Ten Year Crush

by Toshia Slade

  “You.” Punch. “Will.” Punch. “Never.” Punch. “Touch.” Punch. “Her.” Punch. “Again.”

  Gabby’s whimper pulls me from my rage-fueled frenzy.

  I flip the sorry motherfucker onto his stomach easily. He isn’t fighting back anymore. I gather his hands in one of mine and hold them in a death grip behind his back, can’t risk the chance of him getting back up while Gabby’s here.

  Brandon lets out a moan.

  I should just kill him and get it over with.

  Gabby. She can’t see it and she’d probably never forgive me for taking his life. She’ll think it’s her fault.

  I look over my shoulder at her. “Baby, are you okay?” Relief, even though it’s small, comes over me. At least she has her underwear on. If he touched her like that, like he intended, he really would be a dead man. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  She lets out a sob and shakes her head. No, she isn’t okay or no, she’s not hurt anywhere else? Fuck! My chest burns with the pain of not being able to hold her, comfort her.

  I hate that I can’t get to her but I’m not letting go of this asshole. Thinking quickly I start to unlace my boot, working as fast as I can with one hand. I finally get it yanked free and tie his hands behind his back.

  Once he’s secured and I’m sure he isn’t going anywhere, I rush over to Gabby and quickly work the knot out of the bandanna to free her mouth.

  “Cam.” My name comes out of her in a sob.

  My heart cracks wide open. God, what did the asshole do to her?

  “It’s okay, baby. I’m here.” I pull her into my lap and find duct tape binding her hands at her back. “This might hurt a little, but I want to get this off of you.”

  She nods as tears stream down her face.

  “You stupid bitch,” Brandon says into the carpet.

  My fist balls up. The need to pound into him rides me hard, but Gabby needs me. I need to focus on her.

  Sirens wail.

  Finally. The fucking ambulance and cops. Relief courses through my veins and I can breathe again. That sorry motherfucker needs to rot in a prison cell and Gabby needs to be checked out at the hospital. I’m glad I didn’t take chances and asked for an ambulance too.

  “Fuck. I don’t want to go back to jail,” Brandon whines.

  “I hope you fucking rot there.” I bite out through gritted teeth.

  I slowly peel away the tape. Once I get to her skin, she winces. Guilt hits me full force. If it hadn’t been for fuckin’ Sara running her mouth this wouldn’t have happened. I was a damn fool. I’ll never be able to make this up to her. “I’m sorry. I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

  “Not.” Hiccup. “Your.” Sob. “Fault.”

  Hands undone, I wrap her in my arms. She’s shaking. I’m not sure if it’s from being cold or if she’s going into shock on me.

  “Is anyone else in the house?” A cop asks, gun drawn and pointed at Brandon’s body on the floor.

  I look around and notice that there are cops and paramedics everywhere.

  Gabby shakes her head.

  “No, just us.” I reply knowing they might not have seen Gabby shake her head.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” Another officer comes to our side.

  She buries her face in my chest and nods. I hold her tighter and stroke her hair with my other hand.

  “Do you all know this guy?”

  “Yeah, he’s her ex-boyfriend. His name is Brandon—” Shit, I don’t know his last name.

  “Andrews.” Gabby’s voice is barely above a whisper.

  “Andrews,” I repeat for the cops.

  Two EMT workers come and squat down in front of us, a man and a woman. One looks to Gabby and addresses her, “Ma’am, can we take a look at you?”

  She holds on to me tighter.

  “It’s okay, baby. They need to check you and get your cuts cleaned up. I’m not going to leave you. I swear.”

  “Can you tell me where you’re hurt?” One of the EMS workers asks while slipping on gloves.

  “My head, lip, and hands.”

  One of the officers grabs my attention, “Sir, can you come tell us what happened while they get her cleaned up?”

  I kiss the top of her head. “I’m going to go talk to the cop while they get you fixed up, okay. I won’t go far. I promise.”

