"Hello?"
"Hello Sage." It was a man, and his voice was gravely. I didn't recognize it.
"Who is this? And how do you know my name?" I questioned in a shaky voice.
"My name is Francis. I'm a friend of Ryder. Anyone who knows him knows your name. Your his girl." I wasn't sure if that should bother me or if I should be flattered. If he's a friend then it would make sense for him to know my name.
I cleared my throat and steadied my voice, "Are you his friend from Detroit?" I remembered that Ryder had traveled to Detroit not too long ago to meet with someone. Ryder didn't say anything negative about the guy so I have no reason to believe that he's bad.
"Yes," he said. I could imagine him having a friendly smile. He then sighed, "I apologize deeply for having to call you, but I haven't been able to reach him. It's very important that I talk to him. Is he there?"
I bit my lip. I was hesitant for whatever reason, but I knew that if it's important then I need to let him talk to Ryder. "I'll go get him."
"Thank you, Sage."
I opened my door and yelled, "Ryder! There's someone who needs to talk to you!"
"Coming!" he yelled back. He headed up the stairs and stood in front of me. "Who is it?"
"Francis, your friend from Detroit," I responded. "He said it's something important."
Ryder's face went blank, but I could sense that he was nervous, or at least uneasy judging by how pale he turned. "Ok." I handed him my phone and left to go by Lydia who was sprawled out on the couch.
"Who needs to talk to him?" Lydia asked.
I shrugged and sat in the chair. "That guy he met in Detroit I guess. Apparently it's something important."
She stared up at the ceiling with a scrunched face, deep in thought. "I wonder what that could mean."
"Me too. But it's none of my business." I glanced up at my bedroom door, wondering what they could be talking about. I don't really know anything about what Ryder does, or at least not the details, so I don't have the slightest clue what could be so important. My curiosity was peaked.
I'm probably overthinking this.
———————
Ryder's POV
I stepped into Sage's room and shut the door. "What did you need, Francis?"
"I just wanted to check up on you. How are you? Are you doing well?" I knew he didn't actually care. With how he was acting when we made the deal, him being surprisingly nice was strange.
"I'm doing fine. Now what do you really need? What's so important?" Of course I already knew the answer.
He chuckled a bit. "Straight to the point. Good. I didn't want to chat anyways." He turned serious, "I want to know how much you have left to sell."
"I've sold a good amount. I have the rest currently locked away because I'm not home. I promise it'll all be gone before the twentieth," I said assuringly. I didn't want any suspicion that I wouldn't meet the deadline. I have no idea what he'd do if I didn't.
"Good. Good. Well that's all I wanted to know. You'd make a good chunk of cash if you meet it. I'd be concerned if you didn't keep your end of the bargain," he said eerily, sending a shiver down my spine. I heard someone in the background but I couldn't make out what they were saying. "What was that?" More muffled talking. "Well take care of it!" Francis yelled. "Pardon me for a second, Ryder." People were arguing, someone was screaming, and I heard Francis yell, "Do I have to do everything myself?!" Then there was a gunshot.
At that moment, my heart stopped and my body went cold. My hands felt clammy and I nearly dropped the phone. What just happened?
I was startled when I heard Francis' voice, "Sorry, Ryder. I had to go take care of something. I'm glad you're doing well. I'll talk to you soon, Ryder." He hung up and I let out a painful breath and now my chest hurt. Talking to Francis gave me anxiety. I felt sick thinking about what could happen, what he could possibly do as punishment. After hearing whatever happened in the background, I didn't know what to think. I don't even know what happened. I don't know if someone was hurt or killed. I can't assume the worst, but I can't completely disregard it either. I felt fear once again.
I need to meet that deadline.
I took a deep breath to calm down. I didn't want Sage or Lydia to know what happened on the phone. I opened the bedroom door with shaky hands. I slowly made my way down to the living room. I put on a facade as I handed Sage her phone.
"So what did you two talk about?" she asked. At the corner of my eye, I could see Lydia perk up.
"It wasn't that important. He just wanted to know how things were going and how I was doing with my new clients he hooked me up with," I partially lied. It ate away at me knowing I had lied to her, but it was the best thing I could do.
She bought my lie, and it hurt. "Ok. I'm glad it wasn't anything bad."
