by Erin Danzer
Chapter Twenty One
Ronnie dreamed about a beautiful white stone castle on top of a hill. Purple flags flew from atop the turrets and an oak drawbridge lowered as she neared it. Gavin walked beside her, his hand in hers, and smiled at her as they started over the bridge into the outer castle.
“What the hell is going on here?” her mom screeched. Ronnie bolted up, the dream leaving her mind as her mom grabbed her arm and pulled her out of bed.
“And who the hell are you?” her mom added as Ronnie rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up enough to make sense of what was going on. She ran a hand through her hair as Gavin materialized next to her. Only he hadn’t just materialized—he spent the night.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, a hand over her mouth as she stared at him with wide eyes. His hair was rumpled from sleep, but his eyes were alert and guiltily met hers.
“I’m sorry, Ronnie. I meant to leave,” he told her.
“You meant to leave?” her mom repeated. Ronnie and Gavin cringed. Ronnie stared at her mom, wondering why she was home so early when she spent the night in Chicago. It was at least a two-hour drive to get home. A quick look at the clock showed Ronnie it was after eleven, plenty of time for her parents to check out of their hotel and get home.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ronnie’s mom asked Gavin and then rounded on her daughter. “What the hell happened here last night? Who is this guy? I never expected to find you in bed with a guy, but if it would have been anyone, I expected to find Shawn. I don’t even know him.”
Ronnie’s cheeks flushed at the mention of Shawn, dread settling in the pit of her stomach. Oh god, what had she done? Even though they had only slept and nothing happened, how was she going to explain this to Shawn? She couldn’t even explain it to her mom. Anything she tried to say would only make the situation worse.
“You’re grounded for a month,” her mom declared when Ronnie kept quiet. “Good luck when you tell Shawn what you did to make that happen.”
Ronnie’s face drained of color as her mom crossed the room to leave. At the door, her mom turned back and added,
“You know, Brian never did anything like this to us. You’re such a disappointment.”
Tears spilled down Ronnie’s cheeks as her mom left the room. She jumped when Gavin reached for her and then turned into him and sobbed against his chest. She was absolutely mortified. She never should have asked him to stay. How was she going to make Shawn understand nothing happened?
“I’m so sorry,” Gavin apologized. “I was going to leave before dawn. I don’t know why I didn’t wake up. I never wanted this to happen.”
Ronnie looked up at him through watery eyes. “I’m the one who asked you to stay,” she reminded him brokenly and shook as fresh sobs tried to overcome her. She took a deep breath and swallowed down the tears, wiping her eyes as she stepped away from him.
“Princess,” he began and stopped when she looked up at him. Nothing either of them could say would make this situation better. Ronnie knew it would only get worse once she saw Shawn.
“You know what, give me five minutes and we’ll go down together; at least if you’re there, she can’t yell anymore than she already has,” Ronnie suggested and Gavin mutely nodded. His jaw was set, his shoulders tense, and his eyes tortured; Ronnie wanted to say something comforting but didn’t know what to say. She reached out and touched his arm. His eyes met hers. She swallowed and nodded, and then turned away to grab some clothes and go to the bathroom to get changed. It was so reminiscent of last night she thought she had déjà vu, but the outcome was so much different. Instead of something almost happening, they had been caught together when nothing happened.
Ronnie returned to her bedroom wearing a pair of black jeans and a black tank top, her hair in a long braid down her back. She didn’t even think about her tattoo—at this point, what more could her mom do to her? She was already grounded and more than likely going to lose Shawn once she explained what happened.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Gavin asked motioning towards her tattoo. Ronnie shrugged one shoulder.
“What more can she do? Ground me another month and tell me again how disappointing I am?” Ronnie replied bitterly and reached for his hand. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
She led him out of her room and down the stairs. They were still holding hands when they walked into the living room and found Shawn sitting on the couch. Ronnie’s cheeks burned as she dropped Gavin’s hand but it was too late; he noticed. Shawn’s face flushed with anger as he jumped to his feet.
“What’s going on, Ronnie,” he ground out. Ronnie’s heart pounded in her throat. She resisted the urge to reach for Gavin’s hand again. She knew that would only make things worse. Instead, she squared her shoulders and looked Shawn in the eye, even though she knew he wouldn’t believe her or even listen to her until he calmed down.
“Nothing’s going on, Shawn,” she told him steadily. She watched Shawn struggle to pull himself together but knew it wasn’t going to happen when his gaze cut to Gavin.
“Then what were you doing coming downstairs with him,” Shawn continued. “And why were you holding his hand? What the hell are you doing, Ronnie?”
“Shawn, it’s not what it looks like,” Ronnie stated and snapped her mouth shut. The words were lame and—
“Not funny, Ronnie. That usually means it’s exactly what it looks like,” Shawn interrupted. Her face flushed, her cheeks red as the moment Gavin almost kissed her came back to her. That was not what she needed to think about right now.
“Is this why you sent me home?” Shawn yelled at her. “So you could be with him? Was he waiting when you got home? Did he stay all night?”
“Shawn, please listen to me. Nothing happened.” She reached out to touch his arm but he pulled away before she could, looking appalled that she would even try. Tears rapidly filled her eyes despite her attempt to stop them.
“Did he stay overnight?” Shawn asked tightly, his voice full of barely controlled rage.
“Yes,” she admitted, her voice cracking, and looked away. Shawn glared down at her before turning towards Gavin. Ronnie looked up as Shawn stepped around her, lifted his fist, and punched Gavin in the face. She gasped but stopped herself from intervening, praying Shawn wouldn’t strike again.
“Get out of town, man,” Shawn growled and stormed from the house. Ronnie watched him go with tears streaming down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she looked back at Gavin but the tears wouldn’t stop. Her chest hurt and she knew it was her heart shattering.
“I have to go,” Gavin told her, his voice thick with emotion. Ronnie reached out to grab his arm as he headed for the door but he sidestepped her reach and kept going.
“Please don’t go,” she begged as he reached the door. He turned back and she cringed at the blossoming bruise on the right side of his face.
“Isn’t that what started all this?” he reminded her and walked out the door. Ronnie’s control snapped as the door clicked shut behind him. She collapsed into the nearest chair and sobbed. Everything was ruined. She lost Shawn and even though he hadn’t said it, she knew she lost Gavin, too.