  She nods and I move her off my lap and over onto a couch cushion. Pulling a blanket off the back of the couch, I wrap it around her.

  So focused on her that I never even noticed that they have Brandon untied and cuffed. Two cops are escorting him out of the house. He’s got nothing to say now. Pussy.

  I follow the cop into the kitchen and tell him everything. From finding him snorting pills in my house, to the day I went to school and he had her pinned to her car, his arrest for dealing drugs, and then tonight. I tell him all of the horrific details about what I walked in on tonight and everything that happened up until they arrived.

  “He’ll be charged with assault in the fourth degree and unlawful imprisonment. And from what you’re telling me, he’ll likely have drugs on him, or at least in his system. He’s going to be looking at a couple years in prison.”

  “Good. Are we done now? Can I get back to Gabby?”

  *Gabby*

  They’ve asked me every question under the sun. I’ve had medics asking me about my medical history and the cops wanting me to give them a replay of everything that happened. I started from the time I found the stuff in Brandon’s apartment and went all the way up until they got here. They told me that he’s looking at some jail time for what he did tonight, on top of the previous drug charges.

  I don’t think any amount of jail time will be good enough. How am I supposed to feel safe here now? I shiver and pull the blanket around me tighter.

  My injuries are just minor, so they cleaned and bandaged them. The EMS woman told me that if I have any headaches with nausea that I need to go to the emergency room, but they weren’t concerned about me having a concussion. I’ll have some bruising and I need to ice it as much as I can stand.

  When Cam comes walking out of the kitchen some of the tension drains from my body.

  “We’re all done here,” one of the EMT workers says.

  “We are too. Miss Murphy, here’s my card. If you think of anything else, have questions, or concerns, just give me a call.”

  “Thank you.” My throat is dry and hurts from all the crying.

  They all leave and it’s deathly quiet.

  Cam comes over and sits on the couch, wrapping his arm around me. I crawl over into his lap and curl up into a tight ball.

  “I’m sorry I was such a bitch tonight and left. If I hadn’t—” The tears start to flow again. His body stiffens under me and I can feel the tension rolling off him in waves.

  “Don’t you dare put any blame on yourself. It’s all on him. We don’t have to worry about him for a long time.”

  “If I didn’t act like a jealous child tonight…”

  “Hey. Stop that. All that matters is we’re here together now.” He cups my chin in his hands, drawing my eyes up to his. “We are stronger than them. Do you hear me?” He kisses the corner of my lips, on the side that’s not split. “Our love can’t be broken. And I will fight and break anything that tries to get in the way of that.”

  “Okay. I love you so much, Cam. Don’t ever let me go.”

  “I love you too, Gabby. And I will never let you go.”

  “Will you please take me home?” I ask, not wanting to stay here a minute longer. Brandon’s evil eyes keep flashing in my mind, him telling me what he’s going to do to me —I bite back the sob struggling to burst free. “I want out of this house.” I need a hot shower to scrub him off of me, and then I want to curl up in the bed with Cam’s arms tight around me. I know there is no other place I’ll feel safe besides in his embrace.

  “Let’s get you some clothes and get out of here.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  *Cam*
/>   It’s been a little over five months since the attack on Gabby. It was a grueling process. She had to talk to lawyers, and facing Brandon again in the courtroom was pushing her to her breaking point. We spent many nights in bed, me holding her while she broke down in my arms. And each of those times I wanted to pound his face again, not stopping this time.

  We celebrated the day they found him guilty. He broke probation, the charges with Gabby, plus another drug charge landed him in prison for five years. He was screaming at Gabby when they carted him off. I hope he’ll be doing a lot more of that once he becomes Bubba’s new bitch. Maybe then, he’ll realize the hell he put her through.

  It feels good to finally be free of our pasts. Yeah, there are still girls that try to start shit when we go out, but each time my heart swells with love and pride. Gabby just looks at them and laughs, and then grabs me and shows them who I belong to. Fuckin’ hot.

