25. Gabe

TWENTY-FIVE

Gabe

She was alive…but she was so, so cold.

Snow bit at my skin as I stepped through the threshold, Kat cradled in my arms. The first flakes dusted her hair, not even melting—that's how cold she was. I kicked the door shut with the heel of my boot, grateful for once that Livy wasn't here to witness this—Kat broken and shivering.

"Stay put," I grunted, lowering her gently onto the floor in front of the fireplace. Bandit paced beside us, his whines cutting through the silence.

Firewood snapped under the pressure of my grip, then I tossed it into the fireplace to get a fire going. Flames licked the kindling, eager to devour. Heat punched back against the cold, filling the room.

I glanced over at Kat, Bandit already a warm, protective bulk against her side.

Good…he would watch her while I tended to the horses.

"I'll be back soon," I said.

Kat nodded, teeth chattering.

Fuck .

I bolted outside, my steps crunching against the growing blanket of snow. The horses were restless, eager to get into the warmth of the barn. I took their reins and strode in that direction, snowflakes melting on my flushed cheeks. My boots sunk into the fresh powder, every step heavier than the last.

"Easy," I muttered, sliding open the barn door. They needed calm, and I had to give it to them, despite the chaos clawing at me.

I led Sundance and Shadow into their stalls, secured them, made sure they had enough feed. The whole time, my thoughts were with Kat in the house, alone, except for Bandit. Every second felt like a lifetime—every minute could be her last breath.

"Stay warm, guys," I said as I finished up, patting Shadow's neck. I made sure the heater was running safely…then I was out again.

I headed back toward the house, muscles tight and coiled. The snow was falling harder now, a veil of white between me and the cabin. Every step was a fight against the storm, a race against time.

I had to get back to her.

The door slammed shut behind me, a barrier against the biting cold. Kat was where I'd left her, shivering by the fire with an anxious Bandit at her side, still wrapped in Shadow's blanket. She was shaking worse than before, uncontrollable tremors racking her frame.

"Kat, stay with me," I said, my voice low and urgent. My hands were steady as I helped her out of the wet clothes, even though fear gripped my heart like a vise. Her skin was cold, unnaturally so, beneath my fingers.

I grabbed the warmest gear I had from my bedroom—a thick fleece and heavy sweatpants—and dressed her with careful haste. Then I piled on blankets, every one I could find until she was buried in a mountain of warmth. Bandit nestled into the cocoon beside her, his body heat an added barrier against the chill.

"Good boy," I whispered to him, then wedged myself close, curling my body around hers, sharing what little warmth I had left. The fire crackled in the hearth, its glow battling the shadows creeping around us.

Her shivering slowed, and I felt her body temperature creep upward, degree by slow degree. Relief washed over me like the heat from the flames. My adrenaline crashed, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

I didn't even notice as I fell asleep…it just happened.

Right there on the floor beside her, listening to her breathing.

I woke up suddenly, the room now cast only in the light from the fire. I hadn't turned any lights on when I'd come in; I'd been too frantic to care. Kat was still curled up with her back to my chest, her fingers scratching behind Bandit's ears.

"You're the bravest, aren't you?" she cooed to the dog. They looked cozy, a makeshift camp of comfort with me protecting them both.

This was where I belonged.

Right here…with her.

"Kat?" I started, my voice raspy from sleep.

She looked over her shoulder at me, her hair now dry, framing a face that had regained its color—rosy cheeks replacing the pallor that had scared me hours before. The sight of her like this, alive and warming up, sparked something inside me, fierce and protective.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…thanks to you."

I reached out, my hand cupping her cheek, my thumb brushing away an errant strand of hair. "I'd do anything to keep you safe, Kat." No fluff, just fact.

She rolled over to face me and her eyes met mine, a brief spark in their depths before it dimmed. Her eyes got bigger, her brow furrowed…and she started to cry.

The sight twisted my gut.

"Kat, what's wrong?"

"It's just been a lot," she whispered between sobs. "Feels like it never stops."

I pulled her in close, my arms instinctively wrapping around her. "I'm here now," I said, feeling her shake against me. "I've got you."

Her body trembled in my embrace, but slowly, as though drawing strength from my presence, the shaking subsided. The warmth from the fire seeped into us both, sheltering us.

"Thank you, Gabe," she murmured, head resting on my shoulder.

"Always, Kat. Always." A pause hung in the air, heavy and charged. Then, the words just fell out of me, like a confession long overdue. "I'd spend the rest of my life protecting you, if you let me."

Her eyes lifted to mine, searching, vulnerable. They darted between mine, looking for something…

"I was wrong about you," she said quietly. "But I'm still…I still don't understand how you turned into this guy. This caring, kind person…I don't…"

I smoothed back her hair, shaking my head. "I never stopped regretting what happened between me and Ben after high school," I said. I didn't think I'd ever told her the story, even after all these weeks sleeping just a couple rooms down from her…and sometimes in her bed. "It was…fuck, it was so stupid."

