“Ms. Ashford, pleasure to see you again.” The guy leaned into Gem, kissing both of her cheeks.
Sweat broke out down my spine.
Gemma flashed me a look before the man stole her attention.
“Guess we need to host another party for you soon,” he said proudly. “I noticed you’re closing in on three million subscribers on your channel.”
Anger curdled in my belly with how he kept a hand on Gem’s elbow.
She disengaged from the guy as quickly as she could, allowing me to suck in a much-needed breath. “Yes, it seems to have exploded a little, ever since Kas appeared on my live Q&A.”
The guy glanced my way. “Kas. The man of the hour.” He held out his hand, straight toward me like a sword. “Pleasure to meet you. It’s an honor that you could make it tonight. We have big dreams for a collaboration if you’re open to discussing.” His hand jerked a little, waiting for me to clasp it.
“Touch it, Kas. Touch it real good, and I might just touch you back.”
I choked as Wilby’s voice slipped through my head.
My skin crawled.
Gem once again saved me from embarrassing myself. Tripping into me, she squeaked dramatically. “Oh!”
My arms automatically came up to catch her when she crashed into my chest. My hands locked around her waist. “Whoa, are you okay?”
She caught my worried gaze with a conspiratorial glance. “Yes, fine. Sorry. I’m not used to being in such high heels. Very clumsy of me.” Smoothing down my tux where she’d deliberately fallen into me, she flicked her hair, turned her back, and plonked herself directly in front of me, preventing any hope of Tony getting a handshake without physically removing her.
Fuck, I love this woman.
“Sorry about that.” Gemma laughed. “Kas is such a gentleman. Never lets me fall. Which is ironic, seeing as I was the reason he fell off a cliff.”
“Ah, yes!” Tony dropped his arm. “I read about that. The unfortunate incident that led to a long recovery, you playing nursemaid, and the romantic conclusion of falling in love.”
Gem laughed. It was strained and slightly forced, but I doubted anyone would notice who wasn’t intimately involved with her like I was.
Like.
I.
Am.
Holy shit.
I’m the only one who gets to see her naked.
Just like she’s the only one who gets to see me naked.
And not just naked physically but emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
Fuck.
It was like a bomb went off inside my head.
A simple, significant bomb that showed just how precious that truth was.
No one else.
Ever again.
Just us.
My shoulders fell away from my ears, my back straightened, and a peace fell over my racing heart. A peace I’d tried so fucking hard to grasp, but it’d kept eluding me until now.
A peace that came from surrendering to everything.
Surrendering to what had happened. Surrendering to what was happening. And knowing, without any fucking doubt, that nothing bad would happen again.
Ever.
Because Gem wouldn’t allow it.
I wouldn’t allow it.
We made our own rules because we were together and had each other’s backs for the rest of our lives.
Wow.
It was like a massive boulder rolled off my back.
Air had never tasted so sweet, even laced with perfume and cologne, slipping into my lungs and stealing some of the darkness still inside me.
I studied the crowd in a new light. Sure, there might be some monsters in there, mingling with innocents, taking advantage, and plotting ruin, but that didn’t mean I would be theirs.
They couldn’t come and touch me without my permission.
I wouldn’t be forced to stand there while they took liberties that made me want to die.
Only Gemma could touch me because I’d given her that right, all while taking my own rights over her.
“Kas?” Gemma asked quietly, looking over her shoulder at me. “Everything okay?”
A broad smile broke out over my face.
Fuck yes, things were okay.
I’d finally accepted what I’d been trying to tell myself all along.
I wasn’t a scrawny kid anymore.
I wasn’t some amnesiac animal from the valley.
I was a man who fully deserved to be beside the woman he loved and had a power that no one could steal again.
Wrapping my arms around her from behind, I pulled her close, held out my hand, and waited for Tony to shake.
Gemma froze.
I shivered just a little.
Tony frowned and glanced at my palm before he slowly grinned and placed his into mine.
Dry and papery, cool and strong.
Our fingers wrapped around each other.
Parts of my psyche crashed and scurried in my head, screaming for mercy, begging not to be hurt. While the new side of me, the part that recognized I didn’t have to put up with pain anymore breathed a huge sigh of relief.
I can do this.
See, I’m fucking doing it.
Gemma sucked in a breath as Tony and I let go, our hands falling to our sides, our gazes catching. I waited for some residue of fear. Some ghost to whisper in my head. Some phantom pain to torment me.