She reaches up and runs her fingers through my hair, slow and gentle, brushing back the strands that have fallen into my eyes.The sensation sends a shiver down my spine.It's so simple, so tender.She touches me as if I'm something precious, something fragile that needs care.
Her fingers linger at the nape of my neck, while her thumb brushes against the edge of my jaw.My eyes fall closed as I lean into the touch, letting her ground me with something as small as this.Her presence wraps around me like warmth after a long, bitter cold.
"I've got you," she whispers."No matter what."
A lump forms in my throat.I can't speak.I just hold on tighter.
Then I whisper it.
"I chose you," I say, the words slipping out before I can stop them.
She stiffens.
Her breath catches, and I feel it against my neck.One beat.Two.Then she pulls back just enough to look me in the eye.
Her lips part.
But she doesn't say a word.
Chapter 32
Skye
Imusthavemisheardhim.
There's no way he just said that.
No one chooses me.
Not my dad.Not the friends I had back in high school, who slowly faded after I stopped showing up to their birthday parties and sleepovers because I took a job to help with bills and had to help Mom after her night shifts.Not even the string of people I called friends in college.
Gemma and Summer?They were the first to stick.But even they moved on, Gemma with Carter, Summer with Knox.Not that I blame them.I'm happy for them, I am.But part of me always expected that eventually I'd be left behind.
Even Mom.I know it wasn't really a choice when she died, but it still hurts, and still feels like abandonment.It doesn't make sense, but it does.
And now Gage is standing here, looking me in the eye like I'm the thing he'd choose over everything else.Like I'm worth it.
I try to step back, but he doesn't let me go.I have words forming on my lips before I even know what I'm going to say.His hands stay firm around my waist, grounding me when I'm not sure where the floor is anymore.
"What did you just say?"My voice is small, like it belongs to someone else.
His expression doesn't shift.If anything, it gets more intense.
"I turned in my resignation earlier tonight.As of today, I am no longer your teacher."
My stomach drops.
"You… what?"
"I quit, Skye."
I stumble back again, and this time he lets me go.My back hits the edge of his kitchen table.It's like the words echo through the space, shaking everything loose inside me.
"But...you love teaching," I whisper.
He nods once, solemnly."I do."
A wave of panic hits me, rising up from my chest to the back of my throat.The idea of Gage walking away from something he's so good at, something that gave him purpose, doesn't feel right.It feels like the sky coming unhinged.
