Hopeless Romantic: A College Roommate Romance (J.E.R.K Book 2)

by Kait Rose

  “Yes you sold me as soon as you said it. I can use a night where I don’t have to hear Jude and Madison.” I swear with her hormones, they are screwing more which I didn’t think could be possible.

  “I hear you on that.” Ezra started to laugh, but then got all serious when he said, “I may sound crazy, but I didn’t want to spend a night without you. I’m happy you said yes.”

  “I love your craziness and I wouldn’t want to spend a night without you either.” My eyes started to close while I drifted to sleep right in his arms. Even though I was laying in a hospital bed, everything felt perfect and just the way it was supposed to be when I was in Ezra’s arms.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Ezra

  I was at the diner within a few minutes and the sight of the EMT loading Stella on a gurney into the ambulance had me pushing my feet harder before they closed the doors.

  “Excuse me I’m her husband, I’m coming.”

  “Sorry only one person.” The EMT said while looking at Madison than me.

  “He’s going.” Madison stepped out and held my hand when saying, “I was across the street at my doctor’s office when I saw Brad and his friend’s on top of Declan and Lola kicking Stella while she laid on the ground. When I finally got over here, Hailey was grabbing Lola off of Stella and some construction workers grabbed Brad and his friends. I swear Lola is so fucking lucky I’m pregnant or she would be in that ambulance.” Madison said while looking over at Lola, Brad, and the rest of them being handcuffed.

  “Everything will be ok. I’ll meet you at the hospital.” As soon as the words left my mouth, she was on the phone with the rest of the guys to tell them to meet us there.

  With that being said, I jumped into the ambulance with an unconscious Stella that was thankfully breathing. I was never a religious man, but I prayed to every single god out there to let my sweetheart survive.

  ~*~

  Dr.Stanton, the one who just saw me, was reading the chart the EMT gave him before saying, “We need to take some x-rays and scans to see what the damage is. I’ll be back to let you know.” With that being said, the doctor and his nurses started wheeling Stella into the emergency room.

  I felt more anger than I ever felt before. My body was shaking while my hands were in tight fists turning my knuckles white. I knew though I needed to stay strong and not have another episode right now. My emotions were everywhere, but knowing Stella needs me kept me in check.

  “Where is my sister!” Knox shouted at the nurse at the front desk.

  “Name?” The nurse who has checked us in the last two times asked.

  “Stella Ryan.” Knox said quickly.

  “She is getting some scans and x-rays done now. When more information is available, I will let you know.” Knox nodded his head and came to sit next to me in the waiting room while the rest came following in afterwards.

  When I saw Declan coming back from down the hall after being stitched up, I jumped out of my chair. “What the fuck happened back there?” I wasn’t mad at Declan because I know he would never put the girls in harm's way, but I couldn’t get my anger in check.

  “I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen.” Declan looked completely destroyed inside and next thing I know, Knox is standing up right next to me.

  “Talk.” Knox barked at Declan impatiently which had a visibly upset Madison trying to stand up to protect Declan, but Jude wouldn’t let her get up.

  “Everybody calm the fuck down before Madison is next to be checked in here because of you all.” Jude said, pissed off.

  Rem, who has always been the voice of reason, said next, “Declan please explain what led up to what happened before these two get all of us kicked out.” He looked at me and Knox and then back to Declan.

  Declan nodded his head and took a deep breath before saying, “I was going to the diner to grab something to eat when I saw Brad and Lola harassing Stella. Lola tripped Stella on the ground and I headed over to help Stella when I heard Brad say a few things that should never be said to a woman. I always hated the guy and what he said put me in a blind rage, so I punched him. When his friends jumped into help, Stella jumped on Brad to make him stop, but he threw her off of him. Then from there I saw Lola kicking her and I tried my hardest to stop her, but I had his friends pinning me to the ground. I’m so sorry.” I didn’t even want to know what Brad said. If I did I knew my anger would finally come to the surface. Knox must have been thinking the same thing because he didn’t even want to know.

