Page 28
Author: Molly McAdams
“What time is it at?”
I stopped walking but didn’t turn around. “Starts at five. ”
“Well then, it’s a date. ” His next laugh wasn’t silent.
I grimaced thinking about our “date” misunderstanding last week when it came to our movie night and actually smacked my face as I walked into the living room, groaning into my hand. “Awesome,” I mumbled to myself.
Flopping onto one of the couches, I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything but Gage’s amazing body. I’d seen him without a shirt on hundreds of times, and of course my pulse had started racing every time, but I’d always been in control of myself. Unfortunately, I was once again letting myself believe a relationship could happen between us and stupidly thought that Gage wanted me too. I silently cursed myself for the thousandth time for thinking that living with Gage could possibly be a good idea.
CRACKING MY EYES open, I glared at the sun coming through my window. I grabbed an extra pillow and put it over my face. Wait . . . extra pillow? I was in my bed, and it was now morning. Gage. Didn’t matter how many times he put me in my bed, I was thoroughly embarrassed each morning after I woke up. Who knows if I was snoring, drooling, or talking when he did it? I dragged myself out of bed and toward the kitchen, where I could smell fresh coffee.
“Morning. ”
“Ugh. ” I slumped into his chest as he pulled me in for my morning hug. Not gonna lie, it was still my favorite part of each day with him.
He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. We both stiffened for a moment and I had to rein in my smile before I stepped out of his arms. It wasn’t the first time Gage had pressed his full lips to me since the ranch, but usually it was a peck to my cheek or forehead when he was putting me in my bed, and even then I was still mostly asleep, so I always figured I was dreaming it.
“Coffee ready?” I asked while scrounging around the fridge for the creamer that was hiding.
“Yep. ” He leaned over me to pluck the creamer out of the fridge from directly in front of my face. “Looking for this?”
“Whatever, it’s too early. ” I grabbed my mug and went to sit on a bar stool.
We drank our coffee in silence as I continued to mull over the kiss and stress about Stacey saying something to Gage about our “relationship” tonight. After he was done, Gage went to his room to get ready.
“I’ll be back in a while, but after I’m heading out for breakfast with Ty. ”
“All right, I may not be here when you get back, I have some errands to run. But so you know, we need to leave around four fifteen, ’kay?”
“I’ll see you later then. ” He smiled at me as he picked up his iPhone and headed for the door.
One of these times, that smile was going to make me come completely undone.
I GLANCED AT my phone and cursed the speeding time. We needed to leave in ten minutes and I still hadn’t tried on my dress. After Gage left that morning I’d taken a shower, gone with Jackie to get our nails done, and done some quick shopping for a new summer dress since it was the middle of March and the weather had been in the mid-seventies all week. I would’ve had more than enough time to get ready, but I’d spent twice as long on my hair trying to make it look perfect. I couldn’t think of one time in my life that I’d ever spent so much time on my appearance. The entire time I told myself I was just trying to look nice since we were going to a wedding, but I knew I was doing this for Gage. And that was a bad thing.
Finally happy with the big spiral curls in my hair, I ran to my closet and slipped on the dress. It was a deep-green halter that had reminded me of Gage’s eyes, so naturally I’d fallen in love with it. It was formfitting on my chest with a V-cut, making me have cleavage for practically the first time ever, and lightly flowed out to a few inches above my knees. It was the perfect mix of cute and sexy. I desperately wanted to pair it with the cowboy boots Gage’s sister had bought me last summer but grabbed a pair of black heels instead. Glancing in my full-length mirror, I slowly turned to make sure there were no more tags on it and smiled at my reflection. I wasn’t normally one to think this, but dang, I looked good.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my door and tried not to trip over myself as I took in the sight of Gage. He looked beautiful, in the most masculine way possible. He was wearing khaki slacks with a black button-up shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I looked up to his face and tried not to smile at his openmouthed stare.
“Wow, Cassidy. Just . . . wow. ” His eyes slowly raked over every inch of my body.
I tried to sound like he wasn’t making my heart race and my stomach do flip-flops. “Not so bad yourself, G. ” Does he even know what he does to me? “You ready?”
