Courting Tragedy

Courting Tragedy (9)

9

The crash echoed throughout the house, and I bolted upright. The blanket slid off of me and fell to the floor as I crept toward the hallway. I peeked around the corner, feeling a strong surge of deja vu; I did this same thing at my house before things started getting weird.

My breath was coming faster, and what I saw didn't help. Gage was on the ground, wrestling with another man. Gage had the man in a headlock, and a lamp was lying on the floor next to them, the bulb shattered. My heart jumped; what was going on?

"Uncle! Just let me go, Gage!" The other man cried, his hands grabbing at Gage's arm.

Gage chuckled and released him, offering a hand to pull him to his feet. The man obliged, then he used Gage's hand to throw him over his head. Gage landed with a loud thud and then laughed.

"Jesus, Logan. I thought we were done." He stood up and dusted himself off before shaking the mans hand.

"We're never done the first time, G. You should know that by now," The man smiled.

Gage ran his hand through his hair and grinned at him. "It's been a while. I might have forgotten that."

They stayed by the door and began to talk, their voices light and their conversation bouncing from topic to topic. It wasn't long before the man brought up something that made my stomach turn.

"How's Leslie doing? You guys were a great couple," The man said.

I slumped to the floor and buried my face in my hands. Of course Gage had a girlfriend; he was gorgeous, he was nice, he had the most amazing eyes... Snap out of it, I ordered myself as tears pricked at my eyes. You never had a chance. It didn't matter that he had a girlfriend, nothing was going to change between us.

"We're not together." Gage replied stiffly, his voice hard and cold.

"What?! You guys were meant for each other! You were inseparable! I don't believe it..." The man looked uncomfortable.

"Well, we're not anymore. I actually don't have any feelings for her anymore, whether they're friendly or not." His voice said that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

My head was spinning. So he wasn't with this girl anymore? That means... no, I couldn't get my hopes up. There was still nothing between us, despite the warmth I felt whenever he touched me and how his voice sent shivers up my spine and... I realized how far gone I was. This wouldn't end well.

"Alright, well, man, I'm here for you. Shit, that sounded feminine. Maybe not. Call up mom or something if you want to talk about your feelings." He laughed.

Gage relaxed. "I got it."

His face suddenly fell. "Shit. I forgot about her."

He turned and began walking toward the living room. I hadn't looked up, but I could hear his footsteps coming closer. He walked past me, sitting against the wall, and straight to the couch.

Freezing in his steps, he stared at the couch like it had eaten me. The blanket suddenly floated up from the ground, staying at about hip height before it dropped back to the ground.

"Fuck," He cursed, his hands running through his hair again, "I lost her."

Someone near me cleared their throat, and I heard a sigh of relief.

"Emory! Please don't do that to me again," I felt his arms slide under me and he cradled me to his chest tightly.

"I won't have a chance to do anything if you don't loosen up on me," I gasped as he squeezed me a little too hard.

His arms loosened a little bit, but I was still pressed tightly against his rock hard abs. "Just please, don't scare me like that again."

"Gage, I went ten feet. Chill out." I scrambled from his arms and went back to sitting on the couch.

A look of hurt crossed his face momentarily before he motioned to the man.

"Emory, this is my brother Logan. Logan, this is Emory." He said cordially.

I waved at Logan, taking a moment to take in his features a little more. He was a little bit taller than Gage was, but built slighter. His eyes were a deep, chocolate brown and his nose was slightly crooked, but it fit well on his face. He was wearing a pair of khakis and a button down shirt, which was starkly contrasting with Gage's t-shirt and jeans.

"Emory, it's nice to meet you," He grinned at me, showing a dimple in his right cheek.

"Nice to meet you too," I mumbled, glancing down at my hands as my cheeks flared. I'm shy, okay? I don't usually do well when meeting new people.

"Logan, how about you head up to the spare room and take a shower? I know you can't be comfortable in those clothes," Gage's voice was conversational, but I knew something was up.

Logan pulled at the neck of his shirt and grimaced. "You know it."

He walked up the stairs and Gage collapsed next to me on the couch.

"Shit. This is worse than I thought." He buried his head in my shoulder.

"Um... What's worse than you thought?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"You'll be leaving tomorrow, and you already knew that. But, you'll be going with my brother. I don't trust him." He said with a sigh.

"You don't trust him? Why?" I asked, not sure that I wanted to know.

"He killed our sister." He said quietly.