Chapter 34
Gage
Anger.
It was all I could feel-thick and white-hot-pouring through my veins like wildfire. It burned and ached in every muscle, made my chest feel too small for my hammering heart, made my fists curl so tight my nails bit into my palms. It made me feel goddamn alive in the worst way, like my body
didn’t know how to contain all the fury inside of me.
I sat there by the fire, listening, watching, taking in every last word, every tear in her voice, every
shaky breath she tried to hide. And it ripped me open.
I was angry at Gabriella. Hell, furious. Angry at her for using Bree’s pain as some twisted campfire entertainment. Angry that she’d been sitting on this bombshell, threatening to expose Bree to everyone for sport. My teeth ground together so hard my jaw ached.
I was angry at the asshole who’d hurt her like that. The faceless guy who’d taken what should’ve been Bree’s sweetest memories and turned them into a living nightmare. He’d stolen her hope,
ripped away her sense of safety, and left her carrying scars she shouldn’t have to carry.
And then there was the anger aimed at myself, the kind that lodged deep and ugly in my chest. Angry that I hadn’t made her feel safe enough to tell me sooner. Angry that she’d been carrying this weight alone while I was right here, thinking I was helping when I didn’t even know what demons
she was fighting.
But the worst? The most twisted part? There was anger toward her, too. Not the raging inferno I
felt for Gabriella or that jackass ex of hers-no, this was different. This was a quieter kind of anger
that hurt more than it burned. It wrapped tight around my heart, squeezing, cutting.
Why hadn’t she told me? Why hadn’t she trusted me enough to confide in me?
It hit like a punch to the gut. And unlike every fight I’d ever been in, there was no counterpunch for
this, no way to block the hit. I just had to sit with it, let it hollow me out.
“That’s disgusting,” Miguel’s voice snapped me out of my spiral. It sliced through the heavy silence around the bonfire, sharp and furious. His glare was locked on Gabriella, his whole body taut like he was two seconds from lunging across the firepit. “You threatened her with that? Why the hell
would you do something like that? What’s in it for you?”
Gabriella blinked at him, wide-eyed, like she hadn’t expected the backlash. Her mouth opened, closed, but no words came. For once she didn’t have something clever or venomous ready to spit.
“It’s heartless,” another voice chimed in-a girl from the group, eyes narrowed on Gabriella. “How would you feel if something like that happened to you? If your whole future got ripped away
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because someone decided to play God with your life?”
“But-” Gabriella tried, her voice small.
“No buts.” Caleb’s voice cut through, hard and sure. He looked just as furious as I felt, his fists tight on his knees. “You’ve got nothing left to say, Gabriella. Everyone here knows exactly what you’ve done. And I’m pretty damn sure no one agrees with how you’ve been treating Bree.”
A murmur of agreement rippled through the circle. Heads nodded. The people who’d laughed at Gabriella’s snide comments before were now looking at her with disgust.
“So why don’t you just pack it up and go home?” Caleb added, shaking his head. “Let Bree live her life. Stop trying to make everyone hate her just because you can’t stand yourself.”
Gabriella’s face went pale, like someone had yanked the rug out from under her. She stood slowly, her eyes darting around the circle, desperate for backup.
“Rachel?” Her voice cracked, pitched with panic.
Rachel sat back, arms crossed. “Sorry, Gabriella. Can’t help you with this one.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but I caught the flicker of satisfaction in her eyes. She wasn’t gloating-Rachel wasn’t that petty-but she was relieved. Relieved Gabriella had finally been called out. Relieved Bree wasn’t standing alone anymore.
Gabriella’s eyes filled with tears as she turned, scanning for anyone to save her. No one moved. Even her usual shadows-those two girls who trailed her like lapdogs-stayed seated, staring into the fire, trying to make themselves invisible.
Gabriella’s breath hitched. And then she bolted, running off toward her hut.
No one followed. Not even her minions.
For the first time since Bree started speaking, I let my eyes finally, fully find her.
She looked wrecked. Like she was two seconds away from shattering into pieces. Her blue eyes were shiny with tears she hadn’t let fall yet, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to hold it together. And the second those eyes met mine, all that white-hot anger inside me blew out like someone
had doused it with water.
Because I got it.
I understood why she hadn’t told me. Why she’d kept it locked up tight, why she’d been so scared. She hadn’t wanted me to look at her the way she thought I would. Like she was broken. Like she was fragile.
But the thing was… that’s not what I saw at all.
I didn’t see a girl in pieces. I saw someone strong. Someone who’d been carrying the weight of the
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world-hell, the whole goddamn universe-on her shoulders. Someone who’d survived hell and was still standing. That wasn’t weakness. That was power. That was Bree.
I didn’t even think before I stood. Didn’t care that everyone was watching. Didn’t give a single f**k about what anyone else thought. None of them mattered.
Only she did.
With long, determined strides, I crossed the space between us. Her first tear slipped free just as I
reached her.
And then we collided.
My arms wrapped tight around her shoulders, holding her to me like I could shield her from all of it. Her arms circled my waist, her face pressed into my chest like she was trying to burrow herself inside me. I felt her tremble, felt the uneven hitch of her breath against my shirt, and my own heart
cracked open in my chest.
I didn’t say anything. Didn’t accuse her. Didn’t ask questions. She didn’t need words right now-she needed this. She needed to feel me there, solid and unmovable, her safe place in the storm.
“Alright, everyone,” Rachel’s voice rang out, louder than usual, making sure every straggler heard.” That’s it for bonfire night. Go get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.”
