Gabby flew out of my room faster than I could blink. The only additional thing she said was a quiet "Excuse me" as she sped past my mother down the hall. When she left, I managed to make it to my bed and sat on the side. I closed my eyes for a second as I remembered the feel of her soft mouth. Not to mention the way she responded to me. I could feel her need when she fisted my shirt and deepened my kiss. And I can't forget that soft little moan she did; which I still don't think she realized.

My mind was brought back to the present as I heard my mom walk into my room again.

She smiled at me as she pulled a chair up to the side of the bed. "She's a pretty girl, Hayden."

Pretty was an understatement. "What's up, Mom?"

She got a weird expression on her face. Whatever she was going to tell me, it wasn't good. "I know your father hasn't been by. I told him numerous times to come see you."

When she didn't say anything else, I said, "I know, mom. It's okay. I'll talk to him when I go home."

She looked away from me then and I felt a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. "He won't be there, Hayden. We got into an argument."

"Why? An argument about what?"

She met my gaze as she said, "It's nothing for you to worry about. It's between me and him."

I wanted to press her for more information but when my mom got that look on her face she wasn't going to budge. "I'm sorry, Mom."

She rose from her chair and came to give me a hug. "You have nothing to be sorry about. As I said, it's between me and him. You just need to focus on getting better."

When I didn't say anything, she added, "She seems more than just a girl who witnessed the incident, Hayden."

I didn't know what she was exactly. I just knew she was a lot more than just a girl. "She's not into me, Mom."

"She didn't seem like a girl uninterested."

"Even if she is interested, she made it clear that it's not going anywhere."

Her gaze softened as she said, "Hayden, there are some that are out of our control."

She kissed me on the cheek before leaving me in the room. I thought about what she said and only one thing came to my mind. That it really was my fault that my dad left. I know she said otherwise, but I knew better. He hasn't come by to see me since my injury. He hasn't called. Radio silence. To him, I didn't have my priorities straight when I developed an interest in Alex and Gabby which led to the fight that destroyed my, no his, dream blah, blah, blah. I was fucking tired of hearing about his stupid dream. This was my life I was living, and it took me 15 years to finally think about what I wanted.

I folded my arms as I remembered Gabby's question: "What is your dream?" She had asked. She was the first person to ever ask me that. As I thought about it, you can have more than one dream. Right now, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life as far as a career. But the one dream I was going to focus on was making Gabby Adamson mine.

***

It has been two days since my mom told me about the argument with my dad. She's been giving me a little space and I appreciated that. Gabby was also nowhere to be seen. I wanted to get out of this fucking hospital. It was like an antiseptic jail cell.

I was supposed to be doing rehab in the pool with Ashley today, but she had a family emergency and had to reschedule. Which left me here in my hospital bed. Trapped again.

"What are you doing in here?"

I stopped flipping through channels when I heard Gabby's voice and turned to look at her. God, she was beautiful. She was wearing a black Kansas shirt with black jeans and her signature converse. Her hair was up in a ponytail and I had to admit, I liked it that way. If it was out of her face, so I could see those eyes that always pull me in. Considering the flight risk that she was, I went with a safe, "Um, this is my room. What are you doing in here?"

She gave me a droll look. "You know what I mean. Why aren't you in the pool doing your rehab?"

I turned back towards the TV and continued flipping through channels. "Ashley had a family emergency. I was actually looking forward to the pool, but you need a badge to get in."

She sat her bag down and was quiet for a minute before she asked, "I'm going to get a soda. Want one?"

As much as I wanted her here, I couldn't fight the guilt building inside me about my dad. I was in a terrible mood and didn't want to bring her into it. "No, thanks. I'm not really up to anything today. You can go home if you want."

When she walked out into the hall, leaving her bag in the chair. Curiosity got the best of me, so I grabbed my crutches and wobbled to the door to see what she was up to.

She was at the soda machine and waited patiently for the soda to be dispensed. She grabbed it and headed back to the room. I started to turn when I saw her bump into a doctor and stumble. She apologized as she continued walking. What kept me from going to her to ask her if she was okay was the fact that when she bumped into my doctor, and I saw her take his badge and slip it into the back pocket of her jeans.

My jaw was almost to the floor as she walked up to me.

She stopped in front of me and after opening the can, looked at my expression and said, "What? You said you didn't want one."

I pulled her in my room and shut the door. "You totally just lifted that badge off Dr. Toben."

She looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. "What? I would never!"

I reached around her and into her back pocket. I hesitated for a moment as I realized I was only inches from her and breathed her in. She smelled like that familiar strawberry scent and I wanted to inhale it until it was the only thing I smelled.

I pulled the card out of her pocket and held it up for her.

Her eyes went wide when she looked at the card. "Oh, my god! How did that get there?"

