From Ashes (From Ashes #1)(34)
“Go where?”
“Well, if you’re leaving my bed, I’m not about to let you sleep on a bare mattress in a bare room. Let’s go get whatever you want.”
“Really, Ty?” I smiled at him; this was my Tyler. “You’re not gonna be mad at me?”
Pulling me off the bed, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my nose. “I couldn’t be mad at you if I tried.”
“DO YOU LIKE it?” Tyler asked hours later.
We’d made a trip to a few stores, and for the first time since I was six, I had a room and bathroom that were completely and utterly me. From the curtains and bedding to the lamps, throw rugs, and towels, all of it was warm, designed to be an escape, and would be perfect for curling up in and getting lost in books. “I love it.”
“I’m not going to lie, I’m gonna hate not sharing a room with you, but you did good. This screams Cassi.”
“I was just thinking that.” I sighed into his arms and let my head fall back to his chest. Now that we were dating . . . I guess . . . it was weird going from being so comfortable with Ty to having all our touches mean something. With the exception of actually kissing, every little thing we’d always done made it look like Tyler and I were already together. I hadn’t noticed it until tonight, and when I did, I couldn’t help but think about Gage and what he must have thought while we lived together. If he had ever wanted me, I was now understanding why it took him so long to act on it. I sucked in a quick breath and bit on the inside of my cheeks at the realization that Ty and I could have been a reason that nothing ever happened with Gage.
Tyler slowly rubbed my arms and kissed my neck. “I’m sorry you’re still hurting. I know I’m not him, but I’ll try to make it better.”
Of course Tyler knew what I was thinking without my telling him. I turned in his arms and let my hands glide through his hair. “You do. You always do, Ty. I don’t know how you haven’t noticed that you’re the one person in my life who it would kill me to lose. You’ve made my entire life better, you’ve always taken care of me and put me before yourself.” Now it’s my turn. I brought his face down to mine and kissed him slow and hard.
GAGE
I DIDN’T KNOW what was easier, living with them and stomaching her walking out of his room every morning, or not living with them and not seeing them together. But of course, with the latter, I hadn’t seen her at all. It was the first of November . . . meaning I hadn’t seen her in three months. Three slow, torturous months. I still saw Tyler every Saturday morning, but for some reason he’d stopped mentioning her and stopped throwing their awkward relationship in my face every five seconds about a month and a half ago. It killed me not knowing how she was, and I hated missing her birthday, but I didn’t know how I would handle seeing her.
Last Saturday, Ty had asked me to start coming back to dinners, at least when all the guys came over, and I was seriously considering it so I could get my Cassidy fix, but there was something I had to do first. I had to see her without Tyler around, and since I had no idea what his schedule was like this semester, I was now driving up to Starbucks and hoping she would still be there.
I parked and walked around the side to the front doors; opening them, I swear to God my heart stopped right then. She was there, and she was more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. She was busy at the bar, so I ordered my drink without giving my name and, like the creep I was, stayed off to the side so I could watch her for a few minutes. Her long brown hair was pulled back, and her honey eyes were wide and bright as she smiled at something a coworker said. God, that smile. I would do anything to make her smile again. When her arm stretched out to pass a drink to a customer, I saw something on the inside of her forearm, but she moved too quickly for me to get a good enough look.
Sooner than I’d wanted, she was calling out my drink order and I had to take a deep breath in before walking over there.
“Thank you!” she said brightly, flashing me a quick glance before turning back to the bar. Sucking in a startled gasp, she looked back up, her eyes wide, mouth slightly open. “Gage,” she whispered softly.
“Hey, darlin’.”
Her cheeks went red as she continued to stare at me.
“Are you off soon?”
She glanced down to the inside of her wrist. I smiled at her too-large watch that always slid over. “Um . . . te-ten minutes.”
My eyes went wide as I got a good look at her forearm. I had no doubt what that was. She had a tattoo. A cluster of stars. Ursa Major. I thought back to that night by the creek, we’d been talking about constellations, and she’d pointed it out first, telling me it had always been her favorite one. I remembered adding that to the list of reasons why she was amazing, since that constellation was the reason I’d named my horse Bear. I’d told her as much and she’d given me a soft smile and reached over to brush her hand against my arm. I’d have been damn stupid to think she’d gotten that because of that night, but I wanted to know if she thought about it at all when she looked at her arm.
I looked over to the cups that were lining up next to her and grabbed my drink. “All right.” I wanted to tell her I’d wait for her, but I didn’t know if she’d even want to talk to me. She’d broken my heart, but I’d been coldhearted and a straight coward when it came to her. So I just turned around and went to sit at one of the big chairs in the corner.