Page 15 of Blade
In that moment I hated myself more than I ever had.
“WakeUp”—ThreeDaysGrace
When I closed the door, the dam on my tears opened. Rushing down the porch steps, I almost fell. Through a blurry landscape, I stumbled as I tried to orient myself. I was surrounded by the small cabins that I remember cutting through to get to Sage’s house.
At a brisk walk, I passed each one searching for the gravel path that cut through and went back to Sage and Raptor’s.
Two more cabins and I found it.
“I can’t believe I was so stupid,” I muttered to myself as I sniffled. Though Sage had warned me, when Blade acted like he had, it hurt. It made me question whether I was doing the right thing or not.
“You’re not stupid,” I heard behind me, and I shrieked and spun around.
My heart was slamming against my ribcage, and I slapped my palm to it as if I could slow it down. “You scared the shit out of me,” I gasped out.
The man sat on the porch of the cabin next to the path. His feet were propped up on the railing and he was smoking a joint. He tilted his head as he studied me.
“Do I know you?” I asked as my brows pinched in the center.
“Probably not,” was his cryptic reply.
When he didn’t say anything else, I shuffled my feet nervously and prepared to go to Sage.
“He’ll come around. But are you prepared to take the dark with the light?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Blade,” he simply replied as he stared into my eyes like he was reading my mind. Then I wondered if he’d seen Blade drag me to his cabin.
The crunch of the gravel from the opposite direction drew my attention. Sage was making her way up the path coming from the clubhouse. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Gator, knock it off,” Sage snapped as she walked down the pathway toward me. Her skin was a beautiful bronze, and her light brown hair was piled on her head. Several strands had worked their way free and fell down to softly frame her face. She smiled at me, though from the way her gaze locked on my eyes, then trailed down my face, I knew she could see I’d been crying. “Hey, girl. Were you coming to see me?”
“Yes, are you busy?” I tried to sound like my heart wasn’t actually cracking like it was.
“Since the kids are all with Raptor’s family for the week, I’m actually quite free and open for some girl time.” She gave me a brilliant grin and I couldn’t help but return it.
I took a deep breath and let it out. “Sounds good.”
As we walked away, I glanced over my shoulder to find Gator watching us walk away. I shivered at the intensity of his gaze.
As we made our way to Sage and Raptor’s we walked in a comfortable silence.
Raptor was shrugging on his cut when we entered the home.
“Hey, baby, I got an unexpected run but I should be back tomorrow. We’re just heading down south to… deal with some business.” The look they shared told me they had an unspoken language that was unique to the couple. It made me long for a connection like theirs and I wondered if I’d ever be able to get Blade to come around and if I’d survive the process.
Sage stood on her tiptoes to kiss the insanely tall man. I tried not to stare. “I’ll walk you out.”
Hand-in-hand, they walked out onto the porch, closing the door as they did. Through the window, I could see them talking as Sage ran her fingers lovingly through the ends of his hair. The soft smile he gave her, and the way one hand cupped her denim-clad butt cheek as they spoke, made my heart ache.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he held her close before kissing the top of her head. When she lifted her chin to stare up at him, he lowered his head and passionately kissed her.
Feeling like I was intruding on an extremely private moment, I turned away and plopped on the couch. I grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to my chest.
It wasn’t long before she came back in and sat in the chair facing me. An excited light twinkled in her eyes. “Wanna do mani-pedis?”
“That sounds divine.”