“Just trying to figure out my art project. I have that and my photography one due in a week and I have nothing.” I sighed looking back at the paper, silently hoping something would have appeared when I wasn’t looking. Of course, nothing was there, but one could dream.
“What do you have to do for them?” He leaned forward looking at me, resting his elbows on his knees. I raised an eyebrow at him surprised that he wanted to know.
I rattled off the assignments and told him my issue with not having any inspiration lately. He listened silently as I talked. Once I was finished, he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He seemed to be thinking, so I stayed quiet.
“Well we need to find you some inspiration,” he said suddenly, standing up.
“What?”
“I have an idea.” He came toward the bed and held a hand out for me. I glanced at it then back at him. Seeing my look, he stared right at me. “Trust me.” Not even giving it a second thought, I grabbed his hand. I did trust him; I trusted him more than I trusted some people who had been in my life forever.
Since it was Wednesday and I had just gotten out of class two hours ago, I still had on my clothes. It was odd that I didn’t change the moment I got home like I usually did, but I saw now it was for a reason. I was casual in just a pair of jeans and a light teal shirt. My hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of my head.
Even though I didn’t want to, I had to let go of Gage’s warm hand to grab my shoes, my camera, and my bag. While his hands were rough and calloused from fighting, they were still somehow soft. After glancing around the room to make sure I had everything, I followed Gage out of my room.
“Hey Mace, we will be back in a few, okay?” I said as we came out and saw her sitting on the couch munching on some food while watching TV.
“Where are you guys going?”
“It is a surprise I guess.” I shrugged when Gage didn’t say anything.
“Okay, well, don’t be late,” was all she said as she turned back to the TV. Shaking my head, I gestured for Gage to go first out the door. “Have fun!” Macey shouted before the door closed.
“You aren’t going to tell me where we are going, are you?” I asked as we made our way down the stairs and out the building.
“Nope, you will find out soon enough.” He smirked down at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. “You are such a child,” he commented.
“It is not fun to always be an adult you know.” Sometimes I just had to let loose and act like a little kid.
“I’m almost twenty-one. I can’t be a child all the time.”
“Well, old grandpa, I am going to teach you how to be a kid,” I said.
“Oh yeah? And how will you do that?”
“That is for me to know and for you to find out.” It was my turn to smirk at him. While he shook his head, I could see a smile on his face.
In no time we were in his car and heading wherever we were going. Apparently, I loved cars because I was just as in love with his Jeep as I was with Ethan’s Range Rover. I wondered how he bought this car, but it probably was just a present from his parents or something. At that thought I realized I didn’t know much about Gage. I mean, I knew he was an underground fighter, but that was about it. I didn’t know anything about his parents, if he had siblings, where he grew up—nothing.
Although I really wanted to know, I put all my questions on the back burner. They would have to wait for another time. I knew if I brought them up now everything would be ruined, and I was looking forward to where he was taking me. He seemed almost as excited as I was, and I was definitely not going to ruin that.
With some new hit song playing throughout the car, both of us were quiet. I looked out the window and noticed we were going toward the city, which made my curiosity even stronger. Trying hard not to ask Gage again where we were going, I turned to look at him to take my mind off of it.
He sat in the driver’s seat with one hand on the steering wheel. He was wearing a quarter-sleeve shirt that was a dark blue, along with his usual blue jeans. His hair was styled perfectly once again. Gage looked so relaxed as he drove with his left arm draped over the wheel and his right hand on the gear shift, even though this was an automatic car.
From where I was sitting I got his whole left-side profile. The strong, deep jawline, the high cheekbones, the small and semi-pointed nose that may have been broken a few times. Because it was three o’clock, the sun was at the perfect point where it shone in the car, creating a halo around us. It wasn’t too bright where I couldn’t see Gage, but it was enough to make him look even better.
Without him looking at me, I lifted my camera up and aimed the lens at him. I messed with the lens for a few seconds wanting to get the shot perfect before I clicked the button. My camera snapped at least two pictures of him in a matter of seconds. By the time he heard the noise, I was done taking the picture.
“What are you doing?” he asked, looking between me and the road.
“I am getting inspiration,” I said as I stared at him through my camera. When he looked back at me, I snapped another picture. In this one, though, he had a soft smile on his lips.
“Well stop! I don’t like photos,” Gage said, his voice low.
“Get used to it. If it makes you feel better, you don’t look particularly ugly,” I offered, lowering my camera to my lap.
“Oh thanks,” he said dryly.
“No problem.” I grinned at him before looking out my window.
We continued our drive toward the inner city. Thankfully it wasn’t rush hour or too much traffic; it didn’t take long to make it downtown. I gazed up at the huge buildings towering over us. No matter how many times I had been downtown, I couldn’t get over how big and beautiful it was. It was always great coming here and people-watching. Seeing all the tourists and feeling that vibe. We turned down a street and I knew where we were.