"Same. It's good that you weren't in trouble," Lydia added. I bit the inside of my cheek and sat down.
Desperately wanting to change the subject, I said, "Do we want to play more board games?"
The girls looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure."
We got out the Game of Life. Lydia chose college, Sage and I chose our careers right away. Sage was a sales person. Lydia started laughing when I got my career.
"Stop laughing!" I scolded.
"I'm sorry but..." she started snorting as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She was laughing so hard. "It's just so funny that a drug dealer gets a police officer."
I roll my eyes. "It's not that funny." I hear Sage giggle a little bit. "It's not!"
"It kind of is," Sage giggles. I huff and pick my salary. I get sixty thousand and Sage got the highest, which is one hundred thousand. "Yay!" Sage squeals in excitement. I kiss her cheek.
We start playing and once Lydia can get her career, she magically gets the doctor and a eighty thousand salary card. After passing the church and putting a pink peg on my car, I gaze at Sage with a small smile on my face. She's looking at the board, and in a not creepy way, as I look at her, I'm just amazed at how beautiful she is. I always am. I'm so in love with her. I can't wait to marry her one day. I can't wait to meet her baby, and one day, we can have one together.
Once Lydia makes it to the church, she adds a pink peg to her car.
"Why aren't you grabbing a blue peg?" I asked.
She stopped for a brief moment before giving me a sideway glance. "Don't you think that's a bit insensitive of you to ask? I can do what I want."
"I'm sorry. I was just curious." I was clueless and didn't know why she snapped at me.
We continued playing. We picked our houses, I never bought insurance so I lost money. Sage and Lydia were having a lot of luck and I seemed to be losing everything.
"Great! A tornado!" I threw my hands in the air in annoyance.
"I told you to buy insurance right after you got into a car accident!" Sage stated. Lydia tried not to giggle.
"I know..."
Lydia never landed on a baby space, but both Sage and I did. Sage landed on a baby space and had a baby girl. I landed on a baby space and had a baby boy.
The amount of joy I felt was unexplainable. I couldn't explain it entirely, but I guess deep down I felt like it was a sign. I must admit, not only do I want to step in as a father for Sage's unborn child, but I'd also like to one day have our own kid together. Maybe that's thinking too far into the future, but I wouldn't be in this relationship with her if I didn't want to be with her for the rest of my life. I want permanence, not temporary.
"Ryder?"
"Huh?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Sage's voice.
"You ok? You zoned out."
"Oh... uh... yeah. I'm fine." I smiled nervously. "Sorry. I just kinda started daydreaming I guess." I tried to play it off smoothly. The more I looked at her, the happier I felt. I almost entirely forgot about what happened on the phone. Almost.
"Do you still want to play? Or we could watch a movie or something," Lydia said.
"Whatever you guys want to do."
Sage yawned and pulled out her phone. "Wow. It's almost 10 o'clock. How'd time fly by so quickly?" Lydia and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Well I'm getting a bit tired. How about we watch a movie in my room."
"Sounds good to me," I said.
"Sure," Lydia agreed.
We all ran upstairs and let Sage pick out the movie. She chose Motherless Brooklyn. I've never seen the movie before but I heard it was good. It came out not too long ago. We grabbed a few snacks to eat during the movie. Lydia got comfortable on the air mattress while I leaned up against a pillow. Sage rested her head on my chest with her arm draped around my stomach. I wrapped my arm around her while eating popcorn with the other.
The movie ended up being better than I expected. Sage fell asleep at some point while watching it and I could hear her quiet breathing. She looked extremely comfortable and adorable. I glanced towards Lydia, who was still awake. She looked back at me and I pointed at Sage. She made an "aww" face. I smiled and whispered, "Goodnight." I set the bowl of popcorn on the nightstand and turned off the TV. I closed my eyes.
"Ryder?" Lydia slightly whispered.
"Yeah?" I was tired and I just wanted to get some sleep. I hope it's important.
What she said caught me off guard. "Why did you pick Sage? I know you love her more than anything, I can tell that just by the way you look at her. She's my best friend. But... I don't want to offend you, but out of all the girls you've been with, and I know you've never dated anyone but her, why her? I don't want to see her get hurt, and I'm not saying you'll hurt her. I just want to know why."