I glanced up over Bree’s head to see Rachel watching us. She caught my gaze and gave a small nod, a faint approving smile on her lips. Then she turned back to the group, shooing them off,
making sure they cleared out.
She knew. She knew Bree and I needed space. And for that, I silently thanked her.
Bree stayed wrapped in my arms, shaking and sobbing quietly, her whole body trembling against mine. She clung to me like I might disappear if she loosened her grip, like if she let go, I’d vanish
and leave her to face this alone. That would never happen. Not now. Not ever.
I buried my face in her hair, breathing her in. That soft, sweet scent of her shampoo-something
floral with a hint of coconut-hit me like a sucker punch. It crawled deep into my chest, settling into
places I didn’t even know could feel this tender. It was like her scent had a direct line to my soul, calming some of my fury while simultaneously lighting me up with the need to protect her from
everything.
My mind raced even as I held her tighter. How do I make this right? How do I take all this pain she’s been carrying and burn it to ash? The thought of her walking around with this secret, too scared to tell me, gutted me. But that wasn’t the priority. Right now wasn’t about my hurt-it was about her.
“Is it true about your scholarship?” My voice was low, rough, more of a whisper meant only for her ears. I didn’t want to push, didn’t want her to feel like she owed me answers. But I needed to know.
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She nodded against my chest. The movement was small, and then the sobs came harder, breaking free like a dam giving out. She’d been trying to keep it quiet, trying not to make noise, but now she couldn’t hold it back. Her cries tore through the night, raw and unrestrained.
I tightened my arms around her, squeezing her closer, like I could shield her from the whole world if I just held her hard enough.
My mind shifted to action. I could make this go away. All of it. One call, that’s all it would take. And I’d make it. I didn’t care what strings had to be pulled, what favors I had to cash in. I knew someone who’d help me, someone who wouldn’t stop until this entire nightmare was erased. Gabriella. The f*******: group. Whoever that asshole ex was. Every trace of it-gone.
“I’m so sorry, Gage,” she hiccupped against me, her words stuttering with her sobs. “I should’ve told you. I know I should have. But I was just so scared.”
God, hearing her apologize broke something in me. She had nothing to be sorry for.
“Scared of what, Bree?” My hand threaded through her hair, slow and steady, trying to soothe her while I asked. My voice was soft but steady, even as rage and heartbreak twisted inside me.
She tried to catch her breath, tried to calm herself, but the sobs kept coming in waves, unstoppable. And I couldn’t help but wonder-had she even allowed herself to mourn before now? Had she ever really felt all the pain from what happened, or had she shoved it down so deep it was only now clawing its way back out?
“It’s okay, gorgeous,” I murmured, rocking us slightly side to side like I’d seen moms do with their kids. She wasn’t a kid, but she needed comfort, grounding. “I got you. I got you, it’s okay.”
“I-I thought…” Her voice cracked, torn apart with grief. “I thought you wouldn’t want me.”
That hit like a knife straight to my chest. My throat burned, my vision blurred for a split second.
Pain flooded me, and the anger I’d been carrying twisted sharper, deadlier. But none of it was for
her. It was for the situation, for the assholes who’d done this, for the way they’d convinced her she
was unwanted, unworthy.
“I thought you’d shut me out. Just like everyone else did. I couldn’t handle that, Gage. I couldn’t even think about you doing that. So I didn’t tell you. I just… I just wanted to keep having you around
me.”
Her words cracked me wide open. The sting of my own tears burned behind my eyes, but I blinked them away. I needed to be solid for her, needed her to feel like she had something unshakable to
lean on.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I rasped, my voice breaking a little despite me trying to hold it steady. It
came out rough and gritty, full of all the emotions I couldn’t name. “You hear me? I’m not going
anywhere.”
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And I meant every goddamn word.
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They better f*****g pray I never meet that guy. Pray I never came face-to-face with him. Because if I did? He wouldn’t be walking away.
“You’re stuck with me, gorgeous. Whether you like it or not,” I whispered against her hair, pressing my lips to the crown of her head. It wasn’t meant to make her laugh-it was a vow, a promise. “I’m not going anywhere.”
That’s when she broke down completely. Her sobs turned violent, shaking her whole body as she clung to me tighter, like she thought if she held on hard enough I could take away every bad thing
she’d ever felt.
And you know what? I wanted to. God, I wanted to rip the weight off her shoulders and carry it all
myself.
Bree was mine. She was my girl. That didn’t change because some coward exploited her trust. If anything, it made me want her even more fiercely.
But it also scared me. Scared me in ways I didn’t want to admit out loud. Because if I ever found him? If I ever looked him in the eye and saw the smug bastard who’d hurt her? I didn’t know what I’d do. And that terrified me. Not because I was scared of him-no, I was scared of myself, of what I might become if I let that rage loose.
Did I hate that he’d been her first? f**k yes, I hated it. Every cell in me burned with jealousy that he’d been the one lucky enough to have that piece of her. But more than that, I hated the fact that she’d trusted him, given him her heart, and he’d shattered it into pieces like it meant nothing.
Because of him, my girl now had walls around her heart. Because of him, she’d need to be convinced I wasn’t going to hurt her. Because of him, a part of her would always doubt if happiness was real.
And while I didn’t mind earning her trust-hell, I’d fight every day to prove I deserved it-I hated that she’d been made to feel this way. Hated that no matter how much love I gave her, some tiny part of her might always flinch, wondering when it would all fall apart.
For that? I wanted to find him. And I wanted to destroy him.
But right now, she was in my arms. Right now, she was letting me hold her through the storm. And I swore to myself, right then and there, that she would never have to weather anything like this alone
again.
Not while I was breathing.
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