“That’s my father’s building.” I pointed out to the left where a huge building stood, glass windows shining in the sun. At the mention of my father, I remembered I needed to call him later.
“Your father has a huge building,” Gage commented.
“He does. My grandfather built it up from the ground when he was young, and after he couldn’t run it anymore, my father took over,” I said. “Even my mom worked there for a while until she got pregnant with my brother. After college, Luke will start working there full-time, so he can learn.” Luke worked there sometimes during the summer to learn a little here and there, but my father didn’t want him to start until after graduation. He wanted Luke to experience his youth before having to focus on work.
“You aren’t going to work there after college?” Gage asked.
“No, I didn’t get that gene from my father. I’m the odd one out. My brother is following in my father’s footsteps, and instead of being a writer like my mother, I’m into art and photography.”
“If you wanted, would you work there?” No one had ever asked me that question. Most just assumed Luke would be the only one to work there and I would do something different. A few did think it was weird of me to want to do something with art and taking photos. They wanted me to be like my brother and father. Thankfully, though, my parents were super supportive and let me decide what I wanted to do with my life.
“If I was good at math and into business stuff, I would. I would love to work at our family business, but it isn’t for me. I’m just glad Luke likes that stuff because if not, neither of us would take over after my father.”
“I think it is cool you are doing something different from your whole family.” I sent Gage a smile. He didn’t know how much that meant to me.
Not even ten minutes later Gage found a parking spot on the side of the street and stopped the car. I glanced around and noticed we were in front of the Empire State Building.
“Why are we here?” I asked as I got out of the car. My camera was strapped around my neck and my bag was over my shoulder.
“We are going to find you som
e inspiration, and I know a perfect spot.” He sent me a wicked grin. For a split second I was worried what he had in mind. I had been to the Empire State Building, and I knew there was nothing in there that could help me.
He grabbed my hand and led me through the moving doors. The place was pretty busy with people bustling from one thing to another. A few tourists stood here and there taking photos.
“Okay, where to now?”
“Have some faith in me, Princess,” Gage said. He looked around for a minute before he found what he was looking for. “Follow my lead,” he whispered down to me.
He pulled me after him in the direction of a door where a security guard stood. I stared up at him as if he were nuts. We couldn’t go through that door; the guard would catch us. I barely had a second to think before Gage started yelling.
“Sir, there is a pregnant woman outside giving birth!” he yelled at the guard. I stood there frozen. What the hell was he doing?
“What?” the guard asked.
“There is a woman giving birth right outside. She is crying and screaming for help. You have to help!” Damn, Gage was a good actor. He looked frantic and his tone was pleading. I glanced at the guard, who was starting to panic. His eyes were wide as he glanced around. “Hurry, sir! Please!” Gage pleaded.
Not needing any more encouraging, the security guard ran toward the entrance of the building. Before the guard was even gone from our view, Gage yanked open the door and pulled me in after.
“Hurry,” he whispered, tugging me after him as we ran up the flight of stairs. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t need to be told twice what to do. I ran behind Gage who was taking the stairs two at a time. I did not want the guard to come back and catch us.
For some reason, though, as we ran up the stairs, I found myself laughing; I didn’t know if it was because I was going crazy, or the thrill of tricking a guard so we could go through this door. I heard Gage’s laughter mixing with mine as we continued our ascent.
I realized as we moved upwards that we were heading for the top of the building. I didn’t even know you could go up here, and seeing as Gage tricked the guard, I didn’t think we were allowed. We couldn’t back now, though, or else it would be all for nothing.
Halfway up, we slowed down, and I felt my legs weaken. I hadn’t gone up so many stairs before and my calves were starting to burn. My breathing was coming heavy, but I seemed to be the only one. Ahead of me, Gage seemed unaffected. Damn him and his fitness. I wanted to stop, but I forced myself to keep going.
Finally, after what felt like an hour, we seemed to reach the top. A door stood in front of us, and I couldn’t be happier to finally be done with the stairs. If only I had some water. With a hard shove from Gage, the door finally opened, and we were hit with a gust of wind. It was slightly chilly though.
Gage grabbed a brick off to the side to hold the door open as I exited the stairwell. Once I was out on the roof, my breath caught in my throat. I could see the entire city from up here. From being so high up the wind was blowing, but I ignored it, too entranced by the view.
I had no idea that New York City was so beautiful. Off to my left I could see the river, and beyond that Staten Island and even Brooklyn. I could see the traffic below us, but the cars looked like ants from up here.
I slowly made my way over to the right side by the edge. As I leaned over the balcony, the wind whipped my hair in its bun. I shivered but ignored it as I stared out at New York City. This was beyond amazing! I was so focused on the view I almost didn’t notice Gage staring at me, nor him taking out his phone and snapping pictures of me.
“This is…incredible!” I yelled. I turned around and grinned like a maniac at Gage. “How did you know you could come up here? Well you can’t, but still.”
