Chapter 16
Gage
She looked down, some of the fire relinquishing from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, the word so soft it seemed to burn the nervousness right out of me.
It was obvious someone had hurt her-someone had stepped all over her heart, someone who’d
pulled the trust and wonder straight out of her. And as much as I hated that for her, it still wasn’t
fair. It wasn’t fair to throw me in a box, to shove me away before I’d even had a chance.
“I’m a good guy, Bree,” I said, and immediately cringed on the inside. God. The moment the words
left my lips, I wanted to punch myself in the throat. “That was the worst thing I could’ve said,
wasn’t it?” I groaned, dragging my hands down my face like a damn i***t.
When I looked back at her, there was a flicker of amusement in her eyes, a small lift at the corner of her lips. And while I lived for that spark, while I craved it, I also wanted this moment to be real. Honest. Meaningful.
“Okay,” I exhaled, jamming my hands into my pockets to keep them off her. “Let me try that again.”
She tilted her head slightly, watching me, waiting.
“I’ve been noticing you, Bree. And I think you’re great. Like, really great,” I said, the words thick but
true in my throat. “I just wanna get to know you better. No hidden agenda-scratch that, no agenda
at all. I’m not trying to impress you or mess around. I’m just… showing up.”
That actually got a real smile out of her. One that bloomed slowly and then settled, warm and easy,
on her lips. My own followed, because damn, when she smiled like that? My whole world shifted.
“I have fun with you,” I added, shrugging like it didn’t mean everything. “I just want more of that.
More laughing. More… this. And if you feel the same? If you wanna keep having fun with me, then
I’m all in.”
She raised an eyebrow, lifting it high over the rim of her glasses. And damn, she looked sexy as hell
doing it-smart and skeptical, like she could see straight through me and didn’t mind the view.
Her arms folded across her chest, and I tried my hardest not to look down, not to notice how good
she looked doing something as simple as standing there.
“So, what-you wanna be friends?” she asked, her tone dripping with disbelief.
God, no. I didn’t want to be her friend. I wanted to be everything. I wanted to be the one she laughed with, cried with, fell asleep next to. I wanted to be the thought on her mind when she woke
up, and the one she dreamed about before bed. I wanted to be the one she needed.
But if I had to start with being her friend, then I’d take it.
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“I’m gonna be the best damn friend you’ve ever had, Bree,” I grinned, letting the words roll off my tongue as I leaned in just a bit, teasing.
She rolled her eyes but didn’t hide the blush that painted her cheeks. It crept up slowly, sweet and soft and so damn pretty it made my chest tighten. She turned around before I could call her on it
and started walking again, but I could barely hide the grin tugging at my mouth. I followed like a puppy who just got tossed a bone.
“Tell me something, then,” she said, keeping her arms folded as she walked, her voice casual but
curious.
“Anything you wanna know,” I offered easily, truthfully.
“You play football, right?” she asked, like she didn’t already know. Like every damn person in a fifty-mile radius didn’t already know.
“I do,” I said, nodding my head. “I have a full ride, and since they’re pretty sure I’ll be drafted once I finish college, they’re making sure I have plenty of time to practice, to work out. It’ll be great publicity if I do.”
It felt strange, telling her this. Like opening a window I usually kept locked shut. But it also felt good. Right.
“That must be a lot of pressure,” she said softly.
My steps faltered.
No one had ever said that before. No one had ever even considered it. My dad was too busy
planning out my NFL career, like I could just handpick teams. My mom treated my entire life like a highlight reel-bragging rights for her bridge club. And my coach? He never let up. Always pushing, always demanding. And my teammates? They leaned on me like I was made of stone, like I’d never buckle under the weight.
This camp-these six weeks-was supposed to be my break. My escape. A chance to breathe without cameras or scouts or constant expectations. It was the one time I could just be, where
football was a game again and not a business deal.
I swallowed hard. “Why do you say that?”
She shrugged, her gaze straight ahead, walking at that same unhurried pace that somehow soothed the restlessness in my chest. “I know what it feels like to have pressure on you,” she said simply. “To be afraid of failing. Mine comes from grades, yours from sports. But it’s the same weight. The same fear.”
She wasn’t wrong. It was the same weight-just packaged differently. And the way she said it, the calm way she acknowledged the burden without making it a thing… it hit something deep in me. Something I didn’t even know was hurting.
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re kewar
I sighed, letting the breath slip slowly through my teeth as I stared out ahead. The woods were
getting darker, the sky dimming as the sun finally tucked itself behind the tree line. If I didn’t know these trails like the back of my hand, I’d probably be telling her to turn around, to head back before we lost our way. But I knew them. I knew every twist and bend. If we just stayed on the path, it
would lead us right back to our huts.
