“Zeke, don’t do this man. You’re going to ruin your life,” Finn said with wild eyes.

Zeke shot him a final look and Finn held up his hands and shook his head.

“If this is what you want,” he said with finality.

My head whipped back and forth between the two until finally it sunk in. Zeke was going to try and take the blame.

“No!” I screamed out when Finn grabbed my arm.

I tried to pull away, but then Tiny was next to me, pulling me as well.

“I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll tell them I did this. Please, Zeke, don’t do this,” I called out as I struggled against their tight hold.

They pulled me away from him and my feet dragged across my sister’s pink carpeting.

“Who do you think they’ll believe?” Zeke asked. “A guy like me from the wrong side of the tracks who’s already been to jail? Or you, the governor’s daughter who’s stupid enough to try and protect her boyfriend from prison?”

I grabbed the doorframe as Finn and Tiny pulled at my body.

“No!” I screamed out once more.

He was right. It didn’t matter what I said. If he confessed and told them I was only confessing to save him, the cops would definitely believe him. Again, our backgrounds were biting me in the ass.

My fingers were turning purple as I gripped onto the doorframe. His eyes burned into mine and a single tear fell down his cheek. He sniffed once and wiped it away with the back of the hand that was still holding the gun.

“I love you, snowflake. Always.”

Finn pulled one last hard time and my fingers slipped away from the doorframe. I screamed, not caring who heard me as they pulled me down the hallway, then down the stairs.

Twenty-Five

Zeke

I woke up from my nightmare about Patience being pulled away and into the darkness with her name on my lips. The thick comforter was stuck to my sweaty chest, so I peeled it back and let the cool air rush over my sticky skin. Reaching over for her, I pulled back a pillow.

With wide eyes, I sat up and turned on the lamp next to my bed to see that she wasn’t there. Instantly, I felt like something was wrong. I jumped out of bed wearing just my boxers and went through the apartment, switching on lights, looking for her. She was gone.

I ran back to my room and threw some clothes on. I searched for my keys, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. Then I realized that if she wasn’t there, she was in my car. I ran to the window and ripped back my curtain. The streetlights out front shined into my empty parking space.

“Shit!”

I burst into Tiny’s room and flipped on his light. He looked up at me like I was crazy with sleep-filled eyes and wild hair.

“Get up. Get dressed. Shit’s going down, dude, and I need you to have my back.

Five minutes later, we were in his car and on the way to Patience’s house. There was no doubt in my mind where she’d gone. I could only hope I made it there before she got hurt.

I texted Finn when we left the apartment and he said he wanted to go, too, so since his house was on the way, we stopped to get him. We stuck together, and if the shit was going to hit the fan, I wanted my boys there to at least get Patience out of the way. We pulled up and he jumped in.

It felt like it took forever to get to her house, but soon we were pulling into the driveway. My car was parked up against the garage and then I knew for sure going there had been the right thing.

Finn and Tiny followed behind me. The front door was unlocked and as soon I as stepped through the doorway, I heard a gunshot.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I ran toward the sound. The house was so big and I found myself standing in front of a long hallway at the top of the stairs. I stood there waiting to hear something and then another shot rang out. My feet moved before I thought as I ran to the door where the shots were coming from. I heard Finn and Tiny on my heels. We could’ve been running into our deaths for all we knew, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered to me was getting to Patience and helping her.

When I got to the doorway I looked in and felt instant relief when I saw her standing there facing away from me. Then my eyes took in the scene, her sister lying in bed with her clothes ripped and her father’s bloodied body on the floor.

When I saw the look on her face, I knew what I had to do. Her skin was paler than usual, whiter than her hair, and her eyes were wide with shock. I wanted to hold her to me and tell her everything was going to be okay, but I knew we had to move fast.

Words couldn’t describe the way it felt to watch her being pulled away from me knowing I could never be with her again, knowing that once I took the blame for this my life would never be the same. She came into my life and washed away all the bad, and I loved her with every part of my soul. It was the least I could do.