  Knox clapped Declan’s shoulder and said, “It’s not your fault. Lola has been a psycho to Stella since they were roommates and I hope she gets what she deserves now. Brad on the other hand is better off hiding because when I see him he’s fucked.”

  All the guys nodded their head agreeing and I looked at Declan to say, “Thank you though for having her back when we weren’t there.”

  “I always will. I love these girls like they were my sisters.” He looked back at Madison who gave him a small smile.

  I needed to lighten up the room so I looked over to Rem and whispered, “Does that mean he kissed his sister?” Rem rolled his eyes, but I guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought because next thing I know Jude is punching me in the arm.

  “Mr. Banks?” The doctor gave us a small amused smile.

  “Yes, what’s going on?” We all stood up, hoping for the best.

  “She has a concussion, broken right arm, and some bruising on her face and ribs. To be honest she is very lucky. A few more kicks to the head and it wouldn’t be looking so good for her. She will need to rest and take it easy for awhile. She will have headaches and pain, but I wrote her a prescription for that. We will keep her overnight to make sure her head is alright and then she can be discharged.” I hated that Stella was so hurt, but I was thankful she was alive and would heal soon.

  “Thank you Dr. Stanton.” I shook his hand right when Stella’s parents came barreling in.

  “What happened to my baby?” Stella’s mother looked like she was ready to kill whoever harmed her daughter. It was nice to finally see a mother who cared about their child.

  “Go see Stella while I let my parents in on everything. Should give you a few minutes alone until my mother decides to never leave Stella’s side again.” Knox whispered to me before his mother reached him.

  I followed Dr. Stanton down the hallway to Stella’s room and to my surprise she was sitting up in her bed with a big smile on her face. “Hi beautiful.” I said from the doorway.

  She crooked her finger at me, motioning me to come closer to her. When I got closer, the bruising on her face was worse up closer, but it didn’t take away from her beauty. “They gave me something magical to help with the pain.” She whispered and at that moment I realized she was high as a kite.

  Stella barely drank and honestly I don’t even know if she ever even smoked weed before, so this was definitely something new to see. “I can tell. How are you feeling otherwise?”

  “Good besides this annoying cast.” She had a bright pink cast on which didn’t surprise me.

  “It will be off in a few weeks.” At the mention she had to wear it for weeks she instantly gave me the best puppy dog pout she could give while trying to hide her smile. “Don’t be sad. Can I sign it?” She eagerly nodded her head while I went in search of a sharpie.

  I finally found one in a drawer and got to writing on her cast. She squinted trying to read it, but the drugs they gave her to keep the pain down must have been really doing a number on her when she couldn’t read it. “What does it say?”

  “Ask me tomorrow when you don’t have a shit ton of drugs being pumped into you.”

  “No fair.”

  “Mhmm, I can’t wait for your mom to see you.” I smiled which had her eyes going wide.

  “Oh no, she can’t see me like this. Break me out of here!” She went to reach for IV, but I stopped her while trying to stop myself from laughing so hard.

  “No can do, this will be too
entertaining.”

  “You suck.” She slumped back in her bed right when her parents came rushing in.

  “My baby!” Her mother came to her side while stroking her hand. Stella tried the best to act normal, but failed terribly. Trying her best not to giggle, she looked more constipated than high..

  “What’s wrong with her?” Stella’s mom asked me.

  “Higher than a kite.” I said to her parents.

  Stella was then quick to say, “Tattle tale.”, and stuck her tongue at me.

  Her parents looked at each other and couldn’t stop laughing if they tried. Soon Stella and I joined in and for once it felt good ending such a terrible day with the sound of laughter.

  Chapter Thirty

  Stella

  “Ezra it’s just a broken arm, I can walk you know.” I said while Ezra was carrying me inside our house. I was discharged the next day after everything that happened and I was more than happy to be home.

