Page 117 of I Don't Need Your Love

We return to Carly’s house because her mom insists we eat (again) before our long drive to school. She prepared snacks and sandwiches, which Carly and I scarf down while we sit in the kitchen.

“Hey, man,” Blake says as he enters the room. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure.”

With my sandwich on my plate, I follow him to his room. The place is adorned with football memorabilia. I smile when I take it all in, no longer feeling as sad as I used to when I thought about football. I’ll always miss it, of course, but I’ve moved on to new things.

We sit on Blake’s bed. I wait for him to talk, but he keeps quiet.

“What’s up?” I ask as I take another bite of my sandwich.

“What are you playing at, man?” he says.

I lift my brows. “What?”

“My sister? Really?”

“What do you—?”

He throws his hands up. “You know what I mean. Carly’s not…one of your girls. Sorry, you know I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just looking out for my sister.”

I nod. “I get it. Believe me, Carly is the last person I’d ever hurt. But I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve changed. I don’t want to have fun with girls anymore. I want a long-term girlfriend. And Carly and I have strong feelings for each other. I love her, man. You have my word that I’ll never hurt her.”

His face softens. “You love her?”

I smile. “Yeah, I really do. And if for whatever reason you don’t trust me or you think I’ll harm her, you can beat the livingdaylights out of me. But I swear to you that I’ll never, never hurt her. She means the world to me. She gives me hope for a better life. She’s my everything, Blake. Honest.”

“I never thought I’d hear such sappy words coming from Ryder Bennett.”

I shrug. “Sappy or not, it’s how I feel.”

He smiles at me. “I’ve seen a change in you the past few weeks. And while I do trust you, I’ll still watch you like a hawk.”

“Please do.”

He slaps my hand. “I’m really happy for you, dude. And I see that Carly is happy, too. That’s all because of you.”

I return the smile. “We make each other happy.”

I tell him the good news about my renewed relationship with my parents. He’s so relieved that things are looking up for me.

Just a few weeks ago, I didn’t think much of my life. Or the future. I was just having fun. But now my future looks so bright and I can’t wait to ride the wave.

With my beautiful, awesome, talented girlfriend by my side. With us together, nothing can stop us.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Carly

As I’m stuffing my bag with things from my room that I want to take back to school with me, Blake knocks on my door.

“Can we talk?” he asks.

“Sure.”

We sit on my bed.

“I was talking to Ryder and he told me he wants to have a long-term relationship with you.”