He simply nodded and led me out to his truck. The ride to the outdoor ceremony and reception was intense, to say the least. Neither of us could say anything; we both just kept looking at each other from the corners of our eyes. You could feel the tension between us and it took everything in me not to slide over toward him. Once we arrived and were around other people, the tension quickly left and we easily slipped back into our familiar banter. I only knew a handful of people there, other coworkers, and though we were all pretty close, I was immensely grateful that Gage had agreed to go with me. It would have been awkward without him, especially when Christian introduced himself; after one look at Gage’s arm around my waist, he smiled politely and walked away. Stace was right, that guy was seriously cute, but he was no Gage. The ceremony was quick and moving, and Stacey looked stunning in a strapless mermaid-style dress.
Not long after the reception started, Stacey and my other coworkers pulled Gage and me onto the dance floor with them. I figured he would go to sit back down but he stayed out there having fun with the rest of us, and he never left my side. We joked and danced crazy with each other as everyone made up their own moves to some oldies, as well as newer music that you couldn’t exactly dance to, not that anyone cared. I sucked in a quick gasp when Gage put his arms around my waist and pulled my back against his chest after a new song started. The song had a sensuous beat and it caused the tent to get a clublike feel. As our bodies slowly started moving together, I became hyperaware of every part of my body that was pressed against his and couldn’t stop my breath from quickening. His hands were on my thighs, clutching the bottom of my dress, and I put my left hand back, sliding it through his hair. I dragged my hand out of his hair and down his cheek before putting both my hands on top of his, wishing he’d grab me harder, but wishing he’d let me go. This could only break my heart when the song ended. Putting a hand low on my stomach, he pushed us closer together as his other hand moved all of my hair to one shoulder. My head dropped back to his chest as his lips touched the base of my neck, a soft groan escaping my lips. My heart pounded in my chest as my insides tightened—was this really happening? Flashes of his coldness the day after our night on the hill at the ranch danced through my mind but I tried to push them away. He wouldn’t do that to me again, right? I left my head resting against him until the song ended, allowing him to press his mouth to my neck and shoulder a few more times. I wanted to turn to look into his eyes, to question what was happening, but Lori grabbed my hand and pulled me to where the bride and groom were about to cut the cake before I got the chance.
I didn’t see Gage again until after Russ had flung the garter and Stacey threw her bouquet into a sea of single women. I was starting to worry when the DJ stated there was only one song left before the happy couple would be taking off, when his warm hands found mine.
“One more?” he mumbled, his face a carefully composed mask.
“Of course. ” I tried to smile but his look was worrying me.
He put a hand gently on my waist and grabbed one of mine with his other, clutching it to his chest. I laid my head next to our joined hands as we swayed back and forth to our first slow dance of the evening.
Halfway through the song he spoke again. “Cassidy. ” I looked up into his eyes and he forced his gaze on something behind us, shaking his head slowly back and forth. “Look . . . I—”
I cut him off, not wanting to hear whatever regrets he was having from today. “Don’t, Gage. ”
“No, I need to tell you this. ”
He held me close as I quickly tried to back away from him. I shut my eyes so he wouldn’t see my hurt. “I get it. You don’t—”
“I’m in love with you,” he blurted out.
There was no way I had heard that correctly. My eyes popped open and I studied his face. “You— What?”
He blew out a long breath before looking at me again. His voice was so deep and full of emotion it caused a warm shiver to go up my spine. “I’m madly in love with you. ”
My eyes grew even wider as I let that sink in.
“I’ve tried to keep my feelings to myself, and I know I’m no good at it, but I can’t keep doing it anymore. I don’t just view you as a friend, Cass. I never have. I thought you should know. I know you don’t feel the same but I’m tired of lying and hiding it from you. ”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“When was I supposed to? You’ve been dating my cousin since we met. ”
A lump formed in my throat as I realized all the time I’d wasted thinking Gage could only ever be my friend. “Gage, I’m so in love with you. ”
“But Tyler . . . ?”
I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Wait, why did you think Tyler and I were together when we first met?”
“Because he told me you were. ” His brow furrowed.
For obvious reasons, I wasn’t a fan of violence, but I instantly wanted to punch Tyler. “Tyler and I only dated for a few months. You didn’t want me and you left, and I was afraid of losing Tyler too, so I agreed to be his girlfriend a little while after you’d moved out. ”
Gage stopped swaying us, his face full of disbelief. “What? No. ” He shook his head. “You were the one who didn’t want me. You told me you weren’t okay with what I felt; you were with Tyler while we were at the ranch—he told me what you did for him the morning y’all left. ”