Page 22 of All Your Lies (All or Nothing #2)

“It’s not safe to be out and about. Besides, I’m happy just having you girls to hang with tonight,” Rosie says.

“My date is early enough that I should be back no later than nine.”

Jenna snickers. “Brad, the bore, chose the early date? What? Past his bedtime?”

“No, I chose it so we could have girl time. He’s been asking me out for weeks, and I always decline, but after earlier, I said fuck it. My temper was through the roof, and I had vengeful thoughts. I texted Brad, and he said he was free tonight,” I say with a shrug.

“So he’s kind of like a rebound,” Jenna mutters.

“There’s nothing to rebound from,” I say, grabbing my bag.

We arrive at the upscale steak restaurant about twenty minutes later.

Brad looks decent in his khaki slacks and button-down shirt.

His blond hair is combed over to one side, and a pleasant smile sits on his lips.

He takes my hand as he ushers me from his car, which happens to be a Prius— a detail that had Jenna snorting in laughter as he picked me up.

His hand is a little clammy, which makes me grimace.

A small irritating voice in my head reminds me that Gage’s hand wouldn’t be clammy.

If anything, it would only be strong, warm, and commanding.

I roll my eyes and try to banish any thought of him away.

This is about retaliation and showing Gage I won’t give in as easily as he wants.

This isn’t about comparing the two men. So I decide to give Brad the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe he’s just nervous. But the promise to not compare lasts about two seconds.

As we walk to the table, he holds the small of my back, and it feels all wrong.

I’ve never cheated, but the guilt consuming me mirrors my conception of a cheater’s remorse. I could kill Gage for making me feel this way even though I’m not even with him. Yet. Technically.

My phone rings with a notification. I apologize and check it just in case it’s Rosie or Jenna.

The Liar

Why the fuck are you on a date with the stiff?

The Liar

You’re testing my fucking patience.

My eyes scan the restaurant briefly before I type out my reply.

Alexa

Last I checked, you weren’t my daddy or my man. Run along while I enjoy my date.

I can’t help but smirk. He needs to experience a hint of the pain I felt when he lied to me. Maybe I’m being petty, but what did he expect? Me to jump into his arms once I found out? If so, he’s not only delusional but insane.

The Liar

You didn’t seem to mind when you were cumming on my fingers and tongue. Leave the table and come outside.

Alexa

I didn’t know it was you when I came. So your point is pointless.

“Is everything okay?” Brad asks from the other side of the table.

Shit. I forgot where I was. Gage has a way of doing that to me.

I glance up at Brad as he gazes at me from above his menu. “Yeah, it’s just my friend. Everything’s good.”

“Do you know what you want?”

“Umm...” I browse the menu and find the first thing my eyes see. “I’ll just get the steak and potato puree.”

“You wouldn’t rather get something lighter?”

That has me looking up at him. I must have heard him wrong.

“Lighter? Like what?” I say ten seconds from getting pissed.

He shrugs. “Most girls would get a salad or soup.”

I quirk a brow. “Well, this girl enjoys food.”

Brad clears his throat before glancing back at the menu, clearly annoyed. The nerve of this fucking guy for berating my food choice. This is shaping up to be a shitty night, but I must commit to teach Gage a lesson.

My phone beeps again while Brad orders.

The Liar

Pointless, huh? Stop with the games and come outside.

Alexa

No, I don’t think I will. Fuck off, Gage.

The Liar

Okay

My smile vanishes. Okay?

It’s never that easy with him. I scan the room again as if he’ll materialize at another table or the bar. Nothing greets me. I shrug it off as I glance across the table at my date.

This was a huge mistake. I should be at home with my best friends. I pick up my phone and text a message to our girls’ group chat to save me when I hear a grunt and direct my attention upward.

Brad scrunches his nose, and I almost let him have it for looking at me with disgust when I smell it, too. Something’s burning.

A loud alarm cuts through the air, accompanied by a bright flashing white light, leaving everyone confused and searching for its source.

We’re ushered outside by staff as I see a huge black cloud of smoke billow from the kitchen area.

I can’t help but experience a little relief at the abrupt end of this disastrous date until I see Gage casually leaning against Brad’s car. His legs and arms crossed, making his dark suit mold to his body in all the right places.

He looks like trouble. Someone poor Brad couldn’t hold a candle to.

There are leagues, and there are planets, and Gage is on a different planet than Brad.

With a predatory focus, Gage assesses my date like a spider examining a fly caught in its web. A smirk curves his lips, much to my distaste. He’s not worried in the least, which makes this night pointless.

“Gage, what are you doing here?”

“About to make s’mores. Heard they were having an unfortunate fire in the kitchen.”

My eyes widen at the thought of him having something to do with the evacuation. He wouldn’t intentionally start a fire to end my date, would he? I scan the mischievous grin on his face.

Yes, yes, he would.

“Do you know this guy?” Brad, oblivious to the looming danger of Gage, asks at my side.

“He’s an old friend of my family,” I mutter to piss Gage off.

Gage’s eyes heat, and I know I’ve hit my mark. “Actually, she’s going to be my wife.”

“Not on your life.”

“We’ll see about that.” Gage steers his eyes to Brad as he steps away from the car. “You can run along now. She’ll be coming with me.”

“No,” Brad says abruptly. “She doesn’t seem like she wants to, and we haven’t finished our date.”

Gage raises an eyebrow before chuckling under his breath. He takes the two remaining steps until he’s in Brad’s face. To Brad’s credit, he barely flinches.

I hold my breath, as a strange combination of uncertainty and apprehension churn in my stomach. I have yet to encounter this side of Gage, and I don’t know how to navigate it.

