The moment I jumped on that guy’s back, everything seemed to happen so fast. I wrapped my arms around the guy’s neck tightly, as well as my legs. I hugged the guy like a koala bear, trying to distract him from getting at Dylan. The guy was taken by surprise by my weight thrown on top of him, and he wobbled for a second getting his footing. He jerked his head over his shoulder to look at me.
Up close I noticed he appeared to be around our age, maybe a little older. He didn’t look familiar to me, but that didn’t mean anything. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why they were attacking Gage and Dylan. The guy Gage was talking to a few minutes go seemed like he knew him pretty well.
“Get off me!” the guy I was on top of yelled.
“No!” I found myself yelling back. Inwardly I was shouting at myself for even doing this. I never got into fights or was anything near violent. I mean, unless you counted the occasional time I hit my brother or Ethan.
This was insane and somehow, I was a part of it. With me being on top of this random guy, I was in the middle of the fight, so I couldn’t just stop and go back inside. A small part of me did want to do this, though. I wanted to show that I was not some weak little girl. Plus, I could not let these two boys handle this alone.
“Bitch, get off!” The guy continued to yell as he swung his body around, trying to get my grip to loosen. I just hung on for dear life. I might not have been helping much, but at least I was keeping this guy occupied. It gave both boys some time to get rid of the guys they were dealing with.
While I was holding on to the guy, he moved around trying to dislodge me, and my boys were busy fighting the other five men. From the sounds of it, there were only a few guys left. The others either ran away or were knocked out. I personally was going for the second one. This was Gage we were talking about; he didn’t let people get away.
I was so focused on the sounds around me and trying to keep my grip on the guy, I didn’t notice the guy beneath me was walking backwards. The guy slammed me into the wall roughly; I hit the brick of the building. Taken by surprise I let out a loud yell, right into the guy’s ear. It was unintentional, but it helped because the guy flinched and moved.
My yell caused all the other boys to turn in our direction. I lifted my head and made instant eye contact with Gage. He was standing a few feet from me holding a guy in a tight headlock. I watched as his eyes widened when he remembered I was still here. His eyes then darkened when he noticed the guy I was currently wrapped around. Our eye contact was broken when the stupid idiot once again slammed my body back against the wall.
This time pain radiated through me because the impact was a lot harder than before. I squeezed my eyelids and let out a small yelp. That one hurt. I knew I could have instantly let go, but who was to say that the guy would leave me alone, or Gage and Dylan? Plus, this way I was slightly protected; I couldn’t get too much damage done to me.
The pause in the fighting didn’t last long. Seconds later, the guys were back to punching one another. Why has no one come to help us? I silently wondered. I mean, it was not quiet and we were right out front. When my body made contact with the wall again, I was jerked out of my thoughts. Getting pissed, I leaned my head down to his ear.
“Stop doing that!” I yelled and growled at him. Instead of answering, he used all of his weight to slam me back to the wall, and this time my head did hit the brick. My head rang and my grip loosened. The guy took that opportunity to jerk out of my grasp.
I slumped against the wall, my back aching. I knew there were going to be a pretty good bruise there after this.
“You bitch.” The guy growled at me as he turned around. At the sound of his voice I jerked up and met his eyes. He was glaring at me like I had kicked his puppy or something.
“You started this,” I heard myself say before I could stop myself. I was literally pushing him to hit me, which was not smart on my part. As I thought, that kind of set him off. Before I knew it, he was coming at me. Some of Gage’s training flashed through my mind, and I was secretly glad he had taught me a little something.
The guy came at me, and I quickly ducked and moved around him, like I had done to Gage earlier. No way in hell was I going to let him near me. Inwardly, I was cheering at myself for dodging this guy and making him hit the wall before turning to face me once again. This time he looked even more mad, if that was possible.
