Destiny Gift (The Everlast Trilogy) - By Juliana Haygert Page 0,63
and propped it open. Victor sloped against the doorframe, his face white and his breathing irregular.
“Oh God, what is it?” I reached to him, passing my arm around his waist and helping him in.
“Pain,” he whispered between gritted teeth. I helped him sit on the bed.
Micah stood before the window, still shirtless, fuming and pacing, not looking back.
“Did I interrupt something?” Victor raised his eyebrows, glancing from Micah to me.
“No,” I exclaimed, hoping I wasn’t blushing.
Victor extended his hand to me. “Please, could you help me?”
Without answering, I took his hand in mine and almost fell on my knees when the warmth took over me, sending strong feelings to my core. God, he was so weak!
In the depths of healing, I heard Micah murmur, “I’m gonna take a walk.”
Victor ended up taking more of my energy than I realized. After, I plopped down on the bed beside him, sleepy.
“Thank you,” he whispered, glancing sideways at me. “Does it hurt you?”
“No.” At least, I didn’t feel anything. “I’m just a little tired.”
He looked around. “Where’s Micah?”
“I think he left.” I stood up and walked to the window. A minute ago, I had been in Micah’s arms, ready to kiss him. A shiver ran up my spine. God, Micah was impossibly hot and dangerously sexy. If only my heart didn’t belong to Victor—the Victor from my visions. I glanced at the guy before me, wishing he was the one he would never be.
After a few tense moments, he spoke, “Tell me more about your visions.” His voice was low and unsure. “About me in your visions.”
I leaned against the cold glass window. “Why do you want to know?”
“I was wondering how different your Victor is from me.” He glanced up at me, his sea-green gaze sweeping into my soul. “Was he a good friend? Or more?”
“Well, I’m not certain.” I wanted to hold his stare, even if it made me dizzy and confused. How could I talk about him to him? “We were best friends, companions, buddies. And we also acted like boyfriend and girlfriend, most of the time. I mean, we were jealous of each other’s past. I burned inside the few times we talked about your former girlfriends.” I saw his lips twitching as if they wanted to curl up in a smile, but it never came. “We kissed a little, but we never made out. So, I’m guessing we weren’t more, like you asked.”
“Do you like him?” he asked. When I frowned, he rephrased, “Do you love him?” I averted my gaze and didn’t answer, but I guess my silence was the answer. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
I glanced back at him. “For what?”
“For not being the one you wanted me to be. It would have been nice to be the one you hoped for. It would be nice to have a friend again, to have someone to care about.”
What to say to that? I compelled myself to be still and keep my mouth shut.
Unfortunately, unlike Micah and my dream Victor, he didn’t seem one bit into me. I wouldn’t be the one falling on my knees and begging for his love. With his stoic and reserved personality, that would make me look like a clown, or worse, desperate. All I needed was to run to him and cry on his lap. That would be fantastic.
I glanced at the alarm clock beside him. “It’s getting late,” I said, willing my voice to sound firm and strong.
“Yeah, right.” He stood and walked to the door, where he paused and looked back at me. He had to make my pulse race even more? How unfair. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Once he was gone, I threw myself on one of the beds, hugged the pillow, and forced myself to think about ponies and cute puppies so I wouldn’t cry.
God, these three men—two real and one fictitious—would kill me.
Chapter Twenty Two
The air inside Victor’s car was heavy and tense when we got on the road again the next day. A few times, Morgan tried to initiate a light conversation, but none of us gave him much attention. We only stopped twice for gas and to stock up on food we could eat in the car since our plan was to arrive in Wichita later that evening. We’d meet Brock, the other priest, then sleep a little and head to Cathedral Rock the next morning.
During each stop, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. We saw sinister figures, everyone scared and wary, poverty and