly. “And you got caught in the crossfire.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Kade,” she snapped, reading the guilt on my face, her fire that I had always loved coming back. “You didn’t pull the trigger.”