While I found Gage beautiful and amazing to watch fight, I did not feel that way about this guy. He looked like he wasn’t in control, whereas Gage always had control of the way he moved. This guy was so blinded by some kind of anger that he couldn’t think straight. I was slightly afraid, but I hoped if worse came to worse Gage would come over and help me.
“Bitches like you need to learn their lesson.” He growled at me. Red-hot anger flashed through me. You never call a girl a bitch! I narrowed my eyes at him wanting nothing more than to hit him.
“Go ahead and try it,” I bit out, clenching my fists at my sides.
Everything around us dulled down and for a moment I wondered if this was what Gage felt when he got in the ring to fight. Did everything just become blind noise and his mind zeroed in on the person before him? It felt like my entire body was energized and sparks were lighting across my skin. If this is what he felt like, I could see the appeal.
When the guy finally came at me, I didn’t move an inch. The sooner this guy was gone, the faster this could be over with. Feeling like a totally different person, I stood my ground and waited until he was mere inches away from me. Everything went into slow motion as he raised his arm up as if he were going to hit me. It was like my mind saw what he was going to do before he did it.
I ducked down from his punch and quickly stood up. Balling my fist like Gage taught me, I brought my arm up and aimed right for his face. Gritting my teeth, I put as much power into my swing as I could. The guy apparently didn’t suspect I would do such a thing, so he made no move to get out of the way.
My hand hit the side of his cheek and forced his head to snap in the other direction. The sound of my fist hitting his flesh seemed loud to me. Almost instantly my right hand stung and I felt pain go all the way up my arm. Damn, it hurt to punch someone! As much as I wanted to congratulate myself for punching someone for the very first time, I was too focused on the pain and the guy who was still in front of me.
I brought my hand to my chest, cradling it. It felt like I broke my knuckles or something. I had a newfound respect for Gage. I could feel my hand starting to swell a little, which probably wasn’t good.
“You fucking punched me?” This one had a worse mouth than Gage!
“You deserved it,” I said, clenching my hand. Apparently in these kinds of situations I became mouthy, something I did not know. I was once again very proud of myself when I noticed his cheek was red and looked a little swollen. Maybe I was better than I thought.
The guy started to say something, and most likely it was to curse me out, when I felt a presence behind me. I stiffened thinking it was one of the guy’s friends. I was tired, hungry, and beyond pissed by now. This was not how this day was supposed to end up!
“That is fucking low! Ganging up on an innocent girl. Just because I look weak does not mean I won’t hesitate to kick your ass,” I yelled, whirling around. I was completely done with this. “You better—” I started to say but paused when I noticed it was Gage behind me, not another random stranger. Inside I was cheering loudly, but I couldn’t let my walls down just yet. I did relax slightly, however.
I opened my mouth to say something to Gage when arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me back. This again? I knew it was the guy I was fighting before because it seemed like he was the only one left.
“This is between me and the whore. Get lost,” the slimy stranger said above my ear. I wiggled in his grasp, but he only tightened his arms around me painfully. My eyes never left Gage, and I saw his own narrow into little slits as he glared at the guy holding me. If only his eyes could shoot lasers, because he would be dead already.
“Don’t call me a whore,” I bit out but let out a small whimper when his nails dug into my skin. The voice in my head was yelling at me to shut up. For the first time today, I listened and shut my mouth tightly.
This entire time Gage hadn’t said one word, and it was starting to throw the guy holding me off. He clearly wanted a reaction and wasn’t getting it. Without saying a word, Gage was super scary. If I didn’t know better, I would be shaking in fear.
The guy was getting impatient for Gage to do something, and it only made him dig his nails harder into my stomach. I met Gage’s eyes and saw something flash in them. I couldn’t make out what it was before it was gone. He gave me the slightest of nods that had me questioning what he meant. Did that mean he would get me out of this? Or was it a go ahead to kick the guy?
Not quite sure, I went with the second option. I needed out of this guy’s grasp; there would be bruises no doubt. Not wasting another second, I brought my knee up and slammed it down with all my might on his foot. For once I wished for heels.
