Chapter 48
Guinevere
T he sound of my cell phone vibrating against my nightstand fills my ears as I sit at my desk in my childhood bedroom, staring out the window. I watch as snowflakes fall to the ground in a light flurry.
I’ve been ignoring everyone since I packed up my car and left Ellington three days ago. Damian is slightly pissed that I left without him, but he has a car, so I wasn’t too worried about him getting home.
Lainey, Ellie, and Haley have been blowing up our group chat with questions about why I left without saying goodbye. They assume it had something to do with Ryker, which they’d be correct in their assumptions.
The night I got home, I’d received several phone calls and texts from Ryker. I ignored them until he threatened to show up at my house. I know he’s not far, and I know he’d do it. So I answered him. I told him to leave me alone and to never talk to me again, and then I blocked his number.
I don’t know what he wants to explain, but I don’t want to hear it. I knew better. I did this to myself. I can’t even blame him, really.
I knew what I was getting myself into. Ryker Steele doesn’t do relationships. That’s what everyone told me, and I chose to let myself believe I was the exception.
He’d opened up to me, telling me things about himself and his family that he’d never told anyone. I told him things about me that not many people knew. He said I could trust him, and I believed him. Stupid, na?ve little girl.
Ryker betrayed me. He betrayed my trust, and that is something I don’t give easily. And now, Ryker Steele is dead to me.
That bitch Amy knew what she was doing. She was trying to stake her claim, show me that I’m not capable of giving Ryker what he needs. And when she told me they’d slept together just the night before, it was like a slap in the face.
Just a night after what I’d considered the best sex I’d ever had, and Ryker went off and fucked someone else. God, I’m such an idiot. How could I think that I was any different than any other girl he’s screwed?
His words were pretty, and the way held me made me feel like I was the only girl in his orbit. Meanwhile, he was laughing at me the whole time, probably thinking how easy I was to fool.
My eyes flood with another bout of tears, and I hate myself for crying. I’m pathetic, crying over a guy that clearly never cared about me at all.
Using the back of my hand, I wipe away the tears and take a deep, shaky breath. That’s enough, Gwen. You are stronger than this.
Sammy, mom’s new dog, pops up from his spot on my bed as my bedroom door flies open, Damian rushing through looking out of breath. I jump up from my seat, watching Damian bend over, setting his hands on his knees as he tries to calm himself down.
“What the hell, Damian! What are you doing?” I demand. He holds up a finger, indicating that he still needs a moment before he explains himself.
Finally, he straightens, still slightly out of breath. “Have you… looked at… your phone at all… in the past twenty-four hours?” he pants. I shake my head, walking over to my nightstand to grab my cell.
Over one hundred text messages from our group chat, and several missed calls and facetimes from Lainey and Ellie.
“Someone attacked Ashton Davis. He’s in the hospital with a broken jaw and several other broken bones. He’s in a coma,” Damian rushes out.
“What?” I croak. My eyes widen and my heart leaps into my throat. He wouldn’t.
Damian sits on my bed, petting Sammy on the head as he watches me.
“Lainey and Ellie think it was Ryker. He’s the only one with motive.”
There’s no way Ryker would be that stupid. He may be an Elite, and they can get away with shit, but how is he going to get out of beating a man so badly he’s in the hospital with multiple injuries?
My heart stutters. Is Ryker okay? Is he hurt? Is he in trouble?
“Is he…” I begin softly. “Did he get caught?” I shouldn’t care. He’s dead to you, remember?
Damian shakes his head before running a hand through his shaggy hair. “No. A couple of students found Ashton alone outside the gym. Apparently he was covered in blood and completely knocked out.”
My breathing picks up as I begin to pace back and forth.
“Jesus,” I say, exasperated.
“What happened between you two? Something must have really pissed him off for him to go off the deep end like that,” Damian questions. Sammy rolls over on his back for Damian to rub his belly, and Damian does.
I stop pacing, recalling the night of the party and how everything I thought I knew went up in flames.
“If I’m going to tell you, I should probably loop Lainey, Ellie, and Haley in,” I say, pressing the Facetime button on my phone to call the girls.
Lainey picks up first, unsurprisingly, followed by Haley, and then Ellie. Lainey looks more worried than I’ve ever seen her, and a twinge of guilt pinches in my chest. I tell my best friend everything, and I can imagine leaving without telling her why broke her heart.
“You better have a damn good explanation for completely falling off the face of the earth for three days straight,” Lainey shouts through the phone, her anger palpable. I wince.
“Are you alright? Did something happen?” Ellie worries.
Haley stays silent. She already knows the gist of what happened since she was home when I came back to pack my stuff and get the hell out of there. She wouldn’t let me leave until I told her why I was in such a hurry.
I exhale a deep breath I didn’t even know I was holding before sitting on my bed next to Damian.
“I’m really sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just… something did happen… at the party” I hesitate. My friends aren’t the kind of people to say, ‘I told you so’, but I know they’ll be thinking it after I tell them the truth. I don’t want them to think I’m stupid, even thought I am.
“Gwen?” Ellie urges. I pick at a string on my pajama shorts as I begin to explain everything.
