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As soon as I catch sight of him stumbling up the road, I know this isn't my imagination. That Atlas is naked, firelight a nimbus around him as he hovers over me exactly like last night. This one is sweat and pale, one side of his face covered in dried blood.
He's really here.
I race toward him, sobbing as he roars my name, relief coloring his tone this time. My feet fly across the ground, bringing me closer to the man of my dreams and my future.
I barely stop in front of him before he's got his arms around me, dragging me up against his chest.
"Thank you, God," he breathes, crushing me against him as a tremor works its way through him. "Thank you, God."
"You're here," I sob, clinging to him, crying all over him. "You're really here."
"You're damn right I'm here," he growls. "Not a fucking thing on this earth is taking me from you, Temptation. Not one."
I burrow into him, bawling like a freaking baby. "I love you. I love you. I'm never letting you go ahead."
He tips my head back with a finger beneath my chin, his eyes meeting mine. "So does this mean you're marrying me then?"
Chapter Fourteen
Atlas
Getting knocked out by a collapsing porch isn't an event I care to repeat. It's not one I recommend either. But having my sweet little Temptation nursing me back to health almost makes it worth it.
CTs at the hospital show a minor brain bleed. It's serious enough for the doctor to refuse to release me. I spend the night in the most uncomfortable bed with Gabbi by my side. By mid afternoon the next day, Jordan has us on a flight back to Silver Spoon Falls and the hospital there.
Gabbi doesn't even go home. She refuses to budge from my room until I do. We spend three days in the hospital before Doc Jessup is comfortable enough to release me.
My little Temptation frets over the fact that the season is officially over for me. She feels guilty, as if it's somehow her fault. But I don't give a flying fuck about the season. I spent an afternoon in hell, terrified I'd lose her.
After facing that, giving up hockey for a while is a small thing. The team tries to visit me, but Gabbi ends up kicking them out after half an hour when I try to climb from the bed to strangle Colter.
She's a fierce little dragon. They file out, suitably chastised for acting up in a hospital.
"Marry her," Colter hisses at me on the way out the door. "She's a bad ass."
As if I need him to tell me that. I know exactly how strong she is. She saved my life out there, and risked her own to ensure I had every chance to live. I saw the rubble from the porch. I saw the litter she made. I know exactly how hard she fought for me.
I'll spend every day of the rest of my life worshipping at her feet because of it. Because this sweet little Temptation loved me enough to risk everything for me. I'm still mad as hell about that. Her life and safety always come before my own. But I'm grateful as hell too.
When Jordan stops by to visit, he thanks me for getting her out of there. As if I had anything to do with it. All I did was stress her the fuck out. She did the work. I'm not sure if he's decided to lay off because of the situation or simply because Gabbi will murder him if he doesn't, but he stops threatening to send her to a convent.
He doesn't even threaten to leave pieces of my body scattered across the state this time. Instead, he extends a hand, gratitude in his eyes.
"Guess you won't be so bad after all," he mutters when I clasp it.
I grin, knowing exactly how much it cost him to tell me that. In his eyes, she'll always be the little girl he raised after their parents died. She'll always need her big brother looking out for her. But we're on the same team now, and I'm coaching this game.
"Welcome home," Gabbi whispers two days later, walking through the front door with her hand clasped in mine.
I glance around my place, grinning when I see the boxes of her shit stacked up against the wall. My teammates helped move her in while I was in the hospital. There wasn't even a big discussion about it.
I think we both realized out there exactly what we want, and we're both eager to get on with it. There's no need to wait to see how things go between us. I already know how they'll go.
She'll sass the shit out of me, and I'll dish it right back. We'll laugh and fuck and fill this place with love. And I'll defend her and our home as fiercely as I ever defended a goal.
That's my future now. That's what brought me back when she thought I was going to die. That's what I fought for out in the woods when my legs wanted to collapse, and I couldn't see straight. I fought for her. I fought for us.
I'll never stop fighting.