It helped a little bit because his hold loosened, but not enough for me to wiggle out. I could tell the guy was beyond pissed. He must have gotten sick of me because he let his arms drop around me until they came to my back. He gave me a huge shove. I couldn’t react fast enough as I fell onto the concrete. I put my hands out to lessen the fall, but it didn’t help much. I fell into a heap on the hard concrete, my hands rubbing against it leaving them burning. I was able to not hit my head again as I fell, which was a plus at least.
The moment I was shoved aside, Gage lunged for the guy and with one right hook, the guy dropped like a rock. I was focused on sitting up, even though my body protested. As I sat up, Gage appeared in front of me. He squatted down inches away from me and reached out for me.
Instinctively I jumped into his arms and wrapped mine around his neck, pulling him close to me. The minute I was in his arms, I felt my body relax. All the energy I had moments ago left me, making me slump against him. I breathed him in and sighed shakily. Even though he was sweaty, he still smelled like Gage. A mix of a manly scent, something undesirable, and some kind of spice. It must have been his shampoo or something, but he smelled so good I could smell him forever.
I buried my face in his neck and I felt him do the same to me. One of his hands curled up into my hair, which had fallen loose from its ponytail, while the other was wrapped tightly around my waist. It kind of hurt, but not enough for me to pull away. Nothing could make me pull out of my embrace with Gage.
My body shook slightly, as if I just came off a sugar high and I practically had. The fight felt like it had gone on for hours when in fact it was literally only five minutes, if that.
“Are you okay?” Gage asked as he pulled back to look over me. His voice was gruff, and it made me shiver. I loved his voice.
“Y-yeah, I am good.” Now that I was up close, I could see Gage was hurt. He had a cut on his cheek, the side of his jaw looked a little swollen, and he had another small cut near his hairline.
“You are hurt.” I breathed out, reaching up to touch his cheek. My own injuries were on the back burner at the moment. A small amount of blood was running down his cheek, but not enough to be serious. From the looks of it, he wasn’t too badly injured, and I was very thankful for that.
Wait! Dylan!
My eyes widened when I remember he was there as well.
“Dylan? Is he okay?” I asked, forcing my eyes to look away from Gage even though I didn’t want to. I looked over his shoulder to see a few bodies on the ground unconscious, but no Dylan. “Where is he? He is okay, right?”
“He is okay. He went inside to get some help out here.” I breathed a sigh of relief. My worst fear was that these two would be seriously hurt; Dylan might have been more hurt than Gage. I slumped back into his arms, closing my eyes.
We hugged each other for a few more minutes before I knew we had to get up. Gage could not have been comfortable squatting like that. We needed to get him cleaned up. Reluctantly, I pulled away and met his gaze.
“We should probably get up.” Oh, how I wanted to stay in his arms forever. He nodded and stood up, reaching a hand out for me. I grasped it and held back a wince at the tenderness of my hand meeting his. It was definitely scratched up, but I didn’t want Gage to worry about me; he was more hurt. “Is there a first aid kit here?” I asked.
“Why? Are you really hurt?” Gage immediately asked, looking at me.
“No, for you. We need to clean up those cuts.” I would look at my hands later. My right hand burned from the fight, and I could barely form it in a fist from punching that guy. Gage looked like he was going to argue, but I sent him a glare. Thankfully he didn’t put up a fight and just nodded.
“They have one in every room. Let’s go.” He gently tugged my hand toward the door. We moved around the knocked-out strangers, and I didn’t once glance down at them nor did I feel bad for them. They deserved it. Never did I think I would be thinking that. For a pacifist, I was doing well with violence.
Both of us were quiet as we walked toward a room to get a first aid kit. Gage’s grip on my hand was tight but gentle, like he didn’t want to let me go. Thankfully, we made it to a room in no time, and we didn’t see anyone else. Right now, I didn’t want to talk to anyone but Gage. We let go of holding hands as Gage went to search for kit while I closed the door behind us.
