But Why Not

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ryder

I saw Erin leave school under Natalie's arm. Her eyes were red and puffy. It killed me, absolutely killed me, to see her and know I had been the one to hurt her. But I couldn't stand to cause so much trouble in her life.

After Erin left school, I wasn't far behind. There were so many emotions going on inside me, I wasn't sure what to do. To be honest, I hadn't taken my medicine in weeks. I stopped needing it. Erin was the only medicine I needed.

I drove home in a rage far over the speed limit but when I pulled into my driveway, sadness washed over me in a wave. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel frustrated by the wave of emotions hitting me.

I dug around in my center console until I found the bottle. I grabbed it with shaking hands and shook out two pills. Throwing my head back, I swallowed them dry.

Once I felt more composed, I climbed out of my truck just as a car pulled up to the curb in front of my house.

An angry looking Zach climbed out of the car and stalked towards me. He grabbed me by my shirt and pinned me against the truck. "You hurt Erin." he snarled in my face.

"No, Zach." I fired back. "You hurt Erin. I'm pushing her away so you can have her. You win. I'm done causing trouble for her."

Zach shoved away from me and turned away. "Call her." he said taking a deep breath.

"What?" I asked shocked.

He turned back to face me. "Call Erin. Get her back." he took another deep breath. "You've proved to me you're good for her. You broke her heart because you didn't want her to have more trouble." He sighed. "Do you love her?"

I nodded. "Yeah, man. I love her and I would never hurt her unless it was to protect her."

"Don't leave her again." he said sternly before turning away.

I ran my hand through my hair. That was weird but I decided to do what Zach said.

I dialed Erin's number as I made my way into the house.

So you got a chapter from Ryder's point of view! There may be one more chapter from his POV a little later.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Avery