Page 111 of Love in the Wild

Rome Wilson.

“You need to take that,” Mr. Chambers said as he kept walking.

“Nah. It’s fine.” Gage pushed the phone away and started walking again.

Mr. Chambers didn’t turn around as he said, “Go ahead and take care of your business.”

Okay, now it felt rude to ignore the man’s orders. Gage answered the call and let Mr. Chambers walk on ahead.

“Hello.”

“Hey, man. You in the land of the living?” Rome asked.

Gage looked back toward the crowd he’d just left. He was alive. Was he really living yet?

But he had an idea about how to get there.

“Something like that.”

“I heard about the bust. Man, am I glad you didn’t get picked up too.”

Rome’s voice was like an echo from the past. It scraped across Gage’s nerves until they were taut and vibrating.

“Why’s that?” Gage asked.

“Bruce mentioned another stash of car parts. I’m assuming you can get those for me.”

Yep. This was exactly the draw back into his old life Gage had been dreading. “Sorry, man. I don’t do that anymore. That’s Bruce’s business.”

Rome laughed. “Come on. You’re gonna sit on those parts when I could get you cash? You can’t leave the money, man.”

Money. Since leaving the Howards behind, Gage’s perspective of money had shifted. He didn’t need cash jobs anymore when legit jobs paid the bills with plenty left over. “Like I said, I’m out.”

There was a thick silence over the line before Rome spoke again. His tone was darker without a hint of laughter. “This isn’t really a gig you get out of.”

Gage pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed through the urge to tell Rome exactly where he could go with his attitude. “Looks like I did.”

“You ratted.” Rome let out a string of curses. “They said you did, but I didn’t believe them.”

“They dug their own graves.”

Rome didn’t hold back his fury as he launched into another round of curses and threats. Gage pulled the phone from his ear and studied it for a few seconds before ending the call.

“Everything okay?” Mr. Chambers asked as he strolled over and handed Gage a fishing rod.

“Maybe. I’m not sure yet.”

Mr. Chambers nodded. “Let me know if I can help.”

As willing as the man was to lend a hand, this wasn’t a problem Gage’s new friend could fix. There wasn’t much he could do except keep his eyes open. If the past tried to sneak up on him, he needed to be ready.

32

HADLEY

Hadley absentmindedly traced her finger along the spine of the Bible in her lap as trees flashed past the window. Gage’s hand rested on her knee, and her other arm was wrapped around his bicep. Touching him while they were together reminded her that he was really here. He wasn’t some dream she’d been living with for the last six weeks.

Though, so much of their relationship felt unreal. The changes in their lives had come so fast, she still woke up and took stock of reality every morning.

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