Page 47 of Gabriel's Salvation

“Who was that?” Ava asks as she walks out of the water, past me to where she throws her arms around her boyfriend's neck.

“It was nothing, just some drunk asshole,” I lie.

“Didn't look like nothing,” Izzy adds, walking up to us, holding hands with Nate. I see the worry in Nate's eyes and give a slight nod.

“Hey Ava, how about you and Bella go get some ice cream? My treat.” Nate suggests as he bends down and hands Izzy his wallet.

“What do you want?” Izzy asks sweetly.

“You?” Nate jokes back with a cheeky wink. I can't help but smile as I watch the way they both look at each other. If true love were a real thing, these two have it.

“I'm serious,” Izzy laughs as she turns bright red.

I can’t help but smile at how sweet and innocent she is. A total contrast to Ava who has taken to being glued to her side. Which I guess makes sense since both their boyfriends have a total bromance going on with each other.

“So am I,” Nate replies with a wink. “But if we're talking about ice cream, surprise me.”

I watch Izzy, Ava, and the other two boys take off to get us some sweet snacks.

“Okay, so now cut the bullshit, who the fuck was that Riley?” Tucker asks.

“Was it who I think it was?” Harper asks as she stamps her feet.

I just nod. “What did he want?” Nate asks but again I don't know what to say so I just shrug and look away. I can feel his piercing gaze linger on me.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Tucker asks with a bite in his voice and sounding nothing like his usual playful, carefree self.

“That was my brother,” Nate says as he looks down at the floor, looking almost guilty.

“He's your brother?” Tucker says in surprise.

“Yeah. Look, I'm not trying to excuse what he did…” Nate begins.

“What exactly did he do to you, Riley?” Tucker asks, looking at me with his brow furrowed.

“It doesn't matter. He hurt me, that's all you need to know,” I reply, hating the way they're all looking at me like some delicate little angel that needs protecting.

“And you're okay with that, are you? Having a brother that goes around hitting girls?” Tucker questions. I notice that he has his fists clenched and his breathing has gotten a bit faster.

“Woah! It wasn't like that!” I snap, trying to interrupt.

“You don't have to lie, Rilez; we've all seen that big ass bruise. We’re not stupid,” he growls.

“Okay, so yeah, I guess technically he did give me it,” I admit sheepishly. I can feel the heat setting into my cheeks and I blow out a breath. “But it’s not like you're thinking; he didn't hit me or anything, it was kind of done, erm, in a different way,” I admit, feeling the blush deepen. Can this be any more embarrassing? How can I tell them, without really telling them that I liked it? That I wanted Gabe to spank me. Am I crazy?

“A different way? What sort of…. Ooooh, a different way,” Tucker says, now looking embarrassed and red-faced himself.

“Yep.” Harper laughs.

“But still, there's rough and there's ROUGH, and that's goddamn ROUGH. What was he fucking playing at?” Tucker says as he shakes his head and begins to get angry once again.

“Again, I'm not excusing any of his behavior, not at all. Believe me, I wanted to beat his ass when I heard what he did. Heck, he got a punch to the nuts for it,” Nate smirks.

“He did?” Harper gasps.

“Yeah, he did,” Nate confirms. “But what you've gotta understand about Gabe is, he's broken. Like I don't know if there's enough glue in all of America to stick him back together kind of broken.”

I know it's his brother, but hearing anyone talk about Gabe like this fills me with a sense of sadness. Not for myself, but for Gabe. To know this is what people, especially those who are supposed to love him, think about him.

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