THE MOMENT MATT SAID GABRIELLA’S name I knew I had made a terrible mistake. I didn’t want to hit him, but when he turned away from me to look at another girl I just reacted. I hadn’t seen his sister since she was thirteen years old, and a lot had changed in ten years. She was twenty-three years old and completely different … grown up.
Sheepishly, I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “Matt, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”
When I heard him shuffle on the mat, I lowered my hands and hesitantly opened my eyes. Standing in front of me with a huge smile on his face, it was hard to stay angry.
“Now, did that make you feel better?” he asked, tilting my chin up with his finger.
As much as I hated to admit it, yes, it did.
“Actually, it did,” I answered truthfully. “But I promise I won’t do that again. It just feels like every step forward we take there’s always something that tries to hold us back.”
“And that’s why we’ll keep pushing,” he murmured low. “Nothing is going to hold us back because I’m not going to let it. I’ll fight for what’s mine, and you, my angel, are mine.”
Staring into his swirling green gaze, it was so easy to get lost in them. However, the moment was broken when Gabriella cleared her throat. “Long time no see, Shelby. I see you found your way back to my brother. If I’m not mistaken, I thought he wasn’t good enough for you.”
Taken aback by her words, I almost thought I had imagined it, but by Matt’s glare I knew I didn’t. “Gabby, what the hell are you doing?”
“What?” she snapped, glaring back at him. “Have you forgotten everything? Because I know I haven’t. I was there, remember, unlike her.”
Turning on her heel, she stormed through the gym and out the door. I used to spend time with her when Matt and her mother would be at work. We grew really close to each other, and when I ended things with Matt I never saw her again—never told her good-bye—but I missed her. Being with Matt again, I didn’t even think about what it would be like to have to confront his sister or his mother. It wasn’t just him I left behind.
Matt sighed, his gaze weary when he turned to me. “I’ll be right back. I can’t let her leave like that.”
“Wait,” I called, grabbing his arm, “let me go out there and talk to her.”
“Are you sure? You know how tough she can be.”
“Yes, I know,” I agreed, “but she also needs to hear me out. I know she probably hates me, and she has every right to. I owe her an apology at least.”
Matt smiled sadly and nodded for me to go. I rushed out the front door and turned the corner to the parking lot to see if I could find her. Thankfully, she hadn’t gone far; she stood by Matt’s sport bike with silent tears streaming down her face. She looked so different now; she was taller and her raven black hair was long past her shoulders, instead of chin-length like it used to be. I could only assume by the gray California State T-shirt she wore that it was most likely the college she attended.
When her gaze found mine, she wiped away the tears and lowered her head. “Why are you back, Shelby? Is it because Matt has money now and your family would finally approve?”
That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. My mother always liked Matt; it was my father that had the issue, but I never let his concerns sway me from being with Matt. “No, Gabriella, that’s not it at all,” I answered with a sigh. “The money was never an issue with me.”
“Then what was it?” she cried, her green gaze showing the hurt she clearly felt.
“I can’t explain everything,” I said, “but you have to know that I’m going to do everything in my power to make it up to him … and to you. I’m sorry for not saying good-bye. I missed you after I left.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, well, Matt and I were kind of used to people leaving us. You learn to expect it after a while.”
“Not everyone leaves, Gabriella. Actually, I’m writing an article about your brother for the magazine I work for. I don’t know if you read sports magazines, but it’s called Physique. Have you heard of it?”
She nodded, her eyes going wide. “Yeah, my mom gets them every month. So Matt’s really going to be in it? That’s like huge, isn’t it?”
Gabriella was opening up a bit and I hoped I could keep it going. Gabriella and Matt were close to each other, just like me and Jace. Without their support it would put a strain on an already weak foundation, and that was the last thing Matt and I needed.
Smiling, I said, “Yes, it’s huge. He’ll be the highlight for next month’s issue, and his face will be on the cover. I’ll write an awesome story about him so that everyone in the world will know how great of a person he is, as well as an accomplished MMA fighter. It’ll open many doors for him.”
More tears streamed down her face, but she smiled through them. “He deserves this, you know. I knew his time would come.”
So did I, I wanted to say.
“Are you coming to the fight this weekend?” I asked, hoping the smile would stay on her face.
“Of course, that’s why I’m here. I usually stay with Matt when I’m in town, but if it’s going to be a problem then I can stay with one of my friends,” she suggested, fiddling around with the hem of her shirt.
“No,” I blurted out incredulously. “You don’t need to do that. I’m sure Matt would love to spend time with you. I have plenty of things at home I can do to keep me busy, and besides, it would give me time to actually start working on the article. ”
Turning on my heel, I started back toward the door thinking she would follow me in, but when I turned around she hadn’t moved an inch. “Are you coming back in?” I asked, peering at her over my shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m coming. I just need to make a couple of phone calls first.” I nodded and started back toward the door, pleased that things with her didn’t feel as tense as before, but I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“Hey, Shelby?” she called.
Slowly, I turned around and took a deep breath. “Yes?”
Keeping her gaze on the phone in her hands, Gabriella shifted on her feet and blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m pretty sure Matt doesn’t want you to know all of this, but I feel it’s something you should know. After you left it was the worst I had ever seen him. He barely slept or ate for months, he worked nonstop, and I could hardly get two words out of him at a time. He had a whole evening planned for you two, which would’ve taken place the night after you told him. He bought you a ring, Shelby. He planned on buying a house out near your college so you two could go ahead and get married.”
Gasping, I covered my mouth with my hands and tears immediately sprang to my eyes. If I had just waited a couple more days, things could have been completely different. We had talked about getting married, but we were young and I didn’t even know he was saving money for a ring.
Gabriella finally lifted her head and stared at me with the same green eyes as her brother. My heart shattered once more. “I refuse to see him like that again, Shelby. Whatever you do, don’t hurt him. He may not be perfect to you, but he’s my brother and he will always be perfect in my eyes.”
Not waiting on a reply from me, she punched in a few numbers on her phone and put it up to her ear. I didn’t want to hurt Matt, and I couldn’t exactly tell her that I left to help her out as well. Matt already worked long hours to keep his family afloat, and it would’ve killed him if he had to do more to provide for me and a baby. I don’t know if things could have been different if we’d gotten married, but it’d always be something we’d never know. My family would’ve given us money, but I knew Matt’s pride wouldn’t allow that. What Gabriella didn’t know was that I suffered as well … immensely. I was glad Matt didn’t have the heartbreak of having to witness the loss of our child.
It was a burden that only I had to bear, and not a day went by when I didn’t feel the pain of the loss.