I looked down at Sage and smiled, though I could only slightly make out her figure in the darkness. I didn't know how to answer Lydia's question. It's never been something I've thought of. I wasn't sure if I even knew. "To be completely honest with you, I guess it started off as a crush I had in high school. When I saw her at the restaurant, she seemed familiar and I knew I recognized her from somewhere. Then when I found out who she was, my memories of her just clicked, though I don't think she remembered them. We were friends until I developed feelings for her, and I just couldn't keep them to myself. One day, I just knew I loved her. When I found out she was pregnant, yeah I was upset that she hid it from me, but I still loved her and I couldn't push away my feelings. I wanted to be... this is going to sound stupid."
"No, just say it. I want to hear everything you have to say," she urged.
I bit my lip. "I... I wanted to be her savior... but I guess in the end... she ended up being my savior. I love her so much." I looked down at Sage once again. "And I want her for the rest of my life."
Lydia stayed quiet for a moment. For a second I thought I said something wrong, until she spoke, "You passed the test. Sage loves you too. I know you guys are perfect for each other. But please, Ryder. Please make sure she never gets hurt in any of your gang business."
That hit me hard. "I never want her to get hurt. That's the last thing I want."
"Good," Lydia yawned. "Goodnight, Ryder."
"Goodnight." I didn't want to disturb Sage at all, but I tried my best to get comfortable while also not moving as much. I didn't want to wake her up.
———————
He aimed a gun at me, staring me dead in the eyes with a cold expression. I looked at Sage nervously. She looked terrified. I mouthed, "Don't move." I looked back at the man. "I'm the one you want. Not her. Just keep the gun pointed at me. She did nothing wrong."
"Ry..." Sage whimpered. I looked at her once again. She was crying. My heart was breaking. The man pointed the gun at her.
"No! Point it at me! Keep it on me!"
The man pointed the gun back at me. "I want to see you suffer for what you did," he laughed. I heard a gunshot, but I felt no pain. I turned towards Sage and saw her body collapse to the ground. Francis was laughing.
I jerked my body up. I was panting heavily, sweat dripping down my forehead.
It was only a nightmare.
"Ry?" I heard Sage's soft voice. I felt her hand on my thigh and her other on my back. "Are you ok?"
I was still trying to catch my breath. "Yeah... yeah I'm fine. It was only a nightmare."
"Take deep breaths, Ry." I slowed my breathing as she rubbed my back. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The last thing I wanted to do right now was tell Sage I had a dream about her getting shot by a drug dealer I probably shouldn't have made a deal with. "No, not really."
"Ok. That's fine." She held me in her arms and continued to rub my back for awhile. "Let's go back to bed. I'm right next to you if you have anymore bad dreams." She kissed my cheek. I lay down and gently pull her with me. We get in a cozy position and fall back asleep.
———————
Sage's POV
I couldn't shake the feeling that something's going on with Ryder. First it was the trip to Detroit, then the strange phone call, the zoning out, now a nightmare? I feel like something's going on, but I don't want to confront him about it, and that's always my problem. Maybe I should follow my gut feeling? But maybe I'm thinking too far into this and it could be nothing. Why do I always have these dilemmas?
Ryder was making breakfast while Lydia and I talked in my room.
"Do you think something's wrong with Ryder? Like maybe something's going on that he's not telling us."
She shrugged. "I don't know. He seems fine to me. Pretty much everyone has nightmares at some point. Some people daydream. Remember he does have an abusive dad and it was just the anniversary of his mom's death."
I sighed, "I guess you're right... yeah." I rest my chin in the palm of my hand. "I just worry about him."
"I know you do. I'm sure everything's ok."
I tried to reassure myself that it was, but in the pit of my stomach I felt like something awful was going to happen.
I wasn't sure why... but I felt... scared?
But... why?
Ry... what's going on?
Stop Sage... it's nothing...
"Breakfast is ready!" We hear Ryder yell from the bottom of the stairs.
"Coming!" We respond in unison. We race down the stairs, into the kitchen, and up to where Ryder is standing.
"Woah, seems like I have a stampede. Relax. The food is still really hot." He steps aside. "Take however much you guys want."
Lydia let me go first because, as she said, "pregnant women first," which I must admit did annoy me. I felt bad going first because of the fact that I am pregnant and I'm hungrier than normal and I didn't want to unintentionally take a majority of the food.
