From Ashes (From Ashes #1)(29)

I got up and helped him fold up the blanket. “I thought I’d seen the whole ranch.”

“Not even close, you’ve only seen about half. Where I want to take you, though, it isn’t too far from the house, but it’s really secluded.”

My stomach heated and I was suddenly extremely anxious to get to wherever he was talking about. Leaning into his side when he wrapped an arm around me, I smiled and let him lead me back to his horse. The ride back to the house was quiet, like last night, but it was nowhere near the same. He played with my hands, teased my neck with his lips, and made sure Bear took his sweet time going back. I was nervous when we came across Gage’s dad, but he took one look at us, smiled wide, and told us to enjoy our day together.

“I need to take care of Bear. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

“Okay, I’m going to take a shower, but I’ll try to hurry.” I turned but he grabbed my hand and swung me back into his chest, kissing me deeply.

“See you soon.”

My head felt light and my stomach fluttered as I quickly made my way up to Amanda’s room to grab a change of clothes and rush through my shower. I couldn’t wait to get back to him. For almost a year now he had consumed my every thought, and I believed I’d never be able to have him. It felt like it was too good to be true now that I did, or at least, I thought I did. I didn’t know if this would change when I went back to Austin today, or when he came back in August. I shook my head to clear those thoughts. Gage wouldn’t just drop me like that; even when I thought I was only his friend, he cared too much to treat me that way.

A startled yelp escaped from my chest when I bounced back into Amanda’s room; she was gone and Ty was sitting on my bed. “Tyler! You scared the crap out of me!” I got a closer look and rushed over to him. “What’s wrong, Ty?”

“Where were you this morning?”

I bit my lip and looked away. “I was with Gage.”

“Cassi,” he groaned, and flopped back onto the sofa bed, “why are you doing this? He’s only going to hurt you.”

“No, he won’t.”

“Do you not remember anything he’s said about you since we moved in?”

How could I forget? He didn’t want me living there, I needed to stop asking him to take me to work, I was like a sister to him, I was ruining his relationships with other girls by being in the apartment. “Maybe he changed his mind,” I said softly.

Tyler shook his head and hugged me to his side. “If he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

“He won’t.”

“Whatever you say, Cassi. I know I’ve stopped you from being in relationships before, but I won’t anymore. If he’s who you want, then you should be with him. But you’re still my girl; you always will be.”

“I love you, Ty. If it eases your mind, no one will ever replace you.”

He smirked at me. “Duh.”

I laughed and smacked his chest. “I feel bad for my future husband. He’s going to have to share me with you.”

“How about we just marry each other, save everyone the heartache?” he teased, and squeezed me closer.

“You’re so dumb. All right, I gotta go do my hair really quick. He’s taking me around the ranch today. I’ll be back before we leave. Did your parents still want to leave tonight?” I dragged the last few words out.

“Probably earlier in the afternoon . . . am I missing something?”

I scrunched my face as I peeked at him from under my eyelashes. “I don’t want to leave; I want to stay here with Gage until he moves back. But I don’t know if he’d be okay with that. I don’t know if he’d want me here for the next few weeks.”

Tyler’s face fell, but he kissed my forehead and got off the bed. “Talk to him about it before you leave this morning; that way if you both decide you want to stay, my parents and I can leave earlier and you won’t have to cut your day short.”

“Hey.” I reached for his hand and spoke softly. “Thanks, Ty.”

“I love you. Be careful with this, Cassi.”

I nodded and watched him walk out the door. Was he really that worried about me getting my heart broken? He looked so sad I almost told him I wouldn’t stay on the ranch and would go back to Austin with them today. Almost.

GAGE

MY HEART PICKED up when I heard someone come down the stairs, but it went back to normal when I realized just how loud it was, right before Tyler rounded the corner. A huge shit-eating grin was on his face. “What’s got you in such a good mood? You that happy to be leaving today?” My stomach clenched; I really didn’t want Cassidy going back.

He raised an eyebrow at me and grabbed a mug. “If your girl woke you up by blowing you, you’d be happy too.”

I choked on my coffee and had to wait a minute before I could speak again. “Excuse me?”

“What?”

“What did you just say?”

His brow furrowed and he looked at me, confused, then his face relaxed and he smiled behind his mug. “Oh, about Cassi? I swear, the things that girl can do with her mouth.”

I slammed my mug onto the table and the chair tipped over from how fast I stood up.

“Whoa, Gage, what’s your deal? The cows will still be there if you’re late.”