Page 62 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Guiding her to her room, I pulled back the sheets and let her slip into bed before following her in and pulling her against me.

“Daniel . . . ” she said, weakly pushing against my chest. “You should go. I don’t want you to get sick too. ”

Even though she couldn’t really see me, I gave her a deadpan look. “If you think I’d leave you here alone just to save myself, I’m thinking you don’t quite understand the depth of my feelings for you.”

She made some little noise that sounded like it could be happiness. “I’d hate for you to be sick on Sunday, though.”

Stroking her hair, I kissed her forehead. “Baby, I don’t often get sick. I’ve been around Mom and Ryan all week while they’ve been competing for the most vomit produced in the shortest amount of time, and I’m fine.”

Sighing, she snuggled further into my chest. “Thank you. I love you so much. I just want our day to be—”

I frowned at the abrupt end to her sentence, trying to gauge if she was going to be sick again. “To be what?”

Pulling away a little, she gazed up at me. “I was going to say perfect, but I don’t mean it in that way—you know, like Mom and Dad expect, with everyone looking the part and acting like they never do anything wrong—I want it to be perfect for us. A little disorganized . . . A bit funny . . . And a lot of crazy love”

Giving her a soft smile, I pulled her closer. “Crazy sounds pretty perfect to me . . . ” Kissing the top of her head, I breathed her in. I knew without a doubt I was going to miss her scent when I was gone. I’d pretty much already decided I was going to take something of hers with me when I left.

The sound of her cell softly pinging from the nightstand saved me from taking those thoughts any farther than they needed to go. Reaching behind her, I scooped it up and pressed it into her hand.

I watched her face as her gaze moved over the screen, the slight frown that was etched between her

brows smoothing out as a smile began to touch her lips. When her gaze found mine, it was sparkling with happiness.

“It’s Mia,” she said. “They’re coming.”

I was still to meet her friends in the band. After their tour with The Dark Hybrid had ended, they were scheduled to start their own tour, playing smaller venues throughout the country. They’d been home a few times over the last six months, but each time they had, I was in training.

Pure happiness swelled inside me, and I knew it had everything to do with how incredibly excited she looked in that moment.

She shook her head as her mouth opened, failing to find words in the moment. “All of them, Daniel. They’re all coming. I . . . I can’t believe it.”

Now that did surprise me. “Even the band?”

She blinked. “Yes. All of them.”

Even though I kind of already knew I would like them, there was now absolutely no doubt in my mind. If they were willing to fly all the way home between shows, just to be here for Amy, then as far as I was concerned, they were the best kind of people there were.

“That’s pretty damned awesome, baby.”

She shook her head again. “I honestly can’t believe they’re coming. I’m so excited.”

“See?” I said, chuckling at how cute she looked just then. “No bad omens. Just amazingly good friends.”

“Yeah . . . ” Closing her eyes, she sighed and snuggled into my chest.

As I held her to me, I tried to think only of that moment in two days’ time when she would become mine. But try as I might, I couldn’t keep away the sadness at knowing that five days after that, I would be leaving her.

Chapter 29

Amy

Glancing around at the only people in the world who mattered to me, I sat at what I guessed was equivalent to our rehearsal dinner. There was Seth, of course, Amber and her parents, Jess, Kaeli, and Noah down one side of the large rectangular set up, Daniel’s mom, Ryan, Josh, Corey, and Cain down the other side, and at the opposite end to where Daniel and I sat, there was an add-on table with Mia, Jace, Aiden, Matt, and Dean, who surprised me yet again by arriving early and in time for our pre-wedding dinner.

Happiness bubbled inside me. Knowing these people supported me in what Daniel and I were about to do left me speechless. To know they trusted me to make the right decision about my own life brought tears to my eyes.

I had prepared for at least a little backlash, but after the initial shock of our announcement, there had been only positivity. I really couldn’t have asked for better friends.

Amber stood and cleared her throat dramatically. “All right. Important speech about to commence, people.”

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