My Savior

-14-

Sage's POV

He slapped me across the cheek and pulled out a knife. I tripped and he backed me into a wall. He roughly pulled me up and pinned me to the wall. He put his hand on my stomach and glared at me with a twisted grin. "Why would you hide this from me?" My breathing became heavy as tears streamed down my cheeks.

I looked over at Ryder who didn't bother to save me. He was mad. I knew he would be. I looked back up at Rick as he raised the knife in the air. "Please d-don't..." I whimpered. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and looked down at the knife. "H-how... c-could you?" I cried.

"Maybe you should learn not to keep secrets." He pulled the knife out and was about to stab me again before my eyes opened and a scream escaped my lips.

I held my stomach and cried. I looked around for Ryder but he wasn't with me. Derik ran into the room. "Sage! What happened?"

I hugged my knees to my chest and it became harder to breathe. I tried to tell him I had a nightmare but no words came out.

"Ryder's on his way." Derik rubbed my back but it didn't help. Visions of Rick hurting the baby kept flashing through my mind. The tears wouldn't stop falling. I felt my chest tightening and my vision was becoming blurry. My head was spinning.

As soon as I thought the world would go black, I felt strong arms wrap around me. "I'm here, princess." Once I heard his voice, my heart sped up. The nightmare appeared again and I felt like I was being choked. "Deep breaths, princess." Ryder held me closer and I cried into his chest.

I steadied my breathing and looked up at him with a quivering lip. He wiped my tears and kissed my forehead. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"I h-had a n-nightmare..." I clung to him tighter. "It was so real..."

"It's ok. You're safe." I pulled away and saw that Derik was gone and the door was closed. I buried my face in his chest. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." He sounded so... vulnerable.

I looked up at him. His eyes were glistening like he was about to cry. Though the violent images continued to flash through my mind, Ryder's presence made me feel safe. I pecked his cheek. "It's ok." My phone started ringing. "Hey, Greg."

"Are you ok? You sound like you've been crying," he said in a worried tone.

"I was, but I'm ok now. Ryder helped calm me down," I said as I smiled up at Ryder. "Anyways, what did you need?"

He took a deep breath, "Rick knows about Ryder. He looked like he was ready to kill him." My heart stopped. I'm sure I was as pale as a ghost and Ryder looked worried.

"How does he know?" I asked slowly, trying to keep my cool. I bit my lip to contain my anxiety.

"Drug deal. I was a dumbass and brought him with. I'm sorry." I could hear things breaking in the background and someone was yelling. "I have to go. Rick is beyond pissed. I love you and I'm really sorry."

"It's ok. I love you too." I hung up and looked at Ryder. "So that's why you weren't here."

He held a guilty expression laced with regret. "I should've sent someone else to do it. I should've been here. I should've-" I pushed him down and kissed him. When I pulled away, he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I'm not mad. There's no way you could've predicted what happened. I'm ok now that you're here." I smiled at him and he smiled back and hugged me.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I have the most amazing girlfriend."

I didn't know how to respond, so I said the most cliché thing ever, "I'm lucky to have you." I got out of his grip and stood up. "You should call Dante and Scotty over. We could all play basketball."