“Here we go,” Gage said as came out of the bathroom, a bright red box in his hands.
“Sit on the couch,” I directed, following after him so I could clean his wounds. He said nothing as he sat on the couch and handed me the kit. I opened it, looking for the rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls. As I got ready to clean his cuts, I remembered me doing this the very first time I met Gage. It felt like yesterday that we ran into each other in the middle of the night, both of us going in opposite directions but somehow coming together again.
I was glad that I cleaned Gage up that night, that he helped me with Macey. Because if he hadn’t, I would not be in this situation right now; well, that could be seen as a good or bad thing I guess.
“This may sting,” I warned him as I held the cotton ball loosely in my hand. I couldn’t make my hand close and it ached. Just as I brought the cotton ball to his cuts, his hand grabbed my wrist stopping me.
“Carter.” A small shiver went down my spine. I liked how he said my name and while he didn’t say it often, I liked it when he did. “You are hurt.” The way he said it was almost like he was hurt I didn’t tell him.
“It is okay. We need to clean you up first,” I said, brushing him off and trying to get my hand out of his grasp. He didn’t let go; instead, he sat up straight so his head was level with my stomach and his eyes were looking straight up at me.
“Carter, stop,” he commanded and instantly my body responded. “What happened?” Gage asked as he gently brought my hand down so he could look at it. I looked at my hand and noticed it was all red and swollen, and there looked to be a few bruises already forming along the knuckles. Along with that, the palms of my hands were all scraped up.
“I punched a guy,” I said, watching as his thumb rubbed the tender flesh ever so softly. “Beat the guy’s ass,” I added. And I really did.
“That’s my girl.” Gage grinned widely up at me. At those words my heart thundered inside of my chest. I could feel myself going up to float on cloud nine. My girl. I liked the sound of that.
“I didn’t think it would hurt that bad though.” I bit my bottom lip as he kept softly rubbing my knuckles. He let out a small chuckle at that.
“Yeah, it takes a while to get used to it.” Holding my hand with one of his, he took the alcohol-soaked cotton ball from my fingers. Flipping my small hand in his big one, he tilted my palm up. The skin was all broken and rubbed raw from my fall. These were always the kind of cuts that hurt the most.
“This is going to sting,” he warned so I could brace myself. I’d had enough cuts in my day to know that the alcohol did burn like a bitch. There had been so many times that my mom had to clean me up. All thanks to me running around with Luke and Ethan.
“Ready,” I whispered. With my hand held in his, he brought the cotton ball to it, and as gently as he could, he started cleaning it. I couldn’t stop the intake of breath as the alcohol hit my cuts. How he never made a noise at this, I didn’t know.
I’d never seen Gage so gentle before, and I liked it. I liked seeing a different side to him. It made me realize that he was not who he made himself out to be; there was more to him than meets the eye. I just couldn’t wait to figure out all of him.
Gage made quick work of my hands and were done in just a matter of minutes. With nothing else to do to my palms, it was my turn to clean his. The silence between us was nice as we cleaned each other up. Although there were no words, it seemed like were tied to one another now in a different way. The fight just solidified that.
I stood in-between his legs as I cleaned up the two cuts on his face. They were small, so they didn’t need any Band-Aids or stitches. They would probably heal in a few days, but his cheek and jaw would bruise; nothing he couldn’t handle.
Gage stared at my face the entire time I cleaned him up. Even though I felt weird under his gaze, I didn’t stop him. It was like he was trying to justify that I was really here and that I was okay from the fight.
As much as I wanted to ask what happened back there, I didn’t. I held my tongue and figured I’d ask later on, when it wasn’t so fresh. When Gage wouldn’t blow up so easily.
“There you go,” I said softly once I was all done. I didn’t want to move, and it seemed like Gage didn’t want to either. Gage took the dirty cotton ball from my hand and set it on the couch beside him before grabbing my hand gently in his, aware of my cuts.