  I’ve been working my ass off for months on a surprise for Gabby; she deserves it. It sucks to hide things from her, because she makes it damned near impossible to do.

  On my way to pick up my girl, I’m a nervous-freaking-wreck, sweating like a whore in church. What if she hates it? Nah, she’s going to love it. But what if she isn’t ready? This is a big decision and you just did it without talking to her. But… it’s for both of us.

  The internal battle is wearing me down. I’m ready to get to her and hold her in my arms. Maybe then the monsoon of nerves in my stomach will die down to hurricane level.

  When I pull into her driveway, I bring up the number I need and hit dial.

  “Yeah,” the gruff voice answers.

  “I’ll be there in twenty. Can you have them ready?”

  “They’ll be ready when you get here.”

  “Okay, thanks. See ya.” I take a deep breath and slowly release it, willing my hands to stop shaking, and my nerves to take a back burner. Pussy.

  Here goes nothing. I send up a silent prayer that I know my girl better than anyone does and that she’ll love this.

  *Gabby*

  “Where are we going?” Cam picked me up ten minutes ago and he’s being really quiet.

  “Surprise.” He goes back to chewing his lip and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Are you okay?” I turn sideways in my seat. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye and glances back to the road. Hmm…I wonder what that’s about. “You seem tense.”

  “Fine,” he responds in a short, clipped voice.

  “Really? You’ve barely said five words to me since you picked me up.” I’m getting pissed now. After the whole Sara/Brandon thing, we vowed to never keep anything from one another. So, if something is on his mind he should come and talk to me about it.

  “I’m sorry. Just worried you won’t like it.” He reaches over and grabs my hand, squeezing it to reassure me.

  My heart melts and I smile over at him. “Anything from you, I’ll love. No matter what it is.”

  “I hope so,” he mumbles under his breath and I just barely catch what he says.

  We pull off the road onto a gravel drive lined with trees. My brows scrunch together. I’ve traveled this road most of my life and don’t remember this being here. Did someone new move in?

  Rounding a bend a beautiful two-story ranch house comes into view. It’s a deep shade of beige that makes the white wraparound porch pop and stand out against the house. Cam’s leg starts to bounce and I think his lip will start bleeding any moment from the way he’s chewing it. What the hell is going on here?

  “Who lives here?”

  “You’ll see. Come on.” He throws the truck in park and hops out.

  I don’t wait for him to get my door. I jump out and meet him in the front of the truck.

  Cam grabs my hand and his hands are clammy and shaking. Now I’m scared. Who the hell is he taking me to meet? He’s acting as though he’s walking into his own death sentence.

  We step up to the front door and I peer through a window. There isn’t a single piece of furniture inside. Huh? That’s odd. I look around for other clues as to who might own the house when I spot the white porch swing. My mind immediately drifts to fantasies of sitting on a porch swing like this with Cam every day and soaking up the rolling country hills.

  I’m pulled from my fantasy when Cam releases my hand to pull a key from his pocket and opens the front door. Maybe this is one of the jobs he and Josh just completed. The yard looks like construction was recently completed on it. I’m anxious to see what he wants to show me here or get to wherever he wants to take me. The anticipation combined with the way he is acting is driving me crazy.

  Cam motions for me to go in first, always the gentleman. I step into the foyer and there are stairs in front of me and beyond them is the way into the kitchen. This place is huge and stunning! I turn my head and look through the first room I see, living room, dining room —my mind starts picturing what the rooms will be used for and where the furniture would be placed. Whoever owns the house is definitely lucky.

  “Come on, I want to show you something.” Cam wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into the room on the right.

  The high ceilings in the room have a majestic feel to them, but the simple and elegant chandelier in the center pulls your focus down as the main focal point in the room. I look around the room painted in earth colors of light browns and a single deep red wall draws my attention, pulling me deeper into the room. I turn back towards Cam and see a rock fireplace in the center of one of the brown walls with what looks like a hand-carved mantle on top. Even without furniture in it the structure and craftsmanship of it is breathtaking.

