Page 55 of All Your Lies

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, muchto 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.