Page 61 of Sacrifice
“Honestly, she seems to be doing okay. She keeps worrying over me and Huxton. She had a sit-down conversation with him to explain how I got hurt and how his dad will be going away for a while.”
Gage grit his teeth, forcing a smile. “I don’t envy her there.”
I finish pouring my bowl of cereal, close the box, and putting it away before grabbing milk from the fridge.
“Man, neither do I. We’ve been keeping an eye on him. She’s been talking about getting him in to see a counselor, someone to check in to make sure he’s doing okay. Huxton’s a good kid, though. He’s resilient and seems to be handling things as good as you could hope, given the situation.”
“I can’t even imagine.” Gage’s voice drops, staring past me for a moment. He shakes his head, climbing up to take a seat on the barstool across from me.
“He asked if he’d ever see his dad again, which is a hard question to answer. I stepped out of the room and gave her space, but I could hear her struggling to tell him he was going to likely be in jail for a long time.”
The sound of the front door opening interrupts our conversation, followed by the sound of Haelynn singing “Hello, it’s me” down the hall. I’m shoving a spoonful of cinnamon squares into my mouth when she sees Gage sitting across from me.
“Gage, hi. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Her face turns red at her rendition of Adele. Haelynn mentioned she had talked to Gage briefly in the hospital before it got cut short.
“I’m sorry.” Gage chuckles. “I was dropping by on my way into the office. I won’t be too long. I know you have to get to work.”
“Oh, it’s okay. Is everything all right?” Haelynn asks, circling the island to stand next to me. She reaches her hand out, rubbing my back soothingly while focusing her attention on Gage.
“I just, before everything happened, I said some things to both of you that were out of line. We all know the connections our families have to each other, but what happened had nothing to do with anyone in this room. I’m sorry for what I said and did, but more importantly, I’m sorry for how it put strain on your relationship.”
I set the bowl down on the counter and reach my hand down to grab Haelynn’s, squeezing it in mine.
“You don’t owe me an apology personally. I know you came from a good place. You thought you were lookin’ out for me. Next time, come and talk to me though, and trust me enough to make the right decision.”
I step past Haelynn and circle around to the other side of the island, pulling Gage into a hug. When I pull back, I saw remorse etching his features just before I turn toward Haelynn.
“Same here,” Haelynn says. “I understand your loyalty to your friends and family. I commend you for it, honestly. You were protecting the people you love, but I can assure you, you don’t need to protect Corbin from me. I never want to hurt him, or any of you for that matter.”
“I know, and if I’m being honest, I knew that even back then too.”
Haelynn steps around me, wrapping her arm around Gage in a friendly hug.
“All right.” I clear my throat, jokingly pulling her by the waist, back into my arms. “That’s enough hugging for today. Unless you want to give me one, baby.”
I raise my brows suggestively, dragging my teeth over my lower lip. Haelynn playfully swats me on the arm, shaking her head.
“I have to set-up for my work shift so I have to get going. I’ll leave you two alone, in case you want to hug it out some more.”
“Listen here, woman,” I holler from behind her. Her fit of giggles filters down the hallway.
Gage hangs out for a little while longer, talking about the Hawkeye football game this weekend against Ohio State. We make plans for him to stop by and grill some burgers. He ends up ducking out a few minutes later, needing to head to Compass himself.
I sneak in and out of Haelynn’s office throughout the day. The first few times she shoos me away, using the doctor’s orders excuse. When she steps out on her lunch break though, all bets were off.
I had it all planned out with her lunch cooking away in the oven. She had leftovers from the night before when we ordered takeout from Brodie’s, while I ate Haelynn for lunch.
“What am I going to do with you?”
I lift my finger to my mouth, sucking on it before licking my lips. Heat flames her face. She presses her palms against her warm skin, attempting to cover her embarrassment.
“I can think of a few things…” I grin. “We’ll need more time though.”
After a few weeks of staying with Haelynn, we agreed it was best for me to go back and stay at my place, as hard as it was for me to do. The time with her had brought us closer together, along with my relationship with Huxton.
We agreed moving so quickly, especially under the circumstances, had the potential of ruining what we had. I still made a point to stop by a few nights a week to have dinner with her and Huxton. On the nights when I don’t, I stop by after she puts him to bed to spend time with her alone.