“This girl, Amy, found me at the party. I recognized her. She was one of Ryker’s prior hookups. She cornered me and basically told me that Ryker and I would never work because he isn’t ready for a commitment. Then, she told me they hooked up,” I explain. Lainey’s brows furrow.
“So, he hooked up with a lot of girls before you,” Lainey says.
“Lainey!” Ellie scolds. Lainey grimaces.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you know he has a promiscuous past, but you can’t let that bother you if you want a future with him.”
“Except, it wasn’t in the past…” I feel four sets of eyes on me as they all wait for me to explain further. “They slept together the night before the party. He cheated on me.”
The words hurt to even say out loud. My heart feels like it’s been yanked out and stomped on.
“Wait, what?” Lainey looks bemused .
“Oh, Gwen,” Ellie coos.
I hear Damian exhale a breath and see him look down at the floor.
“Damnit, Gwen. I’m sorry. I wish you told us. We could have been here for you,” Damian tells me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side.
“Why don’t you look shocked, Hal?” Lainey asks, squinting her eyes. Haley shrugs casually.
“I already knew,” she explains nonchalantly. Ellie, Lainey, and Damian’s eyes go wide. It would be comedic if not for the situation at hand.
“What the hell? How?” Lainey shouts.
Haley chuckles. “Because I was home when she came back to pack. I told her she couldn’t leave without giving me a good reason. I thought that was reason enough.”
“And you didn’t tell us?” Damian asks, sounding offended.
“Guys, it wasn’t Haley’s story to tell. It’s Gwen’s, and she told us when she was ready,” Ellie says calmly. Oh Ellie, ever the levelheaded one.
“So now what?” Hayley asks, her picture shaking as she crawls into her car. I shrug.
“Nothing. Ryker and I are done. It’s over,” I say, feeling completely defeated. I don’t want it to be over. I just want to go back in time to the other night when we laid in bed, sharing our feelings.
Ellie’s face looks sad as she looks at me through the phone. Lainey looks like she wants to say something more, but she doesn’t speak.
A loud sound comes from Ellie’s end before a male voice booms in the background.
Ellie looks behind her before shouting, “Holland, get out of my room!”
“Is that Guinevere?” Holland asks, his voice deep and angry.
“None of your business, now get out!” Ellie demands.
There’s a struggle as Holland seems to attempt to grab Ellie’s phone out of her hand. Damian and I share a confused glance while Lainey looks like she wants to burst out laughing. Haley’s connection gets lost as she appears to go under a tunnel.
Holland’s face appears on my screen as I hear Ellie in the background cursing at him.
“What the hell happened between you and Steele?” Holland’s deep voice demands.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Lainey chides.
Holland rolls his eyes. “Shut it, Barkley. I’m not talking to you,” he retorts.
“You’re talking to my best friend, that means you’re talking to me.”
They really bicker like an old married couple. It’s kind of adorable.
“I don’t have time for your stupid comments, Barkley. Steele is out of his goddamn mind. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s not eating, he’s not sleeping, he’s been drunk for the past three nights. He won’t tell me anything,” Holland runs a hand through his hair before rubbing the scruff on his chin. “I went to check on him today. He’s in really rough shape. He almost killed that Ashton guy.”
My chest becomes heavy as I take in Holland’s words. Ryker hasn’t gone home yet?
“Why didn’t he go home? The Elite Mansion must be empty by now,” I ask. Holland shakes his head.
“Logan’s been trying to get him to leave, but he refuses. He says you won’t talk to him. You won’t let him explain. Explain what?” Holland asks. Ellie grabs the phone back, hitting Holland in the head.
“Leave her alone, Holland. She doesn’t have to tell you shit.”
I hear Holland growl before the slam of a door tells me he’s left the room.
“I’m sorry about that. Holland never knows when to keep his nose out of anyone’s business,” Ellie shrugs. I force a soft chuckle out of my mouth.
“It’s okay…” but nothing is really okay.
“Do you want us to come over? We can have a girl’s night,” Lainey suggests. Ellie and Lainey don’t live far from me .
In fact, they live in East Greenwich, the town that Ryker’s from. Damian’s hand flies to his chest, his mouth hanging open.
“Excuse the fuck out of you. I’ll be there too,” he says, his voice laced with offence. Lainey’s eyes roll.
“Girl’s night plus Damian,” she groans. Lainey and Damian love each other, but they also butt heads often. Their friendship is funny that way. They can scream and yell at each other one minute and be best friends that next.
“Sure, that would be nice,” and I think it would help take my mind off of everything.
Hearing how hurt Ryker is makes me want to drive back to Ellington just to hold him and tell him everything is going to be alright.
But he’s the one that broke us. He’s the one that cheated, and I shouldn’t feel bad for standing up for myself and leaving.
He made his bed, now he can lie in it.
“Okay, be there in an hour,” Lainey says, ending the Facetime call.
Sammy yawns loudly, and Damian and I look back at him as he pants, his long, pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.
He’s a black lab mixed with something we can’t quite identify. He really is adorable, and I’m glad he’s been here to keep my mom company. As Damian pets him, I can see his eyes narrow in confusion.
“What?” I ask. Damian looks at me, then back down to Sammy.
“Who the hell’s dog is this?” I bark out a laugh. How is he just realizing that he’s been petting a dog on my bed when I’ve never owned a dog?