“I am sorry you got hurt,” he whispered, looking right into my eyes. I could see he felt terrible that I got hurt. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he muttered under his breath.
“I couldn’t leave you and Dylan to fend for yourselves. There were a lot of guys there,” I pointed out. “I totally took that guy out,” I said proudly.
“You sure did.” He was just going along with me as he smiled. Either way, I felt extremely proud of myself for taking on a guy that was twice my size.
“Thank you,” I said suddenly, clenching onto his hands.
“For what?”
“For everything,” I said sincerely. I gazed into his eyes, wanting him to know I really meant it.
There was a brief second of silence before Gage suddenly stood up, making me take a step back or I’d fall over. We were pressed so closely that my chest was pressed against his and I had to tilt my head up to even see some of his face.
The small voice in my head was yelling at me to just grab his head and pull him into a kiss. I wanted to, oh God did I want to. I just wasn’t sure if he did. What if I only felt this way and he was just trying to say politely that I had something on my face?
Gage was so tall that my head only went to about his chest. I wasn’t looking anywhere else but at his pink lips, wondering if they felt as soft as they looked. With me being pressed against him, the need to kiss him was getting stronger.
Just do it! Kiss him, damn it! I inwardly yelled at myself.
You know what? I have always been that girl who never seized anything or did something she wanted. I always wished I was like Amy or Macey in that regard, but you know what? Now I was going to be that girl. I was going to do something that I wanted for once, and to hell with the consequences.
As I made up my mind, I noticed Gage had lowered his head toward mine. His warm breath fanned against my face and his eyes pierced into mine, like he was seeing into my soul. One of his hands came up between us and reached for my face. He cupped my jaw as his eyes got darker and my knees got weaker.
“You are more than welcome, Carter.” That was all he said before he crushed his lips against mine. His hand was against my cheek and his kiss was soft but firm, making sure I was going to stay right where I was. Like I was going anywhere.
When his lips finally touched mine, everything inside of me let go. I sighed into his mouth having finally got what I was wishing for. Gage’s lips were as soft as I thought, and they fit perfectly with mine.
Our lips moved in sync with one another’s, like we were missing pieces of a puzzle. All the sparks that I wanted to feel were there. They were more than sparks; they were like shocks of electricity running through my body. It was something I had never felt before in my life. If this was kissing, then I had been doing it wrong my whole life. It was the foot-popping kiss I’d always wanted.
My arms finally moved from my sides to wrap around his neck. If it were possible, I pulled him even closer to me until not even a centimeter was between us. Heat radiated off the both of us; I felt like we were on the sun.
My fingers had a mind of their own as they weaved through his hair, feeling its softness. Even after all of this, his hair felt amazing, more than mine ever had. I tugged softly on the strands, which made Gage moan into my mouth. Once again, pride rang through me at the noise.
We had to pull away for a breath of air. We stood there panting for breath from a kiss that felt like it went on for days. It was without a doubt the best first kiss I had ever experienced. While it was soft, I could tell Gage was holding back on making it rough, something I was beyond excited to feel.
I looked into his beautiful brown eyes, with my cheeks flaming and my lips feeling all tingly. Nobody had ever left me so breathless; I felt like I hadn’t had air in months. Gage was staring down at me with an unreadable look on his face, but I didn’t mind it. If he wanted to look at me like that all day, I would allow it.
Both of us were silent as we caught our breath, not having to say a word. Something between us had shifted, and I knew it was for the better. My eyes darted back down to his lips, happy to see they looked a darker pink than before. I just hoped that I had kissed just as good as he did, but by the look on his face, I don’t think I had to worry.
His lips looked so much more inviting that I could not resist grabbing his face with both hands, going up on my toes to kiss him again. Once was not enough for me. Gage seemed slightly taken aback by my forwardness, but recovered instantly and started kissing me back. His arms wrapped themselves around me, one going on to the back of my neck and the other resting on my hip.
I never felt more complete in my life than in that moment.
