Cutting Ryder off, Gabe said, “Dude, we get it! You got *. We don’t need to know the details.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, man,” Ryder yelled on the other end. “Anyway, douchebag, after we did it, we fell asleep, or at least I thought Taylor did as well.”
“What the hell happened, Ryder?” I asked with worry.
“She fucked some other asshole,” Ryder blurted.
“Oh shit, man. What the fuck did you do?” Gabe yelled at the phone.
“Well, that’s the thing.”
“What’s the thing?” I questioned. I knew this was not going to be good.
“I need you to pick me up from the county jail,” Ryder said.
Grabbing the phone from my hand, Gabe yelled, “Dude, what the fuck happened?”
“Chill the fuck out, asshole! I didn’t kill the prick.” Pausing, Ryder said, “I just roughed him up a bit. I thought Taylor was in the bathroom, ya know? Throwing up. Anyway, when she wasn’t there, I went out into the living room and heard these noises. I started to walk away when I heard the fuck say Taylor.”
“Go on!” Gabe yelled.
“Jesus Christ, you’re not my dad, asshole!” Ryder yelled.
“Well, me and Sarah might pick you up from the county jail, so continue, Ryder. Now!”
“Okay. Okay.” Ryder chuckled. “So I went in there, and sure enough, it was Taylor. My Taylor. And I grabbed the guy off her and broke his nose.”
Grabbing the phone from Gabe, I asked, “Well, where the hell’s Taylor?”
“Who the fuck cares?” Ryder asked with no remorse.
“Ryder, I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I knew this was hard on him, whether or not he wanted to admit to it. I knew maybe he would talk to me about it later, but not in front of Gabe. Or on the phone, for that matter.
“Uh, who gives a fuck. We’re going to college, anyway. If you ask me, it’s better I’ll be single in college. I can just fuck and drink and do tattoos, so I don’t give a fuck.” Ryder had a huge smirk on his face, I could tell. He was probably already picturing it.
Shaking my head, I said, “All right, we’ll be there in a few minutes, Ryder. Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Sarah,” Ryder started to say. “Oh, and Gabe, too!”
“Yeah, yeah, you fuck.” Gabe laughed. “We’ll see you in a few.”
“Okay, fucker.” Ryder laughed. “See ya then!”
Looking down at the phone in my hand, I let out a laugh before I hung up. Throwing the phone to the edge of the bed, I relaxed in Gabe’s arms and let out a breath.
“What are you thinking about?” Gabe questioned. I started to shrug my shoulders when Gabe said, “Sarah?”
Looking up into his eyes, I blurted out, “College.” It was something we hadn’t talked about yet. And if we were going to be in a relationship, we would have to work really hard on this. Gabe was going to school in Arizona and I was staying here. I would’ve never asked him to choose between me and his home. I wanted him to be happy and I knew that I was happy with him. Whether he was here or a few thousand miles away; we would work through it.
“I know,” Gabe said as he rested his head on top of mine. Giving me a quick kiss, he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. “We’ll get through this, Sarah.”
Turning around in his arms, I asked, “How can you be so sure, Gabe?”
“Because I love you, Sarah,” he said without thinking. “I love you. I chose you. I choose you. I want you, Sarah.” He stretched. “For me, you’re it. I know we’ll have our struggles and we’ll make mistakes, but I want all of that plus all of the beautiful things, and I want to share them all with you.”
I could feel tears in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry in front of him. Gabe lowered his head to look at me. “It’s okay to cry, Sarah, because I’ll be right here for you to lean on.”
“What did I do to deserve you, Gabe?” I blurted out. I truly had no idea, and if you ask me, Gabe could do a lot better than me. Hands down.
“The real question is what did I do to deserve you?” Gabe whispered against my lips. He answered his own question. “I don’t have a fucking idea. But for as long as you’ll have me, I’m yours.”
“Forever,” I blurted. My head and my heart wanted Gabe.
“I live for you, Sarah,” Gabe said before kissing me.
I sucked in a breath. I couldn’t get over the fact that this beautiful man wanted me. “I love you too, Gabe,” I whispered. My stomach was swarming with butterflies. My heart was beating out of my chest. My lungs couldn’t get enough oxygen. And all the while I was trying not to burst into happy tears.
Smiling down at me, Gabe kissed me on the cheek. “We should probably go get that fucker.” Gabe laughed after he pulled back from me.
Giggling, I said, “Yeah, probably.” My eyes widened.
“What?” Gabe asked while he was getting ready.
“I only have my prom dress.”
“Mmm,” he moaned.
I giggled.
“All right, all right,” he laughed. “We’ll go to your house so you can change.” He frowned.
“What’s the matter?”
He smirked. “I don’t like you getting dressed.”