Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
JAYSON
M om, Dad, and Julien just left to go home and take showers. The doctor on rotation came in not long ago and said I should be discharged later this morning after they do one more blood draw to make sure things look good. The hospital staff have been nice, but the food is atrocious. I check my phone again. Still no word from Ryder or Liz. I text Julien.
Me: Bring me back two sausage biscuits. Hospital food sucks. I’m starving.
Julien: See you in an hour.
To pass the time because I’m bored out of my mind, I play a game on my phone. I don’t look up when my hospital door opens because it’s more than likely a nurse coming in to check on me. At least the blood pressure cuff isn’t going off every fifteen minutes anymore.
“Hey,” a soft voice says from the door.
My head whips up so fast I see flashing lights behind my eyes. Or maybe they are caused by the sight of Liz standing in front of me looking like a gorgeous fairy princess in a rose blouse and brown skirt, her long platinum hair hanging loose around her shoulders. She is a fucking sight to behold, and my gaze devours every inch of her.
Ryder steps up behind her. “Hey, man. How are you this morning?”
I don’t care how he did it, but she’s here. She’s really here.
“I feel fine. They’re letting me go home today.”
I lick my lips, which have suddenly gone dry as a desert, and reach for the cup of water on the side table.
“Does she know?” I ask because she looks apprehensive as hell.
“Yeah, she knows. I told her everything.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
I reach for her, wanting her to come to me, but she steps back and drops her head. That familiar panic rises. She’s decided she doesn’t want me anymore. We’re done. She’s leaving me. It’s all my fault.
I watch helplessly as Ryder backs out of the room and closes the door, leaving me alone, not knowing what to do or what to say to Liz to make things right with her. The room is so silent, only the sound of the hospital equipment and the tiny rhythmic plops like raindrops hitting the floor can be heard. I look down and see little puddles of tears at Liz’s feet, and my heart drops.
“God, baby, don’t cry. Please don’t cry,” I choke up.
“Did you have sex with her?” she asks, her voice broken and barely audible.
My answer is loud and strong, leaving no doubt. Ryder said that I still had my jeans on when they found me in the room with Jacinda.
“No. I would never do that to you. I would never want to.”
“Did you kiss her? Touch her?”
I wish I could say no with absolute certitude, but I honestly don’t remember. I pray that I didn’t. Wish it with all my heart. The only girl I want is her. No one else. Only her.
“I love you so fucking much. So much, Liz. Please come here. I need you to come here. Please let me hold you,” I beg.
She wipes under her eyes and shakes her head.
“Liz, please, baby. I love you. I need you. Please.”
She looks at my outstretched hand, then at me. Finally, she takes it.
As soon as her hand is in mine, I pull her on top of me in the hospital bed. I shower kisses all over her wet face, drinking up her tears. She wraps her arms around my neck, and it doesn’t take long for her to kiss me back.
“I’m so goddamn sorry.”
She sniffles.
“They say make-up sex is the best sex.”
My heart soars when I feel her lips curve against my skin.
Liz pulls back, no longer amused. “Did Jacinda drug your drink?”
“I don’t know. She handed me the drinks. Maybe that shit was meant for her or Samantha. Maybe it was a prank. Who the fuck knows?”
Liz grows solemn. “I hate her guts, but I hope no one tried to spike her drink on purpose. What about the fight? Ryder explained on the way here that Marshall could bring assault charges against you.”
I roll her to my side and allow her to get comfortable, which is hard in this tiny as fuck bed, but I’m not letting her go.
“We’ll just have to wait and see and hope for the best. If it comes down to it, I have the bloodwork that proves someone slipped me a roofie.”
She plays with one of the strings of my hospital gown. “We’ll get through this together.”
“We will?” I sound like a pussy asking it.
“We will,” she replies.
I feel a huge weight being lifted, releasing the stranglehold on my heart, allowing me to breathe again.
“I promise I won’t be that stupid ever again. You have my word.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around what happened. When I saw you and…her…”
“I love you, Princess. I would never do something like that to you.”
I hold my girl, and no more words are spoken. By the time Julien and my parents come back, I’m finally discharged.
Figuring I won’t see him for the rest of the day, I text Ry a heartfelt thank you for bringing Liz back to me.
So, imagine my surprise when I see him, his parents and sisters, along with Liz’s mom and Hailey, sitting in our living room when we get home.
“Mom?” Liz questions, her confusion apparent.
“Please come sit,” Ann says, patting the spot on the sofa next to her and Hailey.
Julien stops beside me under the entryway of the living room.
“What’s going on?”
“No clue.”
My mom begins. “In light of everything that happened and everything we learned about last night, we thought it best for all of us to sit down and talk.”
“Talk about what?” I ask.
“Drinking. Drugs. Sex.”
Did not see that coming.
“Boys, please have a seat,” Dad says, and we immediately do as he asks, knowing now is not the time to argue.
I lower to the armrest of the couch next to Liz, and Ryder and Julien sit on the floor. Brea and Jamie occupy the armchairs on either side of us. I reach over to take Liz’s hand, and at first, she pulls away. Her avoidance of my touch breaks my heart all over again.
The room grows tense as we wait.
“I think it’s safe to say that we are very disappointed in you.”
Jamie fires off, “Wait a minute! I didn’t do anything. I was at work.”
“For brevity’s sake,” Faith responds to her oldest daughter, “we will be using the ‘royal we.’ It doesn’t matter if you were at the party last night or not, we feel that what we discuss today is important for all of you to hear.”
Faith motions for my mom to continue.
“Like I said, we are disappointed. To find out our children are attending parties where there’s underage drinking and drugs concerns us greatly. It also scares the hell out of us. Look what happened.” She aims her silver gaze directly at me. “We are so thankful that you are all right, but things could have turned out much, much differently.”
Liz’s mom’s breath audibly catches. It could have been Liz that got slipped the date rape drug. John is out of town on tour, and my guilt skyrockets a thousandfold knowing Ann is having to deal with this all on her own.
Over the next two hours, we have a serious discussion about what our parents expect from us, including the always dreaded sex talk. They ask us questions about Fallon’s party and talk to us about the dangers of underage drinking and drug use. Ann and Faith have a conversation with their daughters about date rape.
Those were two of the most excruciating hours of my life. Not because of what our parents said, but because I broke my parents’ trust. I broke Liz’s trust. And I have a feeling that the rift I created may be impossible for me to mend.
It took a few months for our parents to ease up on their worry whenever we left the house to go out. Once again, I was grounded—this time for an entire month. I didn’t mind. Liz and I took that time to focus on mending our relationship. The months following the party fiasco flew by and before we knew it, another school year had ended. Ryder was right. Fallon’s threats worked, and no charges were brought against us for the fight. No other videos were posted either, and the one that did pop up was taken down and disappeared within a day after it had been posted. I hate knowing that I now owe Fallon.
Our families took the trip to Hawaii for summer vacation, and it was fucking awesome. My favorite memory? Liz and I got to fulfill number three on my Hawaii bucket list. I fucked her on the black sand beach under a full moon. Best night ever. It was her fault for wearing that damn bikini again.
Things between all of us were good. Better than good. Our unit was tight, our friendships were solid. We went into our senior year looking ahead to the future, planning to spend it together. I would later regret those words.