Page 37 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

His shoulders loosened a little, but his gaze was still troubled. His thumbs gently stroked over my cheeks. “Amy . . .” he said, closing his eyes in a slow blink. I watched his throat move as he swallowed. “I know I’m leaving, but you know that doesn’t change anything, right? I mean . . .” His gaze intensified as he stared into my eyes. “I know neither of us has said it yet, but I know we both feel it. I love you, Amy. More than anything. Joining the Marines used to be about what I wanted to do—what felt right, but it’s so much more now. It’s my way of stepping up and being what I need to be—what I want to be—for you. I feel like I have so much more direction now. I know it’s still a little way off until we can be together properly, but whatever you need, I want to be able to give to you. Anything, Amy. Whether you need me to provide for you or just give you an encouraging word, I want to be the one to give it to you.”

I blinked away the blurriness that was creeping into my eyes and swallowed against the lump that had grown in my throat. The pictures that had been painted in my mind with his words were more than I could handle. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d actually longed for a normal family life. Picturing that with Daniel made my chest ache like nothing before.

Something that sounded like a cross between a sob and a laugh escaped me. I leaned into him, letting his lips brush over my forehead. “I love you,” I whispered. “I will always be here waiting for you. Always . . . ”

He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, clutching my head to his chest. “And I will always come back for you, baby. Always . . . ”

“All right, lovers!” Amber called. “Break it up, and get your asses over here. We’re playing a game!”

I heard the low rumble of Daniel’s laugh through his chest. I giggled and pressed my face into his shirt.

“Don’t make me come over there!” Amber threatened.

I pulled away, but Daniel didn’t let me go far, pulling me into a lingering kiss. Melting, I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the feel of him. I was a little wobbly on my feet when he finally released me, but I quickly focused and made my way over to help Amber set up whatever games she’d suddenly made up.

“Someone’s looking a little giddy,” Kaeli said as I sashayed up to them.

Amber and Jess laughed.

“God, I would be too,” Jess said, eyeing Daniel, who’d joined the guys by the pool. “I mean, seriously,” she added, narrowing her eyes as she took them all in. “Look at him and Noah. Those two make our guys look like high school freshmen.”

I looked over at Corey and Cain, scrutinizing their bodies with a clinical kind of interest. They weren’t too bad, really. They were fit and muscular, but they did kind of look like ‘boys’ compared to Daniel and Noah. I didn’t really think it was their physiques, though. I thought it was more of a maturity than anything else. A deeper understanding of life and the problems that come with it.

Kaeli nudged me with her shoulder as Amber and Jess continued discussing what they thought made a guy hot. “Things looked pretty intense over there before,” she said, giving me a soft smile.

I glanced over at Daniel and when he caught me looking, he gave me a tiny wink. “Yeah,” I said to Kaeli. “Every time I think about him leaving, I just get so sad. I know we’ll get through it, but I just hate that it has to be that way.”

She frowned a little as she thought about what I’d said. “You don’t want him to go?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. I love that he’s a marine. I love that he knows that’s what he wants to be. I just don’t want to be away from him. And then there’s my shitty life at the moment. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”

Kaeli touched my arm softly. “I think that’s probably a good thing, though, don’t you? I mean, you’ve had people telling you who you needed to be for so long. This time without Daniel will let you start trying to figure that out.” She smiled. “And hopefully, by the time he comes back, you’ll know, and you’ll have stronger foundations for you to build something on together.”

I let the

corner of my mouth curl up with amusement. “And just how did you get so smart, Miss Williams?”

She nudged me again and gave me a shy smile. “I have a really smart and beautiful mom.”

I returned her smile, but the pain her words gave me was like a knife. Yeah, I had a lot of work to do on myself. My parents had really messed me up like that. But if there was one thing it had given me, it was the determination to make a home. A real home. With love and laughter and forgiveness.

I was going to have that. I would make sure of it.

Chapter 16

Daniel

I watched the light sprinkling of rain tap against the kitchen window, the tiny drops of water slowly trickling down the glass to pool on the sill. Mindlessly, I tracked each one on its path to the bottom, looking without actually seeing.

“You want to talk about it?”

I looked up to see Mom leaning on the other side of the kitchen island, her gaze deep and reassuring. I sighed and looked back out the window. “I was just thinking about time.”

She hummed a sound of agreement. “And what about time has you worried?”

I laughed, but it was a pitiful sound. “There’s not enough of it.”

Her gaze was thoughtful as she nodded. “Do you want to talk about the real problem, or are we just going to pretend we’re being philosophical?”

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