***
Neither of us said anything about the kisses afterwards. I think we both felt like we didn’t have to. Our actions spoke louder than words at the moment, and nothing would compare to them.
After our kiss, we put the first aid kit away and headed to find Dylan. Our little moment was over and now it was back to reality. I was still worried about Dylan, so that was the first thing we were going to investigate when we left the room. I would feel better once I saw and looked him over. I felt slightly guilty about going off to clean up Gage and not doing the same for Dylan. When I voiced this to Gage, he just said that Dylan was fine and wouldn’t mind. It did very little to get rid of my guilt.
When we did find Dylan, I instantly rushed toward him and checked him over, like I was his mother. I thankfully only found one bruise on his cheek and that was it. He fared better than Gage, surprisingly. Dylan didn’t stop me as I hugged him tightly, glad he was okay.
While Gage and I were in the room together, Dylan had gotten a few guys to move the guy’s unconscious bodies inside so when they woke up they wouldn’t be laying outside. That would attract too much attention anyway. He was busy cleaning this whole thing up while Gage and I made out, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad. Especially not when all I could think about what that kiss.
Because we were all so tired and beat up, we decided, instead of going out to eat, we would pick up a pizza on the way and eat it back at their place. That way we could relax and not worry about people staring at us. I was so hungry and tired that I had no complaints at all.
As we headed back to the car to go get a pizza, Dylan handed me my other clothes and my cell phone, which I completely forgot I dropped earlier. Checking my screen, I noticed I had a text from Macey saying she was going out and not to wait up for her. And another one which surprised me. It was from Amy and she asked if we could meet up tomorrow afternoon sometime. Almost immediately I wanted to say no and come up with an excuse why I couldn’t, but I wasn’t like that. I wanted to know why she wanted to meet up, and as always, curiosity got the best of me.
I quickly sent both of them a text back before sliding into the passenger’s seat of Gage’s car. Apparently, Dylan got a ride here earlier from someone, so he got in the backseat. He didn’t once complain about getting in the back, and I knew it was because all of us were so deep in our thoughts we didn’t care. Each of us were silent as we drove, either battling our inner demons or just thinking.
Dylan knew of a good quick pizza place around the corner, so it didn’t take long to drive there, pick out what kind of pizzas we wanted, and to start heading back to campus. I think all of us were just ready to sit down and relax. The smell of the pizza was all I could personally think about; it was ravishing. Food was definitely more important than anything else in my mind.
When we got back to campus, all of us walked in a line toward Dylan and Gage’s dorm to eat. I almost jumped Gage, who was holding the pizza, to eat it on the way there. My stomach was growling loudly, and I knew I would be able to finish a whole pizza myself. Good thing we bought three.
The moment we stumbled into their dorm room, we all but ran to the couch to eat. The three pizzas were different kinds, each one of our favorites. We didn’t even waste time to grab some plates or drinks; we just each grabbed a piece and ate. Nothing tasted better than that damn pizza. It tasted like it was made in Italy, that was how hungry I was.
As I got pepperoni and pineapple pizza in my stomach, I started feeling better and slowed down. Both boys were eating their pizzas just as fast as me, which I was thankful for because I did not want to look like a pig. After my third slice, I talked first.
“What kind of pizza did you get again?” I asked Gage, who was happily munching on a slice.
“Barbecue,” he answered around a mouthful of food.
“Hot, Gage, hot.” I shook my head at him. “Can I try a slice?” I asked and when I did, I got sent a look like I had asked him if the sky was blue.
“Ah, no.”
“Why not? Dylan would let me have some of his,” I reasoned, pointing to Dylan, who was unaware of anything but his own pizza.
“Then eat his.” Gage shrugged at me.
“I don’t like ham on my pizza.” I stared at him while he ate, hoping my eyes would do all the talking. “You can have a slice of mine,” I offered.
“No.”
“Have you even tried it before?”
“No and I don’t want to.”
