Chapter 71
Gage
I was flying, literally flying. I’ve never had a better practice, never felt as invincible as I was right at that moment. The team noticed, the coach noticed, heck, everyone noticed. But having my girl’s eyes on me? That was more than enough.
My smile was broad and bright as I walked out of the locker rooms, more than ready to greet her, take her back to my place, cook her up something nice, and then make love to her until I was ready to pass out.
But I stopped in my tracks once I saw her, because she wasn’t sitting on the bleachers, smiling and blushing back at me. No. She looked confused, looked like she did sometimes when she was ready up on something she didn’t quite understand. It made a pitch form in my stomach, making me feel like I couldn’t swallow properly. Because Bree wasn’t looking into a textbook, she wasn’t frowning at a math problem; she was looking right at me, like she couldn’t understand me.
“Gorgeous?” I asked, nearing the bleachers, where Riley smirked too smugly, and Savannah looked at me with pity in her eyes. “Is something wrong?”
Bree’s blue eyes searched mine, actually searching my entire face. “Where’s Oliver, Gage?” she asked, standing up on the bleacher, leveling us just a little more.
The question stilled me, making my blood run cold in my body. Honestly, some part of me- the part that had been trapped in the bliss of our love–had completely forgotten about Oliver. Of course, I hadn’t been able to forget about Jenna, mostly because she had been texting and calling me nonstop.
“|–|–”
“Good luck, Goldy,” Riley chuckled, standing up as well. “Come on, Sav, let the lovebirds figure it out on their own.”
I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at Riley, hating the fact that she seemed to be against everything I was, without even knowing me properly. It was like she took one look at me and then just decided to hate the living crap out of me.
I watched as they left, but Bree’s eyes never wavered from my face. She was scary like this. I had never seen her like this before. It was like a glimpse into our future, into how she would look when our children would do something she didn’t agree with. And that thought only made it weirder for me, making me debate whether to be terrified or turned on.
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<Chapter 71
“Tell me, Gage,” she pressed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“He got kicked out,” I said, pushing the words through my lips.
Claint
It seemed like it took her a few seconds, like she needed to process the words, really absorb them. But then the shock landed, the blow I knew would come. Her eyes widened, her lips. parted slightly.
“Okay, listen,” I said, trying to rectify the damage before it could settle all the way. “I know you’re a good person, gorgeous, that you hate inflicting pain on others, and I love you for feeling that way.” Good thinking, Gage, push in a few compliments as well. “But he did a lot more than just hurt you, Bree. He needs to know that what he did isn’t okay, and honestly, something inside of me believes you won’t take any legal action, which you should, by the way. So I went to the dean, I told them everything that had happened, and they were quick to rescind his scholarship.”
Her hand flew to her mouth, even more shock painting her face. She looked as if I had just told her I had killed a litter of kittens–which I would never do.
“He’s not allowed to set foot on campus grounds, gorgeous,” I continued, just wanting to let everything out. “He can’t get close to you; he can’t hurt you. And if I’m being honest, which I
further.” am, I think you should get a restraining order as well, just to protect you
I stopped talking, feeling like I had gotten everything out, feeling like I had let her know my thoughts. Now it was only a matter of letting her absorb, letting her categorize her feelings, her thoughts, and then she get back to me.
would
These last few days had done nothing but prove to me that she and I were a forever thing. Nothing would ever be able to tear us apart again, she knew that, and I knew that. Now it was only a matter of time before I could get on with this, before I could propose to her, marry her, and then have a bunch of cute babies with her.
I could see the words floating through her mind, could see how she worked through them. But then something happened, something I hadn’t counted on happening.
She looked to be getting mad. Her brows furrowed more, her mouth turned downward in a frown, and then the worst thing happened; tears started welling in her eyes. It made something inside of me break, something shattered right there. I never wanted her to have that expression, never wanted her to be mad, and definitely never wanted her to be sad. “How could you?” she asked, her voice low, barely loud enough for me to hear.
“What do you mean?” I asked, stepping forward, grabbing her arms, trying to get her closer, trying to do anything as long as it made that expression disappear from her eyes. God, I hated that expression in her eyes.
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Claim
She closed her eyes, squeezing them together, as if she could make me disappear if only she wanted it badly enough. “I can’t believe you did that, Gage.”
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, instead opting to wrap my arms around her, taking it as a win that she didn’t push me away. Definitely feeling a comfort in her accepting my embrace, even as her words both confused and tore me apart.
“Gorgeous, talk to me,” I begged. “What’s wrong? All I did was try to protect you-”
“It wasn’t your decision to make!” she suddenly bellowed, opening her eyes back up, making a tear run down her throat, basically making my heart cleave into two pieces. “It was my decision, it was my choice, and you took all of that away from me.”
“Baby,” I said, feeling my own eyes starting to water, a sense of powerlessness filling my entire chest. “Bree, gorgeous, please.”
“No, Gage,” she said, shaking her head, more tears falling onto her cheeks. “This is not okay, this is not something you can just do.”
“Please,” I begged yet again, my voice turning gruff. “Please, tell me I can fix this.”
She just kept on shaking her head, her hands fisted on top of her chest. It felt unbearable not to have her touch me, unbelievable to be without her physical contact. I wasn’t exactly sure what I had done wrong, but I just knew I had to fix it, I just knew I had to make her smile again, I just had to make her touch me again.
“You can’t, Gage,” she said, looking down between us. “You took the choice away from me, sweeping my own problem underneath the rug.”
“I won’t ever do it again,” I promised, desperate to make any kind of promise, any kind of deal with her. “I’m sorry, Bree, I’m so sorry. I just did what I thought I had to do.”
She nodded her head, tears still falling, her body shivering slightly in my arms. “I just need some time,” she whispered.
“No, Bree,” I said, shaking my head, knowing I couldn’t let her go. “You can’t leave me again, Bree. I’m not gonna let it happen.”
She finally looked up at me, her one hand unclenching to lay flat on my chest. “I’m not leaving you, Gage,” she said, her voice so unbearably soft. “I love you,” she continued, her tears slowly wetting our clothes between us. “I can’t stop loving you, Gage, and I won’t. But I just need some time and some space. I need to just think for a little, okay?”
Now it was my turn to search her face, trying to figure out what was happening between us, trying to figure out if we were going to be okay.
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Stam
“I love you, Bree,” I said, not letting her break eye contact. “And I’ll always protect you in every way I can, I just won’t do anything without asking you first ever again, okay?”
She nodded her head, her bottom lip trembling as she was clearly trying to keep it together, trying to keep it inside, and it physically hurt me to see.
“I’ll talk to you soon,” she whispered, her voice breaking on the last word.
And then, just like that, she broke free of my arms, hurrying away from me, trying to get away from me as fast as humanly possible. And I just knew, I would be counting down the seconds until I got to see her again.
”
Emilia M
Hey everyone! I’m so sorry for being gone for so long, but I’ve been down with the flu–and it was a heavy one But I’m finally starting to feel somewhat good again, so I’ll be back to posting as much as I possibly can. I’m gonna take a nap now, and then I’ll be working on a chapter for My Dark Obsession: My Brother’s Best Friends. Thank you for being patient with me yet again
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