AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Damn,” he wipes the tears from laughter from the corners of his eyes and takes a cleansing breath to steady his voice. “I have so many questions.”
“Save them. How much time do we have?”
He walks over to the window, pulls the curtain aside barely an inch, and then looks at the time on his watch.
“Not much,” his voice has grown lower and more serious. “What’s it going to be?”
Blythe’s face flashes in my mind. It’s always the same image that I picture. When she tests my will in the mornings by snuggling her face closer to mine. Looking up at me so sleepy and goddamned gorgeous. Her sweet dimples, fluttering lashes, and contented sigh.
“You’re sitting ducks here. Load your shit up and meet me at the pin I’ll drop to you,” I demand and pick his drink up off the table, finishing it in one shot. Wiping the corner of my mouth, I turn to walk out of the room.
I leave him with one last reminder because I know we won’t see eye to eye every step of the way, and I can’t have that. Not with Blythe and my friend’s lives on the line. “We do this on my terms.”
Chapter 29
Gage
There’s a burst of light yellow cascading through the bunkhouse windows onto the hardwood floor. The edge of the sunrise creeps further into the room with each minute that passes. Each minute that I procrastinate the inevitable.
I could lean back in this chair, chin rested on my fist, legs spread and eyes staring at Blythe sleeping on the sectional until I rot in place. But she startles awake when Heston opens and then slams closed the fridge door. She blinks slowly and it takes her a second to realize that she fell asleep on the couch last night. When I walked in a few hours ago and saw her there, I wondered if she’d been waiting up for me.
I stand, brush the hair out of her sleepy eyes, and kiss her on her cheekbone. She takes a sharp breath and I don’t linger on the fact that she looked relieved and happy to see me before I walk into the kitchen to get her a coffee.
There’s your trouble.
I’m so hung up on her every reaction.
She pads down the hallway, and I busy myself at the coffee pot. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a honey bear sitting on the counter. I know that she likes coffee and drinks it often, but I think she prefers hot tea.
I don’t have a kettle, but I warm up some water in a mug in the microwave, then search through the rest of the things in the kitchen to find her stash of Earl Grey that I’ve seen her use. I dip a tea bag into the mug with a spoonful of honey. By the time I’m done making it and sit back down, she’s walking out of the bathroom. She searches my face, asking questions with her eyes that I’m still not ready to answer. But I no longer have a choice.
I gesture for her to sit back down on the couch, and hand her the steaming mug. She takes it, but not without sliding her fingers across my hand. After blowing on it to cool it down and taking a sip, her eyes close and she sinks into the cushions.
“Thank you,” she sighs.
I just offer a close-mouthed smile in return.
Heston is standing not far behind me in the kitchen, but I text in the group chat anyway.
Gage: Meeting in the living room. 10 minutes.
I hear the ding of Heston’s phone and he looks up at me after reading the text. I clench my jaw. At least I can rely on him not to flood me with questions before I have the chance to let them in on the current situation.
Warren: For what? I’m at the barn.
Tripp: If this is about the hay trailer it wasn’t me I swear.
Heston: It’s important.
Heston doesn’t say much, but when he does, we all listen. I think he recognized right away the energy I was putting off. Like I wasn’t fucking around.
I twirl the phone around in my left hand several times, needing to fidget with something to help me focus on not fucking up the conversation that I’m about to have. It hits me all of a sudden that I probably shouldn’t be blindsiding Blythe with all of this at the same time as the rest of the group. I should have planned this out better. I should have pulled her aside first. That’d be the right thing to do. Time just hasn’t been on my side.
“Blythe,” I say just above a whisper.
She tucks her feet underneath her blanket and looks toward me.
I look to the side to see Heston walking down the hall. Dude can read a room like a road map.
