I could hear the faint hint of humor in his voice, but refused to lean into it.I didn’t need anything to feel too comfortable right now, including him.As much as I wanted to joke and let things feel light again, I couldn’t risk the distraction.
“No.He’s been mildly obsessed with me.I didn’t realize the gravity of it until I found him in my apartment the other day when I got home.”
His eyebrows rose quickly as he leaned forward and stared at me.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I were,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Start talking.I want to know everything.”
“Gage, we don’t need to do all of this.It’s fine.I just need a few hours to reset, and then we will be on our way.”
“Like fucking hell you will,” he growled.“If you honestly think you can show up here and tell me that some asshole is obsessed with you and think that I’m going to allow you to leave, you are seriously mistaken, Julie.”
“You can’t force me to stay here.”
“No.You’re right,” he said, shaking his head as his jaw clenched tightly.“But that storm outside can.Or did you not notice it on your way in?”
I looked out the window he pointed to, watching as the snow fell heavily in sheets.Not only had I noticed it on the way in, but I had lost traction on the road several times and thought I was going to crash by the time I pulled up to the cabin.I had been so thankful to get here that I must not have noticed his vehicle parked outside.Had I seen it, I might have made a different decision than to try to break in and hide out here.
“There’s no way you’re going anywhere in that storm, Julie.Not until it passes and the roads are safe to drive again.”
“We can’t stay here and impose on you,” I objected, throwing my hands in the air.
“You were planning to stay here before you found out I was here,” he countered.“So don’t play games with me, Julie.You made the arrangements you needed because you knew you would be here for a while, didn’t you?”
A faint blush crept up my cheeks as I tried to look away.
He was right.I had been packing the car with food and necessities for weeks once I started to notice the change with Joel.Deep down, I knew I would end up leaving but I couldn’t risk tipping him off before I was ready to flee.Every time I went grocery shopping, I would buy more than we needed and hide some items in the back of the car under blankets so no one could see what they were.I had packed enough food to last us a month or two and prayed that we would be lucky enough to have access to running water and electricity once we arrived.I had no idea if things had been shut off after Gage’s grandmother died, but I didn’t have any other option than to run to the only place that had ever felt safe.
“Where is the rest of your stuff?”he asked, folding his hands in front of him as he watched me.“The stuff you planned to use while you stayed here?”
“In the trunk of my car,” I replied softly, staring down at the floor.
“Give me your keys.I’ll go grab everything before the storm gets worse.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Julie—the keys.Give them to me.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled them out, sliding them across the table and ignoring the jolt of electricity that ran through me as his fingers brushed mine.
Staying with Gage brought a sense of security that I hadn’t realized I needed.It also brought a sense of dread because there was no way I was going to be able to constantly be around him and hide the feelings I had been harboring for years.