“I came up here a couple of times with Dylan and someone else.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. Pushing aside the need to know who this other person was, I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around Gage’s body. I pressed my face tight against his hard chest and breathed him in. This was one of the coolest and sweetest things anyone had ever done for me.
It took him a few seconds to respond to my hug, and he was soon wrapping his arms around my waist. I breathed in his minty, citrus scent—the smell that could only be described as Gage Harper.
I forced myself to pull out of his embrace although it felt amazing. I sent him a small grin.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“It is no big deal.” He rubbed the back of his neck while shrugging again.
“It is to me.”
“I hope you find some inspiration,” Gage said, looking deep into my eyes.
“Definitely,” I breathed out. Trying to ignore my pounding heart, I went back over to the balcony and lifted my camera. I just had to take pictures of the scenery.
As I snapped photo after photo, I could slowly feel something coming back to me. Ideas were starting to pop up into my mind. All of this was because of Gage. Gage, who probably broke the law to bring me up here so I could try and find something to help me with my projects.
Gage was leaning against the wall with me gazing out at the city, a serene look upon his face. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at him.
“We have to take a picture,” I said suddenly.
“What?” He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow.
“We have to take a photo to document we were here,” I stated. I started taking out my cell phone from my bag. “Let’s turn so we have our backs to the city.”
“I don’t want to take a picture.”
“Suck it up because we are.” Grabbing his arm, I forced him to turn around with me. With our backs to the city, I lifted my phone up trying to get us in the picture. “Lean down a little,” I instructed, as Gage was too tall compared to me. Groaning under his breath, he leaned down so his face was next to mine.
Grinning like an idiot, I pressed the side button on my iPhone snapping multiple pictures of us. I didn’t care about looking foolish. Right now, I only cared about this moment. I lowered my phone and sorted through the photos. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out. You could see the clear blue sky in the back along with a few skyscrapers. Our faces were squished together, but both of us were grinning. That was what shocked me—seeing Gage smiling genuinely while looking in the camera. My own smile was large, and my cheeks had a red tint to them. When I looked at the last photo, my breath caught in my throat. Instead of looking at the camera, Gage was looking down at me with a soft smile on his lips. I, of course, was oblivious to it.
My pulse quickened as I stared at it. It had to be my favorite picture of the three we took. I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I loved the photo. Gage’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.
“Can I see your phone for a second?” he asked. Keeping my head down so he wouldn’t see my face, I quickly handed it over to him and headed to the other side of the building to take more photos. I did not want him to see how red my face was, or how much that picture affected me. I needed to get myself together!
“Here.” Gage tapped me on the shoulder while handing me back my phone. I glanced at it wondering why he wanted it but shrugged it off. With his smoldering gaze on me, I turned back around. Gage’s body was almost pressed against my back, his heat radiating off him onto me, and I stared straight ahead.
A wide smile started taking over my face. Seeing that Gage went through all of this for me made my insides flutter with butterflies. Taking a peek at him over my shoulder and seeing him looking content, I realized something: I did find something that was beautiful and brought me happiness.
Chapter Five
Gage
The rest of the week after going to the Empire State Building with Carter, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. The image of her leaning over the side of the building with the wind in her hair was something that I couldn’t erase from my mind, and I didn’t want to either.
What scared me the most was that I
was starting to feel something toward her. Something other than hatred or annoyance. She sure knew how to make someone like her. Carter had this innocence about her that just drew you in and made you want to learn more about her.
For someone who came from money, she wasn’t like those snotty, bratty girls I went to high school with. The girls or even guys who thought they were all that because they could afford the newest iPhone. I, of course, knew her father was Ashton Miller, the most well-known businessman in New York. And of course, her mother was a famous author.
When I first met her, I had no clue who she was and honestly didn’t care, but then Dylan came home telling me all about how he met Carter Miller. He made it seem like she was someone famous. When I realized it was the same girl he was talking about, I did judge her. It was wrong of me to do so, but I couldn’t help it. Having grown up with people “like” her, I thought she would be the same. Now that I knew her, though, she wasn’t. Carter was far from one of those snotty, bratty kids.
I sighed, looking down at my phone. I was looking down at the picture Carter had taken of both us on top of the Empire State Building. When I took her phone, I had quickly sent it to my own. I had no idea why. It was a great picture too.
The wind had blown perfectly in that moment; it’d lifted the stray ends of Carter’s hair away from her face. A wide smile was spread across her face as she stared into the camera. My own face had a soft smile on it as I gazed down at her. I hadn’t even realized I was looking at her when she took the picture.
I almost didn’t want to admit it, but I’d had a great time. Who knew sneaking inside the Empire State Building and going to the top would be so fun? I could tell Carter was nervous at first, but when we did get up there, the smile on her face was worth it all.
As I was looking at the photo, my phone started vibrating and the picture disappeared showing a familiar number. Smiling, I swiped to answer.
“Hi Grandma,” I said into the phone.
“How’s my favorite grandson doing?” my grandma Rose asked.
Silent Love [Part 2]_Forbidden Series Page 7
