Page 13 of Follow Me to Your Heart

Cage peered over at me with low, apologetic eyes.

He didn’t need to speak for me to know he had to leave.

I cuddled Nema closer to me, rolled my eyes, and headed toward his car.

Our night was ruined before it could even get started.

I got in the car and slammed the door, trying my hardest not to allow the tears to cascade down my cheeks, but it was inevitable.

My body grew hot to the point it felt like fire ants were biting me.

My leg bounced, putting Nema straight to sleep.

While I waited for Cage to finish his conversation as he slowly treaded toward the car, I typed up a text to let Taylor know my night was a no-go.

She would drop everything and leave Keith hanging, and I didn’t want her to do that.

I didn’t want her to ruin her night because of mine, so I deleted the text and closed my eyes.

The car door opened. Cage’s presence overwhelmed me. He released an irritated sigh and called my name. I ignored him each time he did until he reached over, tugged my chin, and forced my face toward his. The petty part of me kept my eyes closed.

“Stop playing with me, Korren. Look at me so we can talk about this. I’m not about to have a one-sided conversation when we both need to be heard.” His finger trailed down my cheek, wiping the freshly dropped tear away.

A shaky exhale parted my lips. As badly as I wanted to continue being petty, the softness in Cage’s tone had me fluttering my eyes open.

For a moment, we sat there, gazing at one another.

It was something that seemed to be happening more often.

The tension that started thicker than a bowl of oatmeal thinned to almost nothing.

“I love you, KoKo.”

“I know you do, bu?—”

“Nah.” Cage interrupted, never taking his eyes off mine. “I love you.”

Before I could respond or even had time to process his words, Cage sealed them with a kiss.

A kiss that took my breath away.

A kiss that I’d longed for.

A kiss that assured me the feelings I’d felt weren’t one-sided.

My hand met Cage’s face, fingers gliding through his beard as our tongues intertwined. The rush I felt must’ve been like what people felt on hard drugs. A euphoric high like no other. Goosebumps pebbled my skin, and I never wanted the feeling to go away.

Nema whimpering caused Cage and I to break free from one another.

Cage rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip with low, hazy eyes I couldn’t break mine away from.

There was a gleam in them I’d seen before but never as strongly as I did then.

It was as if he’d been waiting for that moment to allow it to fully emerge.

“How long?” I asked with no context, and Cage didn’t need any. He read in between the lines.

“A little over a year now. Maybe longer, but I truly realized it last year.”

“And why are you just now telling me?”

“Because of the way you’re acting now.”

I winced and rubbed my neck at the jolt of pain shooting through it as I jerked it back. My brows met in the middle, and I questioned, “What do you mean?”

“Do you love me like I love you, KoKo?”

“How do you love me, Cage?”

“Beyond this friend shit. Don’t get me wrong. Our friendship means more to me than anything, but the way I feel about you is almost unexplainable. You know me. My actions speak louder than my words. Just know it’s been hard as hell to keep my feelings to myself.”

I leaned over and kissed him again. “I love you like I’ve never loved anyone in my life, Cage. I’ve loved you for some time now, so much so that I was willing to slowly break my own heart by keeping it a secret.”

“Why?”

“Because I never want to lose you. I’d rather keep hold of you in any way I can.

It would break my heart to see you love another girl when I’ve yearned for that type of love from you.

To have it openly with no gray area. You give it to me, but I felt one day I’d need to share that love with someone who doesn’t understand what it’s like to be fearful of losing you in anyway. Does that make sense?”

“It does. It makes all the sense in the world. Do you know how it felt watching you be with Marquis? Especially knowing he wasn’t treating you right.

Shit had me messed up, but I felt the same as you did.

I’d rather watch someone else love you than knowing there’s a possibility I could lose you if I poured my heart out to you. ”

“Where do we go from here, Cage?”

“Wherever you want to go, KoKo. Honestly, I don’t think much will change except for us openly expressing the feelings we’ve been hiding. Other than that, we keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

I sat back with a hiked brow. “Now, you know I don’t agree with everything you’ve been doing. Not everything needs to stay the same.”

“And it won’t. You know the last thing I will ever do is intentionally hurt you. If we’re taking us further, then you already know what’s up.”

Leave it to Red to call and interrupt us again.

I wasn’t even upset with it. What I thought would take a turn for the worse ended up taking one for the better.

Cage and I were on the same page about our feelings, something I thought I could only dream about.

While it was still a scary feeling, I was embracing it with open arms, anxious to see how things would play out.