Sage: A Second-Chance MMA Romance Novella (A Cocky Cage Fighter Legacy Book 2), Lane Hart [bearly read books txt] 📗

wasn’t sure I could make her happy before. Now, I know I can. It’s more important to me than anything – even a title belt. Especially a title belt. I thought her and Tal…I thought he loved her as much as I did, but I was wrong.”

“Yeah, you were,” Senn grunts, arms crossing over his chest again, which is a good sign. If he was going to hit me, they would be loose by his side or up and in front of his face.

“So?” I ask him. “Do I have your blessing?” I know better than to tell him that I’m still going to ask, no, beg Eden to marry me regardless of how he feels about it.

Now, he does uncross his arms, and then he’s on me, grabbing the front of my shirt, close enough that I can see every speck in his dark eyes that are so similar to Eden’s. “If you hurt her again, I will kill you.”

“I know. And I won’t,” I promise him.

Chapter Eighteen

Eden

Something startles me awake. I sit up in a hurry, unsure where I am since I was dreaming of sleeping in Sage’s bed. Tal humphs when I accidently jab my elbow in his stomach. “Sorry,” I whisper, which is stupid since he’s obviously awake now. I glance around the living room lit up only by the television and realize I must have fallen asleep with my head on his lap while we were watching sappy movies. The flat screen is still and quiet with only the message, “Are you still watching?” which means Tal was either sleeping too or just couldn’t reach the remote and didn’t want to wake me.

Then I hear the sound again, the one that I’m certain woke me up – someone knocking at the door.

“Shit,” I mutter as I get to my feet, feeling like a zombie. Since it’s a soft knock and not banging, I’m assuming that means it’s not my father. But then who… I go up on my tiptoes to look out the peephole and then gasp.

“Who is it?” Tal asks, his voice still deep and gruff from sleep.

“Your brother.”

“Shit,” he says as he jumps up and straightens his shirt. “He’ll think we were doing more than we were.”

“Why would he care?” I ask.

“Just open the door!” Tal says, so I turn the lock and do as he said.

By the time I pull the door open, I’m wide awake, which is when I realize that Sage looks really good in his green hoodie and jeans. He also smells so clean and delicious while I’ve been sulking on the sofa all day without a shower, looking like a hot mess. Well, too late now…

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, tying my robe tighter around my waist as if it can magically make me look less sloppy.

Sage opens his mouth to say something as one of his hands slides into his front jean pocket, then his eyes get distracted by something behind me. Or someone rather. “What is he doing here?”

And for the first time that I can ever remember, Sage sounds jealous.

“Nothing happened,” Tal says. “We fell asleep in the living room watching chick flicks.”

Sage looks at his twin and then me before he asks, “Do you want me or him, Eden? If you want him, then fine, I’ll hate it, but he’s my brother and I love you both, so I’ll suck it up and try to deal with it. What I really want, though, is for you to choose me, to forgive me for hurting you years ago, even though I don’t deserve another chance.”

Tal slips out the door from beside me as I try to figure out what to say without hurting Tal’s feelings. In the hallway, he circles Sage once then stops behind him. “What do you think, Eden?” Tal asks. “I can’t help but find his attempt lacking after a night of sappy movies with grand gestures. At best, all I can give him is a B- for his mea culpa speech.”

“I…” I start to respond and Tal interrupts.

“I’m leaving. We all know how this ends, and it’s not with you picking me. I’d be lying if I said I wanted you and you know it. We were never really together, were we?” he says to me. Then, turning to Sage, he tells him, “She’s always been yours; I was just the stand-in until you figured your shit out.”

He starts to walk away down the hall without another word.

“I’m sorry, Tal,” I call out since it’s not even a choice and I hate that. He doesn’t even try to look back at us over his shoulder. He’s just gone.

I feel awful that he’s being pushed to the side. Although, I know that what we had, what we still have, is an unbreakable friendship and nothing else. He knows it too, so we’ll be okay.

“He’ll be fine,” Sage says, echoing my same thoughts. “If what he said was true?”

“It was. It is,” I agree as I swipe my fingers underneath my eyes to dry the tears. “But I need to know you’re serious, Sage. That this isn’t just the amnesia talking or a spur-of-the-moment decision.” I pause when he reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out a small jewelry box. No, it can’t possibly be…

“I bought this ring before our beach trip eight years ago,” Sage says as he opens the box, revealing the beautiful, sparkling diamond solitaire. “I was going to ask you to marry me, but we were so young, and I knew you were leaving for school with Tal. I didn’t want to hold you back or be the boyfriend who was never around. I knew Tal loved you, and I thought you two would be good for each other. He was giving up fighting to go with you, making a sacrifice that I didn’t think I could make. At least that’s what I thought at the time. So, I never told you or