I will let them have tonight; then he has to go.
We never hearda sound from Les all night long.
Gage went into her room after midnight and had them get into bed. I had to fight every instinct not to fight him on it. I checked on her every hour out of habit; she was always draped over his chest with his arms wrapped around her. Gage said she never even woke up when he carried her to bed.
Not one noise, scream, or cry came from her all night. It’s almost ten a.m., and she still isn’t awake, meaning she just slept for nearly twenty-four hours. I’m glad she got to sleep; she needs it. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to rip his goddamn hands off, though.
Gage slides into a chair in front of me at the dining room table where I’ve been sitting, sipping coffee and aimlessly scrolling through my phone. At one point, I thought I would have to glue my ass to the chair so I didn’t kick Zane out.
“What’s up?” Gage asks.
I look up slowly. “What’s up? Seriously?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t know what else to say. What did you want me to say? Hey Ryder, you still pissed your girl is in Zane’s arms right now?”
I narrow my eyes. “Why do you want to die so fucking early in the day?”
He grins. “If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me last night.”
I sit my coffee cup down. “How are you okay with this?” The rest of them seem to be taking this in stride while I’ve been silently seething all night long.
“I’m not,” he admits, “But I’ve been reading about this. They’re trauma bonded or some shit.”
Is Gage doing research? The only thing I’ve ever seen him read is Les’ smutty books.
“Trauma bonded?” I repeat.
“Yeah,” he says animatedly, some of the old Gage showing through. “It’s when two people go through something bad together and come out with a bond. It’s why Les needed Zane to sleep, and Zane was a drunken, disgusting fucking mess. They already have a history with each other, so it just brought them closer.”
“I repeat, how the fuck can you be okay with this?” I ask, waving my hand upstairs.
“I repeat. I’m not,” Gage says and stands up. “I’m just smart enough to figure out that if we don’t let this happen, Les will be gone from us forever.”
He strides out of the room, leaving me staring at where he disappeared. Even through my bullshit, I can see Gage seems different today. He didn’t have that kicked puppy look, and he smiled. I feel it has nothing to do with saving Zane from himself and everything to do with finally giving Leo some slack.
I give up trying to distract myself with my phone and decide to work out. I run through the paces I usually do until I have sweat pouring down my face, my muscles screaming in protest. I shower in the gym bathroom when I’m finally done punishing myself, get dressed, and check the time on my phone. I’ve been at it for two hours, and my mind still doesn’t feel any clearer.
When I make it to the kitchen, Les sits at the island with Gage and Leo on each side of her, nursing a cup of coffee. Zane is nowhere to be found. I don’t think he’s brave enough to show his face anywhere else in the house.
She turns when she hears me, and her face lights up with the first genuine smile I’ve seen from her. Her eyes are bright, less haunted. She looks…happy. Happy to see me.
Fuck.
I swallow my feelings. “Hey,Il mio sole,” I greet, kissing her lips.
“Hey,” she says softly. I walk around to the other side and lean against the counter in front of them.
“We were just trying to figure out what we wanted for lunch,” Leo says, warning me with his eyes to keep my mouth shut.
“I want Dolly’s,” Les answers. “I’m starving,” she groans.
I know the shock shows on my face when Leo narrows his eyes again. Les has barely eaten a thing and threw it back up when she did. I fix my face. “Dolly’s it is, then.”
She shows Gage what she wants to order before saying she’s going to shower. As soon as she’s out of the room, I ask the one question burning through my head. “Where is he?”
“Dex and Holden took him home,” Gage answers without looking up from his phone. When he doesn’t continue, I look at Leo.
“She didn’t say anything,” Leo answers without me even asking the question. I need to know what she thinks about all this. I need to know I’m not tying myself in knots over this for nothing. Something already tells me she wants this, though, without the words having to leave her mouth. “She looks good, man,” Leo says softly. “And we know why.”