  “My baby!” Madison screamed which had Jude falling out of his chair.

  “What!” Jude said in a panic looking for his car keys.

  “No babe, I meant Stella.” Madison smiled while shaking her head at Jude’s panic.

  “For fucks sake woman, no more screaming anything about babies until it’s time or you will be taking me to the hospital.” Jude slumped back down in the chair while Madison kissed him on top of the head.

  “Ok, I mean my Stella!” Madison came waddling over to me. Ezra finally put me down on the couch and the next thing I know I’m being suffocated by Madison. Her mothering instincts were coming in and I knew she would be an amazing mom.

  “You have no idea how happy I am that you are ok.” She said teary eyed.

  “You girls are going to be in bubbles soon if one more thing happens.” Rem said jokingly. After what happened with Madison and now me, it wasn’t a bad idea.

  “Yeah without you girls, where would I go.” Declan said which prompted Ezra and Jude at the same time to say, “I don’t know, your house?” They fist bumped each other while Declan shot them a look of disbelief.

  “Don’t worry, in my will I am writing if I were to die, Jude needs to take care of you for the rest of his life.” Madison said while smiling at Jude.

  “Technically wills don’t work that way.” Rem chirped in which made Madison turn her head and give him her best take it back look. Rem’s eyes went wide while saying, “Nevermind, it will.”

  I couldn’t help but burst into laughter which then turned to tears. “What’s wrong?” Knox asked me.

  “I’m just happy to see everyone again. I had a moment there where I really thought I wouldn’t be with you guys again.”

  Madison squeezed my hand and said, “It really gives you a new outlook on life.”

  I gave Madison a smile while putting my hand on her belly and as soon as I did her baby kicked. “Oh my god she kicked.” I squealed.

  “You mean him.” Jude said which had me and Madison rolling our eyes. “Yeah you guys won’t be rolling your eyes when we find out in a few weeks it’s a boy.”

  “Oh my god I completely forgot about your gender reveal in three weeks! Ezra get a notebook, we have to get a list of what we need.”

  “You need to rest, I got this.” Declan smiled, which I wasn’t.

  “Nope. Knowing you, you will make it where the cake looks like a sandwich.”

  “That is a great idea…” I gave Declan a murderous look which had Madison quickly saying, “No sandwich cake and I just want something small with just us.”

  “Ok how about after graduation next weekend, we plan this together?” I said while looking over at Declan. Madison looked relieved and with a bad shoulder I could definitely use the help anyways.

  “Deal.” Declan agreed.

  “My step sister will be in and I’ll never hear the end of it if I leave her home alone. Do you guys mind if I bring her?” Rem asked.

  “Of course not, we need more girls in this group.” Madison said while I chimed in with, “Yeah that will make four of us then.”

  “What are you counting Declan as a girl?” Ezra said laughing while elbowing Declan in the ribs.

  “You are so funny and she meant Abby. She is coming up to visit me.” I didn’t mean Abby, but this is just making that weekend even more interesting since she hasn’t broken up with his brother yet.

  “Make it five then.” I said smiling in which Madison started to catch on finally.

  “Who is the fifth?” Jude asked, clueless. I looked at him then at Madison’s stomach. When it finally clicked for him he jumped up from the couch, “Stella Ryan you take that back right now before you jinx me.”

  “God I hope it’s a girl.” Declan said laughing until Jude hit him with a pillow in the face.

  “How about we pop in one of those cheesy romance movies you love and we will have a family night?” Knox said changing the subject. Even though he talked to Madison about it, it didn’t mean it took away the hurt of losing her for good away.

  Jude must have understood and quickly pulled his phone out. “I’ll order pizza.”

  “Extra anchovies with pineapple on one.” Madison shouted over to him while everyone looked at her in disgust. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”

  “Please when you're pregnant, don’t get weird cravings like that.” Ezra whispered to me.

