Our Broken Pieces - M.E. Clayton Page 0,72

prick, I might have overreacted. Old wounds and all. Once I calmed down, I could admit she might have had a point. Yes, Gage was wrong. But wrong enough that forgiveness wasn’t an option? I wasn’t too sure anymore.

One thing was true, though. I was certain I’d never find another Gage Evans. And, yeah, I survived these past ten years without him, but that’s all it had been; surviving. With the exception of Rowan, I hadn’t formed any real connections in all that time. My life was a shell of existence that had all ended with Gage coming back into it. Could I go back to that again? Do I want to? The knock on my door told me my time was up, and I knew, without even having to open the door, that it was Gage.

After I had turned my phone back on, I had deleted all his voicemails and text messages, knowing they didn’t matter. I knew he was going to show up eventually, and so, whatever we had to say could be said face-to-face, not in text messages.

I took a deep breath as I walked over to the door. I still wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do, but I wasn’t going to ‘vanish’ on Gage again. We both deserved a clean break this time around. No doubt. No ‘what ifs’. Just a clear understanding of forever or the end.

I pulled the door open, and, yep, there he stood, looking just as delicious as always. It really was unfair. How was a girl expected to keep her head rational when all of that was staring her in the face?

He barged past me, but what did I expect? This was Gage we were talking about and the man took; he didn’t ask permission.

I shut the door when he turned to face me, very much like the first time he had come over. “Where in the fuck have you been?”

See?

You’d think he’d be treading lightly or at least pretending to feel some remorse over his behavior earlier, but no. Not Gage.

“I was with Rowan.”

He stalked towards me until he was towering over me. “I didn’t ask who you were with. I asked where you were at,” he snapped.

“Rowan took me to the Lakeside visitor center,” I answered. “I needed space, Gage.”

“Look, I get that I was an asshole earlier, I do. I get that. However, if you ever disappear on me like that again, I will hunt you down and you will regret it when I find you,” he threatened.

I ignored his threat because it foolishly made me feel giddy. I was hurt, humiliated, and confused, but I couldn’t deny that my feminine ego basked in the knowledge that Gage wanted me uncontrollably. I mean, wasn’t that what all women wanted? I man who wanted them above anything and anyone else?

Or, maybe, I was just stupid.

I got right to the point. “That shit was not okay, Gage,” I said, knowing he would know exactly what I was referring to.

He ignored my comment and got back to the topic that was most important to him. “I said, you will never disappear on me ever fucking again, Mystic,” he seethed.

“This is bullshit, Gage!” I yelled. “You do not get to come into my house and start yelling at me like I’m in the wrong here!”

“You are in the wrong!” he yelled back.

My eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

“Why won’t you marry me?!”

Oh, Sweet Jesus.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I didn’t let him answer. Instead, I advanced on him and poked my finger straight into his chest. “Are you telling me today is my fault because I didn’t agree to marry you last week?”

Gage grabbed my offending finger and pulled me to him, his arm coming around me, holding me captive. “Marry me, Mystic,” he commanded, throwing me into further confusion.

I tried to pull away, but his hold was too strong. “Are you seriously asking me to marry you, so you can win this argument?!”

“Yes,” he deadpanned. He finally relented and took a step back. Running his fingers through his hair, he said, “Of course, not, Mystic.”

Christ.

We’d become this ridiculous.

“Gage, today was-”

“Today was bullshit,” he interrupted. “I can admit that. I owe you and David an apology. I can own that, Mystic. But…” He let out soft, sad laugh. “You have no idea what you do to me, Mystic.”

He was wrong.

I knew exactly what I did to him because he did the same thing to me.

We drove each other crazy.

“I’m