Page 42 of Silver Secrets

She rubbed at her temple, leaving her other hand still tucked in Gage’s. “I know. I’ll need to get a copy of the report and send it to my insurance in the morning. Then I’ll have to find a rental.”

“I’ll drive you where you need to go.”

“No. That won’t work.”

“Why not? Then I’ll be there if something happens again.”

“Gage, this is what anxiety looks like. It tells you that something bad is going to happen and that you can compensate for it by trying to control every situation. But you can’t. I’ll get a rental car. I’ll still drive myself to work, and home, to my client’s house if I need to, and the store.”

He groaned, squeezing her hand tightly, as if he was afraid she might disappear if he let go. “Everything in my body is screaming at me to convince you to move in here with me. To drive you where you need to go. To lock you up and keep you safe.”

“And I know that it’s coming from a place of friendship and concern.”

“If you think the feelings I have for you are just friendship feelings, Sloane, then I have a bigger problem to face right now than my anxiety riding me to keep you safe.”

“Oh, I?—”

He shook his head as he stood up. “Come on. I just unlocked the darkest part of my heart and spilled it all out at your feet like you weren’t just in a fucking car accident and need rest. I’m sure that was overwhelming.”

“I asked to hear about them, Gage. I asked because I care about you too.”

“As a friend?”

“As something more,” she admitted.

“You don’t need to make any decisions tonight about your car and driving situation. Let’s get you in bed and we can talk about everything in the morning.”

They walked down the hall in silence, Sloane lost in her thoughts. She nearly bumped right into Gage’s back when he stopped just inside his bedroom.

“Are you going to be comfortable here?”

She slowly turned around. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take the couch? If this is the only bed, I don’t want to take it from you.”

“As much as I wish it wasn’t, and you can always change your mind if you don’t want it to be, right now, it’s just one night. If I can’t make it one night on a couch, someone needs to send me back to boot camp.”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine, Gage. Thank you for letting me stay.”

“You don’t need anything? Do you want some ice for your wrist? I should have brought in a glass of water…”

“I promise, I’m fine. I’m glad we talked. I’m glad you shared them with me tonight. I know it was tough, and I’m so sorry I brought back all those feelings…”

“No. It was… nice… to have someone to share them with. I feel a little closer to them tonight.”

“I’m so glad.”

They stood in silence for another moment before Gage nodded. “Okay, Red. I’ll be out in the living room if you need anything. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams, Gage.”

Eleven

Gage busied himself making coffee, waiting for Sloane to wake up and make her way out of his room. It had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, spilling his heart and then having to say goodnight to her while she went to sleep in his bed. He had no idea what she was thinking about everything he said, but a large part of his heart felt righted by sharing something so raw and vulnerable with her. There were so many things he hadn’t even told his friends that just felt natural to talk about with Sloane.

Taking eggs out of the fridge along with a green pepper, some cheddar cheese and a package of ham, he forced himself to focus on breakfast. Might as well cook up a couple of omelets. At least if he was busy with his hands, it would take away some of his nerves about Sloane waking up and hating him for trauma dumping on her after her accident.

The butter sizzled in the pan when he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Holy shit. Sloane was standing against the wall, still wearing his clothes. But she’d pulled on his favorite hoodie, too. It looked incredible on her.

“Is that my sweatshirt?” Gage leaned against the counter, trying his hardest not to feel the warmth radiating through his chest that Sloane was dressed head to toe in his things. Gunner was such a possessive asshole with Lily, but Gage was starting to see the appeal in that.

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