  “Do you like it?” Cam asks hesitantly.

  “Oh, Cam, it’s beautiful. Did you and Josh build this house?

  He nods and a huge proud smile stretches across his face touching his eyes.

  “Wow. It’s incredible. You guys did an awesome job. When are the owners moving in? I’d love to see what they end up doing with the place.” I turn and peek down the hallway. “I can already visualize where I’d put stuff if it were mine.”

  “Soon. Probably a couple of weeks or so. They have to pick out their furniture.”

  “Nice.” I’m secretly a little envious. I can only dream of having a house like this someday.

  “One more thing I want to show you.” He leads me up the light wooden stairs to the second floor.

  There are five doors scattered all down the hall. I can see light filtering through the doorway of one of them and I’m lead through it. “Wow.” The living room was something, but this is incredible. The room is huge with an open design and large bay windows on each side of the French doors leading to a balcony.

  “Out here.” Cam pulls me through the double doors and out to the balcony.

  My breath catches and I stop dead in my tracks. I’m in love. I’m in love with the view. The triangle-shaped balcony overlooks the back yard with nothing in sight, but miles and miles of rolling hills covered in bright green grass and trees. A black barn sits back from the house, surrounded by a black fence. I steal a look over at Cam standing with his hands in his pockets, watching me, when my eyes catch on a hammock. I let out an audible sigh. I could lay on that for hours out here staring up at the stars. Country girl’s dream.

  “So, you really like it?” Cam has a sparkle in his eye.

  “I love this. Kinda wanna off the owners and take it for myself. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

  He steps toward me and wraps me in his arms. “I’m glad you like it.” He kisses my lips softly. “Come on, couple more things to show you.”

  “Are you trying to make me jealous?” I already love the place. If it gets much better I really may be willing to commit murder.

  Back outside Cam leads me through the back yard to the barn.

  “Oh my gosh!” There’s a brown and white spotted mare and a solid black stallion, both are saddled and tied to a beam. “Whose horses are these? Are we going riding?”

&nb
sp; “Yup. Come on, let’s go.” He leads me over to the brown and white mare.

  “She’s beautiful.” I run my hand down her long nose. “Will the owners mind? I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  “The owner says it’s fine. Up you go.” He helps me up.

  It’s been so long since I’ve been on a horse, but like riding a bike, you never forget. I hold the reins and wait to for Cam to climb up on the other and lead the way.

  We head for the back of the property and into the trees. Not even ten minutes later, we come up on a small creek running through the property.

  “Oh, Cam, it’s so pretty out here. Thank you so much for showing me this.”

  “Let’s get down and walk around for a minute.” He jumps off and ties his horse to a nearby tree. Coming over, he helps me down and does the same with mine.

  Hand in hand, we walk and follow the creek a little ways until Cam stops and turns to me. “Gabby, these last seven months have been the best of my life. I pushed you away, afraid of ruining what we had, never realizing how great it could be with us. You complete me. I thought I knew love, but I was wrong. Waking up to you each morning and seeing your sleepy smile, falling asleep with you in my arms, pressed up against me all night, I’ve never known peace like it before.”

  Tears burn my eyes. I love this man so much and I’ll thank God for him every day.

  “The house.” He bends his head to look me in the eyes. “It’s ours.”

  A sob erupts and I throw my hand over my mouth. Oh my god. It’s ours? Cam built us a home!

  “I saw the property and fell in love with it. I knew it was the place I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving you, raising a family together. I want to grow old with you and lay on that balcony watching the stars with you every night. I love you more than anything in this world. You’re my heart and soul. I’d never make it a day without you by my side.”

  He lets go of one of my hands, reaches in his pocket, and drops down to one knee. The tears spill down my cheeks before he can even open the box. His hands tremble slightly as he presents me with the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen. The wide, white gold band holds an incredible princess cut diamond.