I press my sweaty forehead against hers. Tremors rip through me as I realize how fucking badly this night could have gone. “I don’t even know what the fuck to think right now.”
“That I love you, and I’m so glad that we never have to go through this again,” Scarlett whispers against my lips.
I release a long breath and squeeze her as hard as I dare. “Never. Never fucking again.”
“Um ... Gabe,” Q says from above us. “Not to break this up, but we gotta get Rolo to a hospital, or he’s not gonna make it.”
Fifty-Seven
Scarlett
As soon aswe enter Gabriel’s office, after giving statements to the police in the conference room, Bump tackle-hugs us both.
“I’m so glad you’re okay! Nothing can happen to you, Gabe. You either, Scarlett.”
Gabriel pats him on the back as Bump trembles in our arms. “We’re okay, bud. Totally okay. Nothing happened to Scarlett. She’s fine.”
Bump loosens his grip to look at us. “You got hit in the face a lot tonight. I thought you weren’t gonna let him hit you this time?”
Gabriel gives him that half grin I love so much, even with his battered face. “I tried not to, but at least I won, right?”
Bump nods soberly. “But Moses came back. He wasn’t supposed to come back.”
“He’s gone now, honey,” I tell Bump, running a hand over his short-cropped hair. “He’s never coming back.I promise.”
“You promise? Are yousure?” His question carries all of the fear he’s no doubt been storing up, and I know what promises mean to him.
“We promise, bud. Totally sure.” Gabriel’s reply must quiet some of his concerns, because the lines on Bump’s face smooth out, and his whole body seems to deflate.
“Okay. Good. Because I don’t think I can handle that again. No one hurts my family.”
The wordfamilysends warmth unfurling through my chest. That’s what I have now.A family.
There’s a knock at the door, and Q pokes his head inside. “Before you leave, there are some people who want to talk to you.”
“Who?” Gabriel asks, and it’s clear from his tone that he doesn’t want to talk to anyone.
“My folks, Scarlett’s friends, and Creighton Karas and his wife. What do you want me to tell them?”
Gabriel looks at me. “You up for this? Because if you want, Q can tell all of them we’ll talk to them later.”
I think of what Bump just said—family.That’s what my friends have become too. That’s what Q’s parents are for Gabe. In the end, family is all we have, and all we really ever need.
“They can come in,” I reply.
Q nods and opens the door.
Harlow, Kelsey, and Monroe burst through first, all with their arms outstretched as they rush toward me.
“Oh God. I can’t believe Lucy! And she’s dead? Oh my God!” Tears stream down Monroe’s face as she yanks me into a hug first.
Harlow and Kelsey wrap their arms around me from either side. “We’re so glad you’re okay,” Harlow says.
“I would kill her myself, if she weren’t already dead,” Kelsey adds.
“I love you guys.”
“Flynn has been calling and texting you, and she freaked out when you didn’t answer,” Harlow tells me. “She called me, and I kind of had to tell her what happened.”