Page 259 of His Virgin Romance Series

Bones was leaning against the stairwell, blocking my path.

“Excuse me?” I said. “Would you mind letting me through?”

Bones ignored me. Instead, he shook his head at me in disbelief.

“What?” I demanded angrily.

“You may be our president,” Bones said. “But you’re a fucking idiot.”

I frowned. “What—”

“I can’t believe you let her go,” Bones said before I could finish.

“I…”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. As I looked around at the rest of the boys, I realized they were all thinking the same thing. I knew that everyone was aware of my strange relationship with Abby, but I had never suspected they realized just how deep it went. It was odd to be standing there, faced with all my men—my brothers—and to know that I hadn’t fooled anyone one bit. I had tried to hide my feelings from Abby and even from myself, but they had seen right through me.

“She wants to go,” I said, by way of a defense.

“Bullshit,” Bones said. “She was looking for a reason to stay. You refused to give her one.”

“She wouldn’t be happy with this life.”

Bones shrugged. “Then the answer is pretty simple, isn’t it?” he said. “Give her the life she will be happy with. That’s the only way you’re going to be happy.”

I stared at Bones for a second, and then everything came together in my head. All my pride fell away, and I realized that he was completely right. I was just being a stubborn fool who was clinging onto to the life I had prepared for. But life had thrown me a curve ball, and now everything had changed. I was no longer going to be happy with my life the way it was before Abby.

Without giving anyone an explanation, I turned around, ran outside, jumped on my bike and sped away from the house. If I rode fast, I would be able to catch up with them. It would only take a couple of minutes. I knew the route that Devon was taking, and I was confident that I’d catch them before they reached the highway.

The whole time, I wondered what Abby would say. Would she be happy or shocked? Would she jump into my arms or would she turn me down with a kiss and a goodbye? I didn’t know, and at the moment, I didn’t care. I just needed to stop them from leaving town. A couple of minutes later, I caught sight of the car down the lonely stretch of road that would take them towards the main roads.

I sped up and caught up with them. Devon saw me first, and his eyes bulged with shock, but he pulled over immediately and jumped out of the car.

“What the fuck man?” he asked. “What happened? Is something wrong?”

A second later, Abby jumped out of the car too, and she looked panicked. “Ryder,” she said breathlessly. “Is everything alright?”

I spoke only to her. “No, actually it’s not.”

She ran to me. “What is it?”

“I just realized something,” I said. “And I had to come and tell you.”

Abby raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t press me for details.

“I just realized that I can’t let you leave town.”

She looked even more surprised by that. “Why not?”

“Because… I don’t think I can live without you.”

I wasn’t trying to be romantic. I was very aware that this was like a scene pulled straight out of a movie, but I didn’t care. This was our reality, and there was something magical about it.

Abby stared at me for a moment. and then her face broke into a brilliant and beautiful smile. “You’re serious?”

“More serious than I’ve ever been about anything else in my life,” I said. “I love you, Abby.”

She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “I love you too, Ryder.”

I was vaguely aware of Devon, standing in the background watching us, but I didn’t care. He would have to get used to this. I grabbed Abby and kissed her hard on the lips. She returned my passion with equal fervor. When we finally broke apart, we both laughed together.

“So… Will you stay with me?” I asked.

Abby nodded. “What do you think?”

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