“You see, that’s where you’re wrong,” Gage looks down at me, licking his bottom lip before trapping it between his teeth and then releasing it. “She chose that tight-as-fuck dress with me in mind. She knew it would be me ripping it off later,” he says without breaking eye contact with me.

My body is on fire. Gage knows what his words do to me. Even though I don’t want it to, it pulls me into his devious web.

The air buzzes with a palpable tension as our eyes lock, a silent struggle between us, but poor Brad, stuck in the middle, serves as an unintentional buffer, making our awkward silence even more strained.

“Fine. You can have the whore,” Brad retorts.

His words make me cringe, more for his sake than my feelings. He’s unaware of our world or who he’s challenging.

Gage’s head snaps to Brad. “What the fuck did you just say?”

The air around us shifts a few degrees lower as Gage’s mood takes a nosedive.

Realizing his error, Brad backpedals, trying to correct his words.

In the next second, Gage’s grip tightens around Brad’s throat, suffocating the air from his lungs.

Brad’s face contorts into a horrifying mix of red and blue.

Brad might deserve an ass kicking for his rude comment, but he doesn’t deserve to die.

I grab Gage’s arm, feeling the cords of muscle and raw rage burning through him. “Gage, stop, it’s not worth it.”

“Fuck that. No one speaks to you like that.”

“Please!” I plead, surveying my surroundings, but the parking lot is deserted as the fire is on the other side of the building.

My anxiety grows as he continues to choke him. I don’t want Gage to leave again for something like this.

I don’t want him to leave me.

The thought sobers me.

I position myself between the two of them and meet a ticking jaw and a furious pair of eyes staring back at me. “Please, Gage,” I whisper, my words barely audible as I nuzzle my face against his chest and cling to his waist.

A loud thump echoes in the air, followed by Gage’s arms wrapping around me. The thump must have been Brad. Hopefully, he’s not dead.

We stand there, wrapped in each other’s embrace until Brad’s engine breaks the silence and fades into the distance.

Once the coast is clear, I glance up at Gage, irritated as hell. “Looks like I won’t be going back to that job.”

He takes hold of my hand and pulls me in what I’m assuming to be the direction of his car.

“First of all, fuck that piece of shit. Second, your job is by my side.”

“No,” I say as I pause in front of his blacked-out Mercedes.

Gage heaves out a sigh. “No, what?”

“No, to whatever idea you have of us. I’ll run my dad’s business, but I won’t be doing it with you.”

“You will, as my wife.”

“No.”

With a gleam in his eye, he corners me, his gaze intense and unwavering. His wall of a body presses me against the side of his car, sending a chilling sensation through my body.

Retrieving the necklace from between my breasts, he spins the chain with a mischievous smile.

“The date of our wedding,” he says with a smug grin.

“You gave this to me way before I agreed to marry you,” I say, looking at the date inscribed for a couple of weeks from now.

“Because I knew it would happen. Just accept it. Accept us.” His eyes, filled with desperation, plead with me to accept our marriage and him, but I still have my doubts.

When I say nothing, Gage’s hands snake around my neck and squeeze as his eyes bore into me. “There will never be anyone besides me. Accept that shit.”

His lips, warm and insistent, crush against mine.

A better woman would have pushed him away, but I’m not a better woman.

I rest my hands against his muscular chest as I surrender to his tongue dancing against mine. As our kiss grows more urgent, his hands release my neck and find their way into my hair, where they grip the strands roughly.

A gentle moan escapes my lips as his knee presses against the sensitive space between my thighs. “That’s it, baby. Let me give you what you need.”

A dizzying, fluttering swarm of butterflies erupts within me as the weight of reality hits. This is the first time I feel Gage kissing me. Not the mystery man he was. Just Gage. And it feels phenomenal.

It makes every touch of his body against mine more intense.

“Well, Rosie, I guess she’s safe from the fire we were so worried about. Or is she?” Jenna says from somewhere close.

My eyes spring open, and I attempt to push Gage away.

“Fuck off, you two. This only concerns her and me, and we aren’t done yet,” Gage says, gazing down at me.

“This is done,” I say while trying to push him away.

“The fuck it is,” Gage says as he goes in for another kiss.

“Give her to us, Romeo. We have festivities to attend to for your sister,” Jenna says.

He must weigh her words because his face dips, and he pecks my lips before leaning in further. His soft lips rest against the shell of my ear. “This, us, will never be done.”

Then, he pushes off the car, walks around to the driver’s side, and leaves without saying another word while I stand here disoriented, confused, and hot as hell.

“How was your date?” Rosie teases.

“Yeah, where’s good old Brian, or was it Brett?” Jenna asks.

“You,” I say, pointing at Rosie, “are clearly spending too much time with her.” I point at Jenna.

“I may have indulged in a few too many shots,” Rosie laughs, a bubbly, slightly uncontrolled sound, followed by a hiccup.

I regard them as a girl runs up beside Rosie. Then I squint.

“Are you all in Batman pajamas?”

“We came to save you, Robyn.” Jenna grins.

Then they all laugh as if her words are the funniest thing they’ve ever heard.

“How did you guys know to come get me?”

“You sent us a message in the group chat with the letters H-E-L. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it meant help,” Jenna says.

The group chat. I’ve never been more grateful. Who knows what I’d be doing with Gage right now if they hadn’t come to save me.

I extend my arm out to Jenna. “Give me the car keys, psycho.”

“I drove, and I haven’t been drinking.”

“And you are?” I say, observing the girl next to Rosie with auburn hair and a sweet smile in the same Batman attire.

“Jess, Rosie’s friend.”

“Welcome to the shit show, Jess,” I say with a smile as we walk back to the car.

“Hey Jenna, do you have more wine and Batman pajamas?”

“I got you.”