“Then how do you know if you like it or not? You could end up loving it,” I reasoned. Not even waiting for his answer, I leaned over and grabbed a piece of his pizza. Before he could stop me, I leaned back in my seat. He stared at me with his mouth open. I grinned as I took a bite of the barbecue pizza. Gage shook his head at me, reaching for a slice of mine. I could tell he was holding back saying something as he bit angrily into the pizza.
Carter: 2 Gage: 0
I happily ate my slice of Gage’s pizza, looking at him occasionally. After he had taken a few bites of mine, he seemed to enjoy it and I bet he would never admit to that. Next to me Dylan stayed completely silent, eating his whole pizza.
In no time all three of us were leaning back on the couch, completely full and satisfied. I had eaten every slice but one of mine while both boys finished theirs. I couldn’t bring myself to eat the last slice or else I’d puke, so I left it there. I bet in a few minutes either of them would reach for it.
I felt like I just ate an elephant as I lay there holding my stomach. I might have eaten too much, but I did not have a care in the world. Sometime during our eating, Dylan turned on the TV so we were currently watching reruns of SpongeBob SquarePants. It was getting late and I knew I should get home. Since I was finally not hungry, all my aches and pains were slowly intensifying, which meant I should head back and get some medicine.
For some reason, though, I didn’t want to leave. We were only sitting around not saying a word, but I was having a good time. Of course the day didn’t turn out as planned, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have a good day. Sure, I got kind of hurt in the fight, and I was still confused as to why that happened, but I didn’t want to go back to my dorm. It would make it seem like this whole day had been a dream. I did not want the kiss between Gage and I to be just a dream.
Neither of us had said anything about the kiss, and it kind of loomed over us like a cloud. We probably should say something about it, but neither of us knew what to say. The only thing I was really worried about was that Gage would regret the kiss. I did not, and it would be heartbreaking if he did. It had to have been the best kiss of my life.
The episode of SpongeBob ended, and I knew I better go. It was nearing eight o’clock and I was exhausted. I knew the moment I got back home I’d fall on the bed and be out in seconds. I felt like I had been run over multiple times.
“I better get going,” I said when the theme song started with a new episode. Holding back a groan from my body creaking and twanging in pain, I got up. It hurt to move my back, and my hand was once again throbbing. I needed to get some pain medicine soon. Of course I could have asked Gage if he had any, but that made me feel weak in a way. Gage and Dylan weren’t complaining about theirs.
“I’ll walk you back,” Gage said, standing up as well. Inwardly I was cheering, but on the outside, I just nodded.
“Car, I’d like to say I had fun today, but I don’t think any of us did,” Dylan joked as he stood. He pulled me into his arms, and I bit back a yelp at my back. I definitely had a huge bruise there.
“You may be right,” I said, laughing softly as I pulled out of his embrace.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Definitely. Have a good day.” Sending him a smile, I turned and grabbed my other clothes as well as my phone. I still hadn’t changed, but why change now, when I was just going to go straight home anyways? Saying another goodbye to Dylan, I followed Gage out the door.
“I’m sorry today didn’t go as planned,” Gage said suddenly as we exited the building.
“Besides the whole fight thing, and maybe the training, I had fun.”
“Oh, so eating pizza was the best part?” Gage asked, looking over at me with a raised eyebrow.
“What can I say? I love pizza.” I grinned at him widely.
“Girls like you are hard to find.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
“Girls who eat what they want instead of thinking about all the calories. And girls who don’t care about eating in front of a guy. You don’t seem to care that you eat a lot in front of me or Dylan,” he replied.
I wasn’t quite sure if that was a compliment or not. I hoped so; if not, I’d be incredibly embarrassed. I had been told before I should act more “ladylike” around guys, instead of stuffing my face. I didn’t care if I looked like Amanda Bynes in She’s the Man while eating. If the guy I was hanging out with couldn’t handle that, how was he supposed to handle anything else?