I took two pancakes, two spoonfuls of hash browns, one spoonful of scrambled eggs, and two sausages. The pancakes were not very small so I limited myself to only two of them. I poured some syrup on my pancakes and ketchup on my plate for everything else. Lydia and Ryder grabbed what they wanted, and luckily I left them with enough for both of them. I sat down at the dining table and soon Lydia joined me.
Ryder came in and set down his plate and handed each of us napkins. "What would you two like to drink?"
"Orange juice, please," I said with a smile.
"Milk," said Lydia.
Ryder returned with our drinks and brought himself a glass of orange juice. Lydia and I thanked him.
"How did everyone sleep?" he asked as he sat down in the chair next to me and began eating.
"I think I slept well. I don't feel tired," I said. I started eating my pancakes.
"I slept like a baby," Lydia said.
"As always," I joked. She rolled her eyes but couldn't fight the smile and giggle she was holding back. "What about you, Ry?"
He was silent for a brief moment. "I slept decently." I think he didn't want to mention the nightmare. He seemed really scared last night. I wonder what it was about.
We all finished eating and decided we were going to go to the mall. I put on some comfy yoga pants and a Motionless in White shirt. Lydia got changed into ripped, blue skinny jeans and a random shirt she brought. Ryder put on black jeans with a Metallica shirt. We grabbed our jackets and Lydia drove us to the mall.
It was 30°F outside and my jacket wasn't doing anything, but thankfully Lydia got a close parking spot, aka rockstar parking as she puts it.
"Where do we want to go first?" Ryder asked as he held my hand.
"Hot Topic!" Lydia and I say in unison. We both look at each other and start giggling. Ryder rolls his eyes but cracks a smile. We go to Hot Topic and I was like a kid in a candy store. Whenever I go to the mall, this is the first store I go to. It's my go to place for band merch and anything else that I find cool that I can't find online.
We wander the store and I find a few shirts I want, but I decided I wouldn't get them because I probably wouldn't fit in them soon. However, Ryder insisted that I let him buy them for me because I'd fit in them again later on and he knew I wanted them.
"You don't need to buy me stuff, Ry."
"But I want to, princess," he whined. He was pouting and it was honestly adorable.
"I don't want you to waste money on me."
"It's not wasting money if I want to spend it. Let me spoil you."
"Ry—"
Lydia interrupted me. "Oh my gosh, Sage. If the man wants to spend his money on you, let him. He wants to spoil you and do nice things for you. Let the man do that. Jeez."
"But—"
"Nope. Don't argue with me," she said.
I looked at Ryder and sighed. "Fine."
He had the biggest grin. He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. "Show me what you wanted and I'll get it for you. And I'm not trying to be a sugar daddy, I just want to buy you things."
"I know."
I didn't point out everything I had wanted because I didn't want him spending a ton of money on me. Lydia bought a few shirts too. We left Hot Topic and headed towards Spencer's.
Ryder's phone started ringing. "I have to take this." He steps off to the side and Lydia and I sit down, but we can hear him talking.
"What's up, Scotty?... Shit. I totally forgot we had one today... fuck... can you handle it? I'm with Sage... thanks, dude... yes I know... we have that important one coming up. We can't fuck that one up, or we're fucked. We need this shit gone... yeah it's my ass on the line...thank you... yup... you too. Bye." Ryder walked back over and Lydia and I pretended like we weren't listening. "Sorry. That was Scotty. I forgot I had a deal today. He's taking care of it though."
"That's good." I forced a smile.
"I have to run to the bathroom. I'll meet you guys in Spencer's."
"Ok." Ryder walked to the bathroom and I looked at Lydia and bit my lip nervously. "That call didn't sound too good. Was it just me, or did it sound like he's in trouble with something?"
Lydia gave me an uncertain look. "I don't want to lie to you, Sage, but it's not just you. I think the same thing. I want to try to reassure you, but actually hearing him on the phone, there has to be something going on. One thing I can be certain of, I know he doesn't want you involved. Maybe he bit off more than he can chew going into a deal, I don't know. I have no idea how that stuff works."
"I'm scared for him," I whimpered as I felt like I was about to cry.