  “To be honest she liked that before she even got pregnant.” I never saw or smelled something so disgusting as Madison’s pizza.

  “She’s a pizza murder.” He said, offended.

  “I heard that!” Madison yelled from the kitchen which had me and Ezra laughing so hard we started to cry.

  I looked around at everyone here and even though we aren’t all blood related, besides me and Knox, this was our family. We may all fight, but we will fight harder to stay together which makes this group even more special.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Ezra

  “I can’t believe we graduated today.” I said while sitting on the stage next to my four best friends. Part of me was scared for the next chapter of my life, but I was more excited to spend it with Stella.

  “We finally did it, especially after the year we had.” Rem said while we all nodded are heads in agreement. After what happened to the girls, we all wished this summer would be more on the calmer side, but sometimes wishes don’t always come true...

  “Are you going to the party tonight?” Knox asked while he lit his cigarette, something he took up this year.

  “Nope spending the night with my girl and boy.” Jude said while he looked over at Madison rubbing her bump. Even though they were both scared, you can tell they warmed up to having this baby.

  “How do you know you’re not having a girl?” Rem said with a smirk and Jude’s smile instantly fell at the thought.

  “Nope God owes me from all the shit he put us through.”

  “True.” We all said at once. “What happens next year for you two?” I asked.

  “When Lennon is born, Madison is going to school part time for the first year. I finally became half owner of the shop starting tomorrow which allows me to work around her schedule so one of us will be with the baby.”

  “Does Madison know you already named the baby?” Rem asked laughing. I bet any money she has no idea.

  “Nope, but I know she’ll love it. Now I just need to get on the hunt to find us a place before the summer ends.” Now that the school year is over, we all had to figure out where we are living next.

  “No need too, the house is paid off and it’s yours.” Knox said while avoiding eye contact with all of us.

  Jude leaned forward to look over me at Knox and said, “I’m sorry, but what did you just say?”

  “I’m moving out and Ezra got a place for him and Stella. The landlord mentioned he wanted to get rid of it, so we all bought it and had the deed transferred in your’s and Madison’s name, so you can either sell it or live in it.” We all had lives, besides Rem at the time, where mone
y was never a worry. When we heard the landlord selling this place how could we not help our friends get a good start like we had.

  “This is huge guys. Why would you do this for us?” Jude said surprised.

  “I won’t lie, a tiny part of why I did it was to make up for what I did.” Knox said solemnly.

  “The bigger part is that you and Madison were given a shit start to a life that neither of you deserved. We saw you guys fight through every obstacle standing in your way and we want to be able to give you both and your baby a fresh start without another obstacle in your way.” I said right after Knox.

  “You have no idea how much this means to us, thank you.” Jude and Knox gave each other a smile and it was nice to see them how they used to be together.

  “Ok enough with the sappiness. What are your plans Rem?” Jude asked Rem.

  “I have to go wait and let my new step sister in the house. I go from college graduate to a babysitter of a grown ass woman all in one night.” Rem was pissed and I couldn’t blame him. His estranged father made a deal with him when his mother died that if he stayed the year with him to bond then he would pay his school loans and all the debt his mother collected off. Coming from not much, this was Rem’s only choice.

  “Is she at least hot?” Jude asked innocently.

  “Who the fuck knows. She is off limits anyways. Apparently she has issues and had to leave NYU and is now transferring here. I have enough problems of my own to deal with than hers too.” We all nodded our heads knowing he had enough on his plate. Rem turned and asked me, “What about you?”

  “I have plans for me and Stella tonight.” I waggled my eyebrows, but then flinched to the side knowing Knox was either going to punch me in the arm or shove me off the stage. When he did neither, all of us turned to Knox surprised.

  “Are you alright Knox?” I asked him.

  “Is anybody ever completely alright?” Knox mumbled under his breath.

  “Hey guys can you give us a minute?” I turned and asked Jude and Rem. Something was going on with Knox lately and I figured he would tell me if we were alone.