I slid my phone to my ear after pressing the answer button. “Gabriel?”
“Stacy.” His voice sounded exhausted and strained. “Hi, baby.”
My heart broke. I couldn’t believe that I was going to have to end things. I loved him more than I loved myself, and just hearing his voice brought tears to my eyes. “Hi.”
“How bad is it?” he asked.
Mira started to pound against the door and scream my name, but I ignored her for the moment.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked, alarmed.
“It’s just Mira—Go away! I’m fine!—Sorry.”
“Do I even want to know how bad it is?” He asked.
“Just a couple of scratches,” I lied, and I knew that he knew I was lying.
“No broken bones?”
I leaned over just enough to peer into the mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door. The corner of my left eye was totally swollen and dark, and my gray cast took up half my torso. “Nope. I got lucky.”
Gabriel let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. Stacy, I’m…I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” The thick distress in his voice let me know he hadn’t slept.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “You sound exhausted.”
Gabriel let out an exhausted scoff. “Some guys whoop your ass, and you’re worried about if I’m sleepy?” He chuckled. “You’re impossible.”
“You know, you’re not the first person who has told me that.”
Gabriel chuckled a little more, and it made me crack the first smile I had in two days.
“I can’t imagine why,” he grumbled.
“You never answered my question.”
“Which one?” he asked.
“Are you okay?”
“No, Stace. I am not okay.” He sighed. “I’m sorry to ask you this. Can you meet me at the hill?” There was a beat of hesitation. “If you want to meet in a more public place, that’s fine.”
“I’ll meet you there. When?”
Mira banged against the door. “You aren’t going anywhere!”
“I’m headed there now,” Gabriel replied.
I ignored Mira’s angry hisses. “I’ll leave now.”
“Okay. I lo…” His voice trailed off, and it was like stabbing a butcher knife into my chest. “See you soon.”
“Yeah.” Then the line went dead.
I pulled my foot away from the bathroom door, and Mira burst in. “I don’t know who you were talking to, but you’re no—”
I was sobbing in seconds. “I love him so much.”
Mira crouched in front of me and set her head in my lap. “I know, sweetie, but it’s not safe.”