"Tell me about it," she said. "I've never heard the whole story."

So I did.

I told her how me, Ben, and Owen had snuck into the Spur the summer after senior year…how Owen had picked a fight with me, how I'd lost my temper. Ben had already been on a short fuse with the way I'd bullied Kat, and?—

"Wait," Kat interrupted as I recounted that night. "I didn't even know Owen was there. Ben never mentioned it."

I huffed out a laugh. "Yeah…I always figured it was why he made himself scarce whenever I was around this past fall. He was a real shit-stirrer in high school; always getting into trouble. In fact, if I'm remembering right, he was the one who got us fake ID's and stole beers from the Spur's cooler that night."

Kat shook her head, bit her lip. "Why wouldn't he mention that?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. But…yeah, it really fucked my life up. I fucked my life up. And after I put Ben in the hospital, my dad gave me an ultimatum—join the military or get cut off. I chose the military, the Marines. Spent four years deployed in Afghanistan…and then came home."

Her expression softened. "It seems like that did a lot to change you."

"It did," I said. I averted my eyes; I couldn't look at her for this part. "Watching your friends die can have that effect."

We both fell silent, the fire's crackle and the wind howling outside the only noises. Life seemed to start up again when Bandit let out a huff, crawling closer to the fireplace to give us space.

Kat touched my face—and her fingertips on my skin were like butterfly kisses.

"I'm glad I got to know you, Gabe," she said. "I…I'm grateful for you."

I wanted to hear those three words I'd been dying to say myself; I love you .

But that was enough.

I tangled my fingers in her hair and kissed her gently, searching for a sign that she wanted this as much as I did. After watching her in that water, I needed to be close to her—skin to skin, kissing her, loving her. She responded instantly, the kiss deepening as her arms wound around my neck, pulling me closer. It was like the storm outside had ceased to exist; all that mattered was this moment, this connection between us. Every touch, every movement was filled with a raw intensity that neither of us could deny.

I ran my hands down to her hips, found where my oversized fleece and sweatpants had parted at her waist. Her skin was warm, soft, and she moved to give me space to take off the fleece. Her fingers hooked in the hem of my shirt and she dragged it over my head, her hands finding my chest as she kissed me again.

I needed her. I needed to make love to her, yes…but I also needed her in my life, needed her like I needed oxygen.

She was everything.

Desperate now, she crushed her lips to mine and I rolled her onto her back, touching her wherever I could. The blankets weren't doing much work anymore; the heat was between us, raging hotter than the firelight flickering over our bare skin. We undressed each other fast, but gently, taking care with each other, finding the places where we'd been cut and burned and frozen in this battle to find each other.

I settled between her legs, our lips never parting, the urgency of before giving way to something deeper. The heat from the fire bathed us in its orange glow as I looked down at her, my heart thundering against my ribcage. This wasn't just about need—it was about belonging.

To have and to hold, in every sense of the words.

Then I slid inside her, her legs lifting to wrap around my waist. A groan escaped me, a sound raw and full of so much emotion it felt like a confession. She was warm, welcoming, enveloping me. It was coming home, finally, after being lost for too long.

"Kat…" My voice broke on her name, my forehead dropping to rest against hers as we moved together. Her eyes locked onto mine, and in them, I saw everything—my past, my present, my future.

"Right here, Gabe," she said, her voice steady even as her body trembled beneath me. "I'm right here."

We moved slow and gentle, my hips rocking into hers. It was a dance we'd perfected without ever stepping onto a floor, one of rhythm and breaths, of giving and taking. Our eyes stayed open, refusing to miss a moment, even as the wind howled outside, as fierce as the storm raging within us.

As Kat's breath hitched, signaling her closeness to the edge, I fought against the tide rising within me. I wanted to give her this, one more peak in a night that had already been full of them. But it was a battle against nature, against the very essence of what we were doing here—two people becoming one in the most primal way.

"Kat…" My voice was a ragged edge, barely holding on.

"Gabe," she gasped, and the sound of her voice, the urgency and need laced within it, undid me.

I couldn't hold back any longer.

We came together, a rush of heat in the cold night. Her eyes never left mine, wide and filled with something raw and unnamed but understood between us.

"I love you," she let it slip, a confession wrapped in a moan.

"Kat," I exhaled, my own release tearing through me. "I love you too. I love… fuck …"

Her hands clutched at my back, nails digging into skin as if to anchor herself to the moment, to the truth that had spilled out without planning or pretense. I stared down at her, our breaths mingling, our sweat-dampened bodies still joined.

And in the flickering light of the fire, with the storm outside and the warmth inside, I knew there was nowhere else on earth I'd rather be.