I had done the impossible. I had left my mother speechless. And it hurt my heart, but I also knew it was the right thing to do, and that I was right about everything. And I’d find a way to help Nolan without her. I peeled out of the driveway as I sped onto the main road, heading back to Tucson. I replayed my conversation over in my head the entire way back to my dorm, and every single time, I was satisfied, happy I’d finally said what needed to be said.

I’d had disagreements with my mother before, but never over anything truly important. This one was going to last, and I could just tell. I thought about talking it over with Pops, but I knew he agreed with me. There was no need to bring him into it. This was my disappointment to bear, and I was finally ready.

To clear my head, I spent the rest of Thursday night preparing. I’d brainstormed just about every single overly romantic gesture known to man, and I was half tempted to pull them all out for this one date. But I also knew I had to take things slow. I was pretty satisfied with what I finally settled on, and when I called Sarah to run it by her, she agreed. If you would have asked me in high school if Sarah and I would be as close as we’d become, I would have laughed, a gut-busting kind of laugh in disbelief. But now was a different story. We were close, and Sarah was no longer just Nolan’s friend—she was mine, too.

Before I would be able to focus on the evening, I knew there was some shit I just had to get out of the way. I knew when Noles would be at her writing workshop. It was the only damn thing she still went to religiously, so I counted on her being gone for at least two hours. It gave me enough time to show up early and pay a little visit to Gavin.

I could hear his pu**y-ass music playing on the other side of the door when I got to his room. I smirked a little to myself, thinking about how surprised he was about to be before I knocked softly on his door. I heard the music turn down and saw the shadows of his footsteps under the doorway before he opened. When he made eye contact with me, his face fell instantly. It may have been disappointment that I was not Nolan, but I also think there was a little fear in the mix, too. And I f**king LOVED that!

“Reed, uh…what’s up, man?” he said, leaning into his door a little, trying to look relaxed. I could tell from the rapid movement in his eyes that he was anything but.

“Not much, Gav. Hey, you gotta sec? I think you and I need to talk,” I said, just pushing my way into his room. His walls were an interesting mixture of posters, with deep quotes, poetry and music. I saw his guitar propped up in the corner, and my stomach turned just thinking about how he probably tried to use his talent to woo my girl. This prick needed to pay.

“Yeah, uh… come in, I guess,” he said, shutting his door and shrugging at me. I was leaning on his desk now, my legs crossed, and my hands in my pockets. He pulled out one of his chairs and turned it around to sit backward. I chuckled a little at him when he did this.

“So, Gavin…remember that night I saw you coming out of Nolan’s room?” I said, just diving right in. I’d played this scene over in my head enough times. I was ready.

Gavin just nodded a little, looking down and laughing to himself. “Yeah, I know that night,” he looked up, smiling. “Look, what the f**k do you want, Reed? Let’s not beat around the bush.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “I think you owe me an apology. And, frankly, I think you owe Nolan one, too…but you can just give me hers, because there’s no f**king way I’m letting you anywhere near her.” I had pulled my hands from my pockets at this point and crossed my arms at my chest to flex my forearms, just for effect.

Gavin just tapped on the back of the chair a bit, looking at his hands and nodding. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Reed, you don’t own her. You don’t get to make decisions for her or control her life. And if she wants to spend time with me, well…I’m sorry, but that’s not my fault, and you don’t get a say in it,” he said. Cocky motherfucker.

I chuckled to myself again, looking down and shaking my head. “Yeah, you’re right,” I said, looking back at him, locking my gaze to his. “I don’t own her. But neither do you. And when you spun that little tale the other night, you weren’t thinking of Nolan. You were thinking of yourself, and how you could get me out of the way so you could make your play. Genius, really. I mean, damn, I can’t believe I fell for it! But shit didn’t really work out like you wanted. Did it, Gavin?”

We stared at each other for seconds after I spoke. He was thinking of his next move, what to say. But I knew he was out of the picture. Fuck, he was never in the damn picture in the first place. He was a blip in my girl’s emotional meltdown. And he’d taken advantage of her, and I wanted to knock his goddamn teeth out.