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“I love you,” he responds calmly and I want to kill him. How dare he? He doesn’t get to pull this shit on me. Not now—not ever.
I throw myself at him, my hands curl into fists and I beat on his chest, in my rage. “I hate you! I hate you! You don’t get to say that to me!” I shriek out the words like weapons, still beating on his body anywhere I can. I’m lost in my anger. Through the haze I realize he has tossed my bag back on the bed, but he doesn’t try to defend his body from my blows. He stands there and takes it and that makes me hate him more. It’s like I don’t even matter enough to try! “You don’t know what love is! You’re a fucking asshole! You bet on me like I was a damn—”
I break off when he grabs my hands forcefully and growls loudly.
“You’re everything!” he yells back, but I ignore him. I’m too busy trying to pull away from him to care what he says. It’s just another lie. It was all lies!
“All you do is lie!” I hurl at him, jerking away.
“I’m not lying. Not about this. Not about you, Casey. I never have.”
“You bet on if you could…could—”
“It was stupid and it was childish, I admit it, Casey. I don’t have any defense. I should have never done it. I wish like hell I could go back and change things—”
“The hell you do! I hate you! You’re pathetic!”
“You don’t hate me. Casey, please. Let’s talk calmly about this. I love you,” he responds and that’s enough I can’t hear him say that again.
“You don’t love me! I should have known better than to trust you. I should have. I loved you for years and you didn’t even know I existed. You walked away from me years ago without a backwards glance! How I could forget that and let you get to me again…”
“You loved me?”
“I was a stupid kid! I don’t even have that defense now! You think I would have grown smarter over the years. Apparently not!”
“Casey. You love me?” Gavin says, and oh God, but I hate him so much right now. I haven’t been keeping track of what I say to him. I want to get away.
“Let me go!” I yell, tired of trying to get free on my own. I don’t want to hear more of his lies. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to be around him.
“No!” he growls and this time it’s a deeper growl. A deadly growl. The kind of sound that makes me freeze in my tracks. “I’m not letting you go Casey. I’m never letting you go. You’re the only thing that matters in my life,” he exclaims, and his eyes are boring into me. He looks serious. He sounds dangerously sincere. My breathing is out of control and my heart is beating hard against my chest, but I think it has more to do with fear.
“I don’t believe you,” I whisper. “I’ll never believe you again.”
“Then I’ll keep saying it until one day you finally do, but you’re not leaving me, Casey. This is not the end of us. It’s only the beginning,” he promises—or threatens—I can’t be sure at this point. I’m so tired and confused.
“Let me go, Gavin,” I tell him, desperation bleeding through my words. I don’t think I can survive him hurting me again.
“No. I can’t and what’s more you don’t want me to,” he tells me.
“Please stop. You’ve already won the bet. There’s no point to all of this. Not anymore,” I tell him looking at the window across the room rather than at him.
“Will you shut up about the fucking bet? It wasn’t about the fucking bet. It never was.”
One of his hands lets go of me and I jerk my gaze back to him, preparing to leave. When I look at him there’s a diamond ring in his hand, the diamond so ridiculously big I can’t believe it.
“What are—”
“It’s not about anything but you and me, Casey. I swear. I love you. You’re it for me. I was a stupid idiot who thought he could sail through life without ever worrying about relationships or falling in love. I was happy with that. I was a bachelor for life, but one look at you and I fell and I went down hard, honey. You’re all I want. I love you. I want you to marry me.”
“Gavin…”
“I want to grow old with you Moth-girl. I want babies with you.”
“Gavin…”
“I want to be your last first date. Your last kiss. Your everything.”
“Gavin…” I whisper again, but I’m crying. My tears are causing the diamond he’s holding to blur.
“I want to be all of that to you, because that’s exactly what you are to me, Casey Langley. You’re my first love and you will be my last love. Will you marry me?”
