The ride back to Chicago is filled with lengthy silences and awkward sideways glances. Neither of them knows what to say after the towel incident but it is obvious by Gabriel’s heavy breathing that it lingers in his thoughts.
Roseline takes another bite of the massive burger Gabriel insisted on ordering her from a roadside truck stop with the spare change in his car. Greasy fast food has never tasted so good.
“Is your dad going to force you to play in the State Finals next month?” Her words come out garbled as she chews.
Gabriel casts a worried glance her way. “Rose, the game is this weekend. Don’t you realize how long you’ve been gone?”
The burger loses all taste in her mouth. Three weeks? Was she really gone that long? Roseline lowers the passenger side window and chucks her half-eaten burger out. She can’t stomach anymore.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I guess the days all ran together. I didn’t really have the strength to care.”
His eyes remain glued to the road ahead, but his concern is nearly palpable. “Will you come to the game?”
Of course, she wants to see him play, even though she has decided that she loathes the sport, but is unsure how she should answer.
“Sadie will probably be there,” he says.
Roseline nods. There’s no way Sadie would miss a single moment. She is swept up into football fever along with the rest of the school. “Well, then I should probably go.”
Gabriel agrees. “Sure. For Sadie.”
“Definitely,” Roseline agrees. “For Sadie.”
With this agreement decided on how they should move forward with their awkwardly intense relationship, they fall into silence. The miles pass by slowly. Bleak, wintry farmland stretches as far as she can see. Chicago rises on the horizon as the sky begins to darken with a vibrant dusk.
“I know things are confusing right now and I’ll admit I’m kinda freaked out by all of this, but I need you to promise me that you won’t run away again.” Gabriel’s voice is strained as they reach the outskirts of the city. His fingers grasp the steering wheel in a death grip. “I can’t lose you again, Rose.”
I can’t lose you either, her mind fills in silently.
She turns in her seat and admires his handsome profile. The ridge of his brow sweeps into a blunt nose; his lips are soft as silk. The memory of their fiery embrace makes her close her eyes as she speaks her heart. “I think we should try to make this work.”
“Are you sure?” He flips on his turn signal and pulls off at their exit. His foot adds more pressure to the gas pedal than is necessary to take the ramp. “I thought you were worried about us being well…us.”
“I am,” she sighs. She has had plenty of time to think it over during the agonizing drive home. “Obviously being apart didn’t work out so well for either of us and, to be honest, I’m sick of fighting it. Contrary to what I have said in the past, I really do want to be with you, Gabriel. I’m just…worried.”
“About that guy?”
She nods. “Let’s just hope the past stays in the past.” It is a painfully flippant answer but she is too weary to think beyond this moment. Fighting against the bond that holds them together is too difficult.
Gabriel’s silence worries her. What is he thinking? Is she wrong about how he feels about her? No, surely not. He just threw his life out of the window because of her. That has to count for something.
“What are you thinking?” she whispers, too nervous to look at him.
Blowing out a breath, Gabriel shakes his head. “I’m not really sure. A part of me keeps waiting for you to change your mind.”
“I won’t,” she promises, biting down on her lip. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Gabriel glances at her as he eases the Range Rover to the side of the road, only a block from his house.
When she looks back at him, she watches his face soften against the tears curling down her cheek. “Because I am bound to you.”
Gabriel stretches out his hand and gently brushes back a stray hair from her forehead. Golden highlights in her hair shimmer under the streetlight glowing through the sunroof. His hand pauses as he gently cups her cheek. “That’s the way I feel too,” he whispers.
Roseline leans into his hand, closing her eyes. Warmth radiates from his palm. It is not the same searing blaze she is used to. This is tender…loving.
“I shouldn’t let this happen,” she mutters, holding his hand to her, refusing to let him pull back. “But I’m not strong enough to resist you anymore.”
“So this is what you want? To be with me?” Gabriel asks, his hope shining through his words.
She nods, pulling Gabriel’s hand away from her face. She softly brushes her lips against each of his knuckles before releasing him. “Yes. I want this…but I need time. And I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything,” Gabriel says as his gaze rises from his knuckles.
“If something were to happen to me…” her voice cracks. “Please don’t come after me. I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt.”
His thumb tucks under her chin as he raises it to look at him. An intense heat burns in the depths of his eyes. “I found you, this time, Rose. I will always come for you.”
His altered promise ignites a fire in her chest. Never before has anyone spoken words with such fathomless love. Roseline knows Gabriel would move heaven and earth to find her. “I know. But I had to try.”
Gabriel leans across the console. He stops a nose length from her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Rose. Now that I’ve found you I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”
She desperately wishes she could believe him, but the reality is that Gabriel would never stand a chance against Vladimir. “I should probably get home.”
“You want some company? Your mom might be pretty ticked.”
“No. She’s away for work. I doubt she even realizes I’m missing.” She hates to carry on the lie with him but knows that opening completely up to him will only further endanger his life.
“Lucky you,” he smirks as he turns down his street. “Steve’s gonna be furious when he sees me.”
She reaches out to squeeze his arm. “You’ll be fine. I’m not sure so about me,” she groans as Sadie barrels out her front door as the Range Rover pulls into the driveway. “Sadie is going to kill me.”
Twenty