Page 84 of Ramshackle
“Sorry, I just need a minute to process everything. Do you mind if we…finished this later?”
Dane runs his outstretched hand through his hair. “Yeah. Sure.”
I nod awkwardly. “Thanks. I’m going to head back to my room for a shower. I’ll, uh, see you in a bit?”
He nods, and I take that as my cue to walk—the normal speed—to the elevator so I can be alone and figure out what the fuck just happened.
Chapter twenty-five
Raegan
I step out ofthe bathroom and pull on my hair to tighten the ponytail. I’m dressed in my training leggings and sports bra, ready to meet Kellan for our regular morning practice. It’s been a week since we started training again. A week since Dane confessed to me.
He hasn’t brought that conversation up again, giving me the time I need to figure out what I want to say and how. He’s showing uncharacteristic patience that I’m grateful for because I’m too afraid I’ll say something to fuck this up.
Do I want him like that? Of course I do. I had a crush on all the guys on the island, and that’s intensified to dizzying levels since seeing them here. Even when he hated me, that didn’t mean I had stopped caring about him.
But can I let anything happen between us when I can’t fully believe that he’s moved on from what happened between me and Vera?
Can I act on it when I’m already selfishly with Kellan and Jackson while neither of them is making me choose?
I don’t date. I don’t do relationships. I expected to lose my life in my fight with GE.
But now? Now, there’s a chance for a future.
Now, I’m in too deep with Jack and Kellan to question it, but I don’t know what to do about my feelings for Dane. Or Aiden. It isn’t fair to them.
“What are you thinking about?” a husky voice fans across my exposed nape.
I jump out of my skin, my soul ricocheting like a pinball in my body.
Jackson circles me from behind and stops when he can see my face. He cocks his head to the side as a slow smile stretches his lips.
“Fucking hell, Jack! You’re going to kill me if you keep doing this to me.”
Then I see the specks of blood on his face. “Are you hurt?” I demand, trying to check his face and then pull his sleeves up to look for any injuries. “Whose blood is this?”
“Not mine,” he replies coolly.
I step back to look at his face. “Thorne’s?”
“Mm…no.” He pauses as if trying to think of the right word before returning his attention to me. “Hunters.”
The kill force Gordon sent out for the guys.
Damn it.
We’re so isolated in this bubble down here that I forgot what waited for the guys above ground. If any of them were to go out into the city…
“We should rethink our plan with Thorne. You shouldn’t be alone out there.”
“Why?” he asks calmly. Not in a condescending way, but like he’s genuinely curious.
“What if he sends too many and you’re outnumbered? What if he makes a trap for you? I don’t know, Jack, I don’t want you to get hurt and have no one there to back you up.”
Jackson smiles. His fingers circle around my ear as if to push hair away, even though it’s tied back. “We almost have what we need. I’ll keep my promise to you, little one.”
I want all of us to make it through this.
