Page 75 of Chasing You

Renato softened. “He’s a very great kid. And he’ll be excited to have you. The rest can all be worked out.” He made a sweeping hand gesture. “For now, you will come with us and be safe.”

Frey eventually did appear, but he didn’t stay long when he realized Gage was now snoring quietly. He hugged Kash tight and thanked him for what he’d done, and it was only after he left that Kash realized hehadsaved the day. Sort of.

He let out a bitter laugh. “When I said I wanted to still be a hero, this is so not what I meant,” he told the universe in a soft murmur.

“And yet,” came the one voice Kash wanted to hear.

Adele appeared, and in spite of his jelly legs, Kash stood and let himself fall into Adele’s embrace. His lover squeezedthe breath out of him, and Kash basked in the feeling until he had to pull back and sit. His feet were absolutely useless, and he was definitely going to need a wheelchair to get out of the hospital.

“What did the doctor say?” Adele asked as he bent over Gage’s bed and brushed hair out of his eyes. The teen didn’t move.

“No concussion, no smoke inhalation. Just a couple of first-degree burns from the hot oil and a lump on the side of his head that’ll hurt for a few days,” Kash rattled off.

Adele turned, then dropped to his knees between Kash’s spread thighs. “You saved his life. And yours.”

Kash bit his lip and nodded. “You know I’d give my life for him, right?”

“I never want that,” Adele said roughly. “I’m tired of almost losing the people I love. I can usually laugh shit off, but this…it was…I can’t…” A couple of fat tears fell down his cheeks, and Kash lifted curled fingers to wipe them away.

“We’re okay now.”

Adele swallowed heavily and nodded. “Yeah, you are, but I need something, okay?”

Kash met his gaze. “Anything.”

“I hope you mean that.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I need you to be mine.”

“I am.”

Adele looked up and shook his head hard. “No. I need you to be mine. Marry me. Not tomorrow, but?—”

“Yes.”

Adele’s jaw snapped shut. “What? Really?”

“I was being a stubborn shithead before. I thought I needed to prove to myself that I can also take care of you and Gage before I could be anything besides your best friend. But if this was the universe trying to teach me alesson for being a jackass, I’ve learned it. I’m in love with you, Adele. I always have been. I need you. Okay? So yes. If you want to get married, we get married. Tomorrow if you want.”

Adele let out a rushing breath. “I thought I was going to have to argue with you.”

Kash managed a laugh that almost sounded like a sob. “I don’t have it in me to fight you on the one thing I want more than anything. I’m yours, okay? I’ve always been yours. I always will be.”

Adele surged up and kissed him. It was chaste, weak with exhaustion, and also the best kiss of his life. Kash gave himself over to the feeling of right, and content, and something close to perfection. The situation was a nightmare, and he was probably going to be dealing with another surge of PTSD symptoms, but he didn’t have to face this alone.

They could get through it together.

“So,” Kash said when Adele pulled back. “We’re staying with the hot Italian doctor?”

“Watch it,” Adele warned.

This time, when Kash laughed, it only brought a feeling of joy.

Neither Adele nor Kash could settle. Gage was wide-awake once they got to Frey and Renato’s, so he busied himself playing wedding Barbies with Rex and watchingSay Yes to the Dress. Renato cooked a heap of pasta for them—a carbonara, which Kash managed to choke down, and he actually did feel settled once food hit his stomach.

But he was wound tight, and both his arms and legswere stiff and uncomfortable. Eventually, Adele convinced him to take a muscle relaxer, and once he was sure Gage was alright on his own, he crawled into the massive guest bed beside Kash and curled up with him.

They lay there in silence for a while, and then Adele reached over and plucked Kash’s left hand up by the wrist and kissed his ring finger.

“You were serious about that, huh?” Kash asked.

---