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The kind that trusts you to come back when you’re ready.
Gage didn’t just give me space. He held it.
Without pressure. Without punishment. Without making it about him.
He didn’t chase or demand or try to fix the silence.
He just stood there steady, present, waiting.
And I don’t think I’ve ever been loved like that before.
Not with that kind of patience.
Not with that kind of faith.
And tonight, my brothers and Marin might just get what they’ve been hounding me for.
Tonight, I’m going to show Gage Black he was never waiting in vain.
“Oh my god, Amelia,”Kristen says when she spots me walking into the backstage area of the gala she’s hosting. “You came! You actually came.”
I smile and accept her arms that she throws around me. Kristen’s not generally a big hugger, but I’m picking up on herpanic that I wouldn’t show tonight. Which, fair. I went from a friend who refused point blank to get up on her stage months ago, and then last week, begged for the chance to get up there.
Her eyes light up as she pulls out of our embrace. “I swear I haven’t told Gage you’re coming tonight. Just like you asked.” She bites her lip. “But I may have told Bradford, who may have accidentally let it slip to Hayden. And Maddie may have stolen my phone and saw our texts, and she may have told Liv.”
I laugh. “So basically, the entire Black family knows I’m here.”
“Except for Gage.” The look on her face screamssee I am a good girl.
“Okay,” she says, switching into gala planner mode. “We need you over here.” She gestures to where she wants me. “Bron is going to get you prepped.”
I cast a glance in the direction she motioned and smile at Bron. Then, I turn back to Kristen. “Thank you for letting me do this.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Honestly, on a scale of one to ten, where are you at with those ‘my soul will exit the building and I wanna vomit’ vibes right now?”
“If ten is the highest, I’m there.” I smile, remembering the reason I’m willing to see if I dissolve into particles on the stage tonight. “But I’m exactly where I should be.”
“Good talk. Don’t die. It’ll cause me a headache of epic proportions if I have to deal with a death tonight.”
With that, she’s off and taking care of other things, and I’m heading over to see Bron.
Once Bron tells me everything I need to know, I wait.
And try not to pass out.
Because I’m nervous. Not the panic kind. The holy-shit-I’m-about-to-propose kind.
My hands are steady, but my heart is chaos. A little fear. A lot of hope. The wild, fizzy energy that comes with knowing exactly what you want and being brave enough to say it out loud.
This isn’t performance adrenalin. It’s not stage fright.
It’s the feeling you get when you’re about to hand your whole heart back to the man who never dropped it.
The night unfolds around me in a glittery blur. Dresses and speeches and applause. I stay behind the scenes, tucked away in a quiet corner near the stage entrance, listening. Waiting.
Every time Kristen walks past me, she squeezes my hand. And when we reach the end of the night and it’s my turn to close the gala, she takes the mic to introduce me. All I can hope is that Gage didn’t grow bored and leave early. But something tells me, his entire family have made sure he hasn’t left.
Kristen’s voice carries clear and bright, like she’s been waiting all night to say these words. “We have one last surprise to end the evening. A performance by someone very dear to me. She’s brilliant. She’s brave. And she’s here for something very special. Please welcome, Amelia Sinclair.”