Lydia gave me a hug. "It's ok, Sage. I'm sure Ryder knows what he's doing. Plus he has his two friends to back him up. It'll be ok. Come on, let's go to Spencer's."
We walked into Spencer's and looked around. "Lydia! Come look at this!" She walked over by me and I showed her a really cool lava lamp with a space design on it. It was a mixture of purple, blue, and green.
"Woah... it's pretty." She tapped it. I slapped her hand.
"I know! Isn't it cool?"
"Isn't what cool? What does my princess want now?" Ryder walked up to us.
Lydia pointed to the lava lamp. "She wants that."
"Lydia!" I elbowed her. I point my finger at Ryder. "No. You're not buying it."
He grabbed the box. "Can't stop me." His glance moved to the back of the store. I looked back and saw all the stuff. I turned back and blushed. He looked down at me with a smirk. Anyone who's been to Spencer's knows what's in the back.
Lydia caught on. "Oh. If you two need alone time I'll give it to you."
"Lydia!" I'm pretty sure I was blushing a shade of red now. "We don't need any alone time."
Ryder laughed, "You're adorable, princess." I glared at him, playfully of course. He kissed my cheek. "Is this all you want?" I nod. "Ok." He paid for the lava lamp and we go to a few more stores before heading back to my house.
"I have to get going, princess. I have school tomorrow. I want you or Lydia to text me if anything happens, ok?" He held me by the waist, his grip was tight.
I gazed up at him. "We will. I love you, Ry." I gave him a kiss and then hugged him tightly.
"I love you too, princess." He kissed the top of my head. "I'll text you when I get home." He let go of me, gave me one more kiss, picked up his stuff, and walked up to the front door and put his hand on the doorknob. I sensed that he was hesitant to leave me. "I love you, princess. Bye, Lydia."
He walked out the door and I watched him drive away.
"He really didn't want to leave you."
"I know."
———————
Ryder's POV - The Mall Phone Call
My phone started ringing. "I have to take this." I step off to the side and see that it's Scotty. "What's up, Scotty?"
"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you have a deal today, dude. Down at the harbor," he said.
I puffed my cheeks. "Shit. I totally forgot we had one today." I looked around and said quietly, "Is it a big one?"
"If you mean with the big stuff, yeah dude. Not a lot of it though. Just small amounts."
"Fuck... can you handle it? I'm with Sage."
"Sure, dude. Just enjoy your time with her."
"Thanks, dude."
"This is a dangerous thing we're doing, Ryder."
"Yes I know."
"What else do we have?"
"We have that important one coming up. We can't fuck that one up, or we're fucked. We need this shit gone."
"The party? Oh yeah. We'll be getting rid of a lot of it. Everything will be good. We'll get this stuff gone on time and nothing bad will happen."
"Yeah it's my ass on the line."
"Don't worry, Ryder. Things will be fine. I have today's deal covered and the party we'll be going to will go just fine."
"Thank you."
"See you soon?"
"Yup."
"Alright. Have a good day, dude."
"You too. Bye."
"Bye, dude."
That party better go ok. Or we're fucked. More like I'm fucked.
———————
A/N: Wow. It's been over a year. I feel so bad. So many things have been going on. Life has been so complicated and rough. But it felt so nice to finally get back into writing. I've been trying to do the things I enjoy again.
I wanted to make this chapter longer to make up for the lost time. I hope it's good :) and hopefully worth the wait. I'm really going to try and get another chapter out as soon as I can, but I don't know when that will be. I'm still in college and I have a new job, and I'm struggling to find a balance so free time for me doesn't exist at the moment :/
For anyone who's stuck around waiting for the chapter, thank you so much!! I know it's been so long! I do sincerely apologize! I'm going to try to do better. I started writing this in high school, and I had way more time on my hands when I first started. I'm not going to quit the book though. That I promise.
Thank you all for the support I've received since I started this book ❤️ I love and appreciate each and every one of you 🥰
I'll see you all in the next chapter!
— I would like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend who's turning 19 today! She's been a huge support and one of my biggest fans. And I know she's been anticipating this chapter since I started talking about it a long time ago. So it goes out to her ❤️ —
Update (2/8/22): Fixed mistakes.
Update (2/15/22): Fixed paragraph structure.
Update (4/23/22): Fixed spelling error.
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