At that very moment, it was like she was two different people. What Ryan had done had happened to someone else, who in the corner of her mind was breaking apart. Tabitha’s hands shook as she looked toward the Quad.
Luke and Simon were there.
Anthony and Daisy had arrived but she caught sight of Ryan as well.
“Tabitha,” Devil said. “This isn’t going to end well.”
“I won’t let Simon do something stupid.” She got out of the car. Ever since The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds had aligned themselves with the Billionaire Bikers MC, and their agreement with law enforcement, they had been the good boys, not doing anything against the law, at least as far as she could tell.
“What the fuck is this?” Ryan asked. “You’re working with the enemy?”
“He told me what you did. How could you do that?” Luke said.
“Oh, please, like it hasn’t been playing on your mind the entire time you’ve known her. Even before then.” Ryan scoffed. “Does she even know when we were like nine years old, we drove through fucking Fort Wills, and there she was, coming out of some goddamn store, and you were salivating, practically drooling? You’ve been that way ever since. Don’t think we don’t all see it, because we fucking do. You’re all over her. It’s all you do.”
Devil put a hand on her arm, stopping her from moving.
She needed to get to Simon.
“That doesn’t give you the right to do what you did,” Luke said, yelling.
“Why? Are you jealous?” Ryan asked. “That I got a taste of her first? Don’t worry, she’s nothing to write home about.”
Simon drew a gun. She didn’t know how he’d gotten it, but it was suddenly pointed at Ryan. This had escalated way too fast and now she didn’t know what to do to make it all stop.
“Simon!” She screamed his name, drawing the attention of everyone at the Quad.
The only person she cared about was Simon. The love of her life. The man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life, and if he pulled that trigger, she couldn’t just leave.
“I promised you I’d take care of you,” he said.
“And you will. Please, come with me. Let’s go. You and me? We’ve got our whole summer ahead of us, remember? We made plans. It wasn’t this. Please, don’t let it be this. I’m begging you. Don’t walk away. Please.”
Simon turned back to Ryan.
She called his name again.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
In the distance, she heard a bike, but that didn’t matter to her, not as the loud bang of a gunshot that went off. The smirk on Ryan’s face disappeared. Simon had hit him once, then twice. The moment he got to his face, he kept on shooting.
Tabitha’s hands came up to her face.
He’d chosen revenge over her. He’d given in to hate. This wasn’t what The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds crew signed up for. Simon had gone against them. The bike she’d heard came riding through the Quad.
She recognized Dean instantly.
“Dude, get on, now.”
Simon climbed on the bike and they rode out. Dean came to a stop as he passed her and Simon reached out, cupping her face.
“There’s no way I could have let that bastard live. I love you, Tabby, and I will be back for you.” He kissed her hard and before she could beg him to stay, he was gone.
Glancing up at the stadium, she saw Luke, then she looked back to the retreating lights of the bike.
The love of her life was gone.
He’d left.
Putting a hand to her chest, she couldn’t contain the sobs. This was all her fault. If she’d left with Daisy, she wouldn’t have been alone. She collapsed to her knees, and arms wrapped around her as she lost control.
This wasn’t fair.
She and Simon, it was always supposed to be the two of them.
Now, there was nothing.
She was all alone.
Her heart shattered.To Be Concluded…