To be honest, though, when it was a guy I did really like, I wouldn’t be a barbarian and just stuff my face, but I wasn’t going to just order a salad and call it good, nor was I going to eat something off his plate. You might as well order the hamburger for yourself instead of being hungry the rest of the date.
I almost felt like that was how you knew if it was true love: if the person was comfortable acting like slob around you. One second you could wear sweats and sit around eating junk food, the next going to get dressed up for a night out. Get a girl who could do both.
“I hope in a good way,” I said.
“Definitely in a good way.” He grinned over at me.
While we walked, Gage inched closer to me and I found myself doing the same. I was like a moth drawn to a flame. Our hands brushed every so often against one another, but neither of us made a move to step away. After our hands brushed for the third time, Gage took the plunge and grabbed my left hand in his right, mindful of my aching hand.
His fingers threaded through mine, and I instantly held onto his. His hand was bigger than mine by quite a bit, but it felt natural holding hands with Gage. His palms were a little rough from fighting, but they were so gentle. It was like he was scared he would snap my hand if he held on too tight.
When I squeezed his hand, Gage took that as permission to hold my hand tighter and firmer. It was just like when we were kissing earlier—we fit. We didn’t need to say a word as we walked hand in hand in the direction of my dorm building.
Yes, today was crazy and painful, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Today Gage and I had our first kiss. It wasn’t done in a romantic setting or anything like that, but in many ways, it was perfect. If the fight hadn’t happened, I was not sure we would have kissed, honestly. It was the perfect push both of us needed.
As we walked, I didn’t feel the slight cold breeze because I was wrapped in Gage’s warmth. He was still in a tank top, but he didn’t seem affected by the cold at all. The warmth from his hand and his arm brushing mine made me forget about the cold and just focus on him.
Coming upon my building, I glared at it feeling like the walk was over too soon. Just a few more minutes, I silently pleaded. I didn’t want to let go of Gage’s hand just yet. As we climbed the stairs, I thought about what I should say to him. I didn’t want to just say goodnight and let him leave, but I wasn’t sure if I should kiss him either.
“Here we go.” He interrupted my thoughts. And sadly, we were in front of my door. I stared at it, silently cursing it out even though it had done nothing wrong.
“Thank you for walking me home.” I turned to face him, a soft smile playing on my lips.
“Always.” He looked so damn sexy standing in front of me, his eyes glued to my face. He was thinking about God knows what.
Just kiss him, you idiot. You both want to, my inner voice urged. And for once I didn’t argue with it.
As I was going up on my toes and tilting my head up, Gage brought his head down, our lips colliding. In my mind fireworks were going off once more, and I leaned more into the kiss. I felt like I could kiss him forever.
This kiss was simpler than our last one, and sooner than I would have liked, he pulled away. It was a soft goodnight kiss. Gage kept his hand resting on my cheek as he looked at me. He was staring into my eyes as if he were looking for something. Gage seemed just as dazed as I was from the kiss.
“Have a good night.” He breathed out softly. If I wasn’t worried that Macey would open the door any second, I would have kissed him again, more roughly.
“Text me when you get back home.” As much as I wanted to stay and make out with him, both of us needed to go home and go to bed. He had to be just as tired as I was, if not more so.
“I will.” Gage leaned down one last time to give me a slight, but very sweet, peck on the lips. “Goodnight, Princess.” I could tell he had to physically make himself move away from me, and it made me slightly giddy. At least I wasn’t the only one affected.
“Goodnight, Gage.” Sending me one last breath-taking smile, he headed back toward the stairway to go home. He glanced at me over his shoulder and waved. I put my hand up as he turned and disappeared from my sight.
I leaned against the door for support as I reached up and brushed my fingertips across my lips; they still tingled from his. I felt like I was in a daze as my mind played back our last three kisses. His kisses were amazing, and I just knew I would dream about them all night. Like a little girl, I let out a soft squeal thinking about the two of us.
Yes, this day had turned out pretty great.