Page 61 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

“It’s the only way you’re going to be able to get through it, Aims. You have to believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that what you and Daniel have will beat everything.”

I nodded through my tears, laughter bubbling out despite everything. “A love that conquers all . . . ”

He rolled his eyes with a grin before pulling me back into his arms. “You’re such a romantic.”

Closing my eyes, I exhaled on a sigh. “Thanks, Seth. I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”

I felt him kiss the top of my head. “I love you, Shorty.”

“Love you too.”

The beeper Seth had resting on the table started screaming out a terrifying sequence of high-pitched sounds, bringing me quickly back to the rest of reality going on around me.

Wincing apologetically, Seth silenced the beast and shoved the offending device in his pocket. “I’m sorry. It’s a bat shit crazy day today. Can you message me with everything I need to know?”

Reaching forward, I squeezed his hand and nodded. “Thank you, Seth. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Aims. You know that.” Leaning forward, he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “I better run. Talk soon, okay?”

Giving him one last smile, I watched him walk away before heading to the parking lot to drive back to Daniel’s.

Chapter 28

Daniel

Two days.

Forty-eight hours.

That’s all the time I had to wait until Amy was going to be officially mine. And I was strangely very eager for it to happen. Staring across at her worried frown, I squeezed her hand.

“Do you think it’s an omen?” she whispered, a slight look of panic in the depths of her eyes.

I glanced over to the other side of the room, where Amber sat huddled under a blanket on the sofa.

Over the course of the last five days, six out of the fourteen people we’d invited to our wedding had come down with some kind of stomach bug. It hadn’t been pretty.

“Of course not. You and I are meant to be, baby. Stomach bugs don’t have a say.”

A slight smile appeared on her lips before it disappeared again, leaving her face paler than normal.

I frowned. “Are you okay?”

She swallowed before slowly shaking her head. “I feel sick . . . ”

Yeah, she fucking looked it. Quickly standing, I swept her up into my arms and strode for the stairs.

“Daniel . . . ”

I didn’t listen to the panic in her voice. I knew she was worried she was going to vomit all over me, but like I gave a shit about that.

Taking her into the bathroom, I closed the door and placed her on her feet in front of the vanity. As she leaned forward and retched, I emptied the large bowl filled with brightly colored deco-balls and held it in front of her.

The timing was perfect, really. A second later, I would’ve had some cleaning to do.

She groaned between bouts of emptying the contents of her stomach, while I did my best to keep her hair out of the way and offer her sips of water.

When she looked like she was finally done, I added some toothpaste to her brush and passed it to her, making sure I kept my hand on her lower back, slowly rubbing soothing circles to let her know I was going to look after her.

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