“It can be a lot,” I admitted, my voice softer than usual. “But soon I’ll be done. Then I can just focus on playing.”
I felt the weight of it all settle into my chest again. It was always there, sometimes heavier than others. Tonight, it was pressing.
She hummed, not bothering to look at me, and I recognized that sound immediately. It wasn’t an absentminded hum-it was disagreement. That hum was laced with thought, with opinion. She didn’t agree, not one bit.
“Why that sound?” I asked her, flicking my gaze down toward her, watching her out of the corner of
my eye.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get to just, Gage,” she said, and damn-she sounded like a poet, like the truth in her voice could shatter glass. “I think we’re always gonna get pushed. That we’ll never be able to actually settle. Because once we finish college, it won’t stop. We’ll start working. And then comes the pressure of still being the best, still proving ourselves. It just shifts. Maybe it’s not about grades or sports anymore. Maybe it’s about being the most reliable coworker, or the most present partner… or the best parent.”
“That sounds pretty awful,” I said, trying to lighten the mood with a half-hearted chuckle. “Should
we just give up now?”
Finally, finally, she looked at me-and there it was. That grin. That spark. “You suggesting a murder-suicide pact?”
That made me laugh-really laugh. The sound of it echoed through the trees, and her smile
stretched even wider.
“Maybe just go live in the woods instead?” I offered, still grinning. “Not doing something quite so… final.”
“You’re so boring,” she teased, bumping her shoulder lightly into mine.
“Oh yeah,” I smirked, “so boring and full of sense.”
We both chuckled, the sound warm between us. For a second, everything felt easy. Like there were
no pressures, no expectations, no ghosts. Just us. Her and me, and the steady rhythm of our footsteps on the dirt path.
She turned back to the trail, her eyes scanning the ground in front of her like it held all the answers.
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<Chapter 16
More Rewards
I watched her for a moment longer, soaking her in. She felt right. This-we-felt right. Whether we were running side by side or tossing flour at each other in the kitchen, we just clicked.
“Tell me something,” I said, throwing her earlier words back at her.
“What do you wanna know?” she replied, a hint of a smile in her voice.
“Tell me something real,” I said. “Something that hurts a little.”
I needed to know more. I needed to understand the pieces that made her whole-the ones she kept locked up, hidden under those quiet smiles and teasing words.
“I miss my dad,” she said softly, tugging the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands like they
were armor.
“Not your mom?” I asked before I could stop myself, curiosity getting the better of me. My eyes drifted to her face, needing to see her reaction.
“Of course I do,” she said, and a small smile crept across her lips. “My mom’s amazing. She’s always been my biggest supporter. The loudest one cheering me on. She wanted me to come here -to have something incredible before college started. She even asked my grandparents to help with the money.”
“She sounds amazing,” I said, warmth rising in my chest.
“She is. And the way she handled everything?” Bree shook her head, awe written across her features. “Becoming a single parent is hard for anyone. But becoming a single parent at twenty-seven with a ten-year-old? That must’ve been hell. Even while she was grieving, even while she was broken, she put it all aside for me. I was too young to understand it back then, but now? I
see it so clearly.”
I stopped walking. Something about the way she spoke-so open, so raw-it hit me square in the chest. Bree kept walking a few steps ahead before pausing too, her hoodie catching the breeze
and revealing a bold Army slogan on the back. My heart thudded.
“He wasn’t home much,” she murmured, eyes on the ground. “But I remember him. Vividly. His smile. The soft, happy rumble of his voice. The way he used to call me his princess.”
I swallowed hard, the emotion thick in my throat. My dad wasn’t perfect-not by a long shot-but I
couldn’t imagine life without him. The idea of losing him? God, it wrecked me.
“The last time he went away,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “I made him a keychain. I did that a lot. He always hooked them to his uniform. He kissed my cheek and promised he’d be back before I even had time to miss him. Then he took Mom in his arms, and I remember giggling, telling them to stop being gross.” She let out a soft laugh, a broken one. “But he never came back.”
She finally turned, locking those ocean-blue eyes on me. They shimmered with unshed tears, and in
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<Chapter 16
More Rewards >
that moment, I saw everything-the pain, the strength, the little girl still clinging to the memory of
her hero.
Before I even realized I’d moved, I was stepping forward, wrapping her up in my arms. I held her as tight as I could, like maybe I could shield her from all the grief she’d carried for so long.
Emilia M
So.. this was just meant to be one chapter, but apparently it’s stretching out into three We’re definitely getting closer, huh? I love every inch of these two
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