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I ignored his obvious warning. “Will you force him into rehab again? What is he addicted to, exactly?”
If the senator responded, I never heard it because Gage wrapped his arm around my hips and half dragged, half carried me away. Once he realized I didn’t plan to fight him, he released my waist but kept a firm grip on my wrist as he continued to pull me down the thoroughfare toward the park exit.
Halfway along the path, he diverted to the left, leading me toward a row of trees with fairy lights encircling the trunks. The area was well lit and in clear view of anyone passing by, so I didn’t think he intended to kill me. Even if his expression said otherwise.
“What the fuck was that?” he demanded.
Feeling justified and maybe a little entitled, I folded my arms over my chest and shrugged. “The truth.”
“Even so, do you think this is the appropriate place for it?”
“Where else would you have me say it?”
Gage huffed and dragged his fingers through his thick hair. “Look, kid—”
“I’m not a fucking kid.”
He always called me that, and I hated it. Mostly because he had a way of saying it that made it sound less like he meant I was a child, and more like he thought I was an idiot.
“Then stop acting like one.”
He didn’t raise his voice, and there was no heat in his tone, but his words cut through me like a knife. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Maybe not, but I know that no one is going to take you seriously if you act like an entitled brat.”
No, he really didn’t get it. “My dad just died.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat other people like trash.”
“You mean the senator.” I almost laughed. Almost.
“No.” Gage wrapped his trench coat around me again, pulling me closer by the lapels until only a few inches separated us. “I mean me.”
I froze. Unmoving. Barely breathing. The sweet gesture combined with the sincerity in his eyes completely scrambled my brain. That was the only excuse I had for what I did next.
I leaned forward, closing the last bit of distance between us, and pressed my mouth to his.
Even with the biting cold wind that whipped around us, his lips felt warm against mine. Soft. Pliable. And I wanted more.
Only, his jaw remained stiff, unyielding, and a hand landed on my shoulder with gentle pressure. Not to pull me closer but urging me away.
“Nathan, stop.”
Hurt and embarrassed by his rejection, I stumbled backwards, frantically searching for any excuse to get the hell out of there. As it turned out, I didn’t have to search far. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was actually glad to see my sister striding toward us.
Stopping several feet away, Julianna looked between me and Gage. “Come with me. Both of you.”
She turned and walked away, confident that we would follow.
Gage rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Sounds like we’re in trouble.”
“Just me,” I assured him. “You don’t have to stay.” I had started this, and I would accept the consequences. I wouldn’t, however, allow Gage to take any part of the blame. “I’ll tell them you had an emergency.”
I started to return his coat for the second time that night, but he caught my hand and shook his head.
“Come on, kid.”
There was something different in his voice now. A gentleness that hadn’t been there before that somehow made that stupid pet name sound more like an endearment. He also refused to release my hand, even linking our fingers together as he led me along the concrete path.