When I gave her a look she sighed, "Fine. I thought you wanted to go to the pool. You're supposed to be exercising that knee today right? So, let's go."

I looked at her skeptically. "Is this some kind of payback for yesterday? Are you going to get me in there and then leave me there and frame me for your petty theft?"

She laughed, a real Gabby laugh, and it was the best thing I'd heard all week. It was almost musical and I didn't want her to stop.

She made an X over heart while saying, "Cross my heart."

"You don't have a swimsuit."

She went to the door and held it open for me. "I have a plan. Now, stop making excuses."

I grabbed my bag that had my clean clothes in it and walked out of the room.

I waited outside the door for her to join me and asked, "So, what now? I don't have any experience in criminal acts."

She smiled at me and I wanted to feel that mouth on mine again. "Trust me?" she asked.

"Not even sort of."

We walked down towards the rehab canter and she told me to wait outside. I did as she instructed and watched her go up to the receptionist but couldn't make out what they were saying. The receptionist pointed her index finger to a door and Gabby smiled before walking towards it. On her way to the door, she glanced at me and winked before disappearing behind the door.

I'm in big trouble. I was starting to like her more and more as I got to know her. Not to mention, she seemed to be "Gabby" today and not just a no-talking-music-listening room decoration. She was talking and laughing. She committed a crime for me, petty as it was. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a small dose of the real Gabby and it only made me want to know more about her. Spend more time with her.

I started getting nervous when it took her awhile to come out. I started to go inside when I saw her leaving the room, now wearing what looked like a long-sleeved workout shirt that Ashley usually wore, a pair of yoga pants and was carrying a bag. She said something to the receptionist before walking back towards me. She put her finger to her lips, motioning for me to be quiet and we started to walk towards the pool.

This area of the hospital at this time was always deserted. They didn't have hardly any appointments in the afternoon which is why I scheduled them at that time. If I weren't injured, I would tackle her into the pool and do anything to make her laugh again. It was clear in that instant that I have been weighted down by this "football dream". I can breathe now, and I felt like I could finally relax.

She sat her stuff down and I finally asked, "Want to explain why you are wearing workout clothes?" Not that they didn't look fucking amazing on her. As soon as she walked up to me in those yoga pants my cock was as hard as a rock.

She smiled coyly at that, "I needed something to wear, didn't I?"

Not if I had my way. And if we wouldn't get caught. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her that Dr. Toben authorized me to replace Ashley today since she had an emergency and after all, I am a certified rehab assistant."

Impressive. "She bought that?"

"She questioned it. I told her that Dr. Toben was in surgery right now and she was more than welcome to call him and interrupt to verify that while you missed your appointment. She chose not to interrupt the surgery."

I gave her a smile. Damn, she was sexy. "You are a sly one, aren't you?"

She laughed at that. "Hey, you were the one brooding in your room. I made a promise to hang out here and I don't want to hang out with someone who is brooding nonstop. And besides, you wanted to go to the pool."

I am definitely liking this Gabby. "Well, I have to say I'm impressed."

As we got to the pool, she slid Dr. Toben's ID card and when the door opened, she gave me a side smile that had me rearranging my shorts.

There was no one in the pool area, as expected, so we didn't have to worry about someone catching us and Gabby getting in trouble.

She helped me into the pool and luckily it was heated. Ashley told me the day before what she wanted me to do so I explained it to Gabby. "She wants me to walk to one end of the pool and back. But you have to be in front of me. Holding my hands," I said while I bit back my smile.

She gave me a look that said she wasn't buying it. In all fairness, I was telling the truth. Except for the hand holding part.

She sighed as she stuck her out hands palms up. I tuned her hands so I could lace my fingers with hers. I heard her take a deep breath before she looked up at me. "Ready?"

I nodded and she started walking backwards towards the wall. We didn't say anything as we reached the end and turned around to go back.

"You okay?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's still stiff but the pain isn't as bad."

"No, I meant you."

I looked up at her, but she wasn't looking at me. I got the feeling she made herself uncomfortable by asking me that. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged her shoulder. "You don't seem like yourself."

Interesting. "And how is that?"

"You know, cocky, talking non-stop or inappropriately hitting on me."

I laughed at that. "I'm fine."

She gave me a look that said she didn't believe me. "Hayden, I never said thank you. For everything that happened."

I scowled at her. "There's no need to thank me." Was she serious? I would do it again in a heartbeat. Fuck those guys.

"I know I've been a bit stand-offish, but I have my reasons."

I raised an eyebrow. "And they are?"

She held my gaze when she said, "My business." I scoffed at her and she added, "Look, I'm just saying that if there is something wrong and you want to, you know, talk to me about it, you can."

I was pleasantly surprised at her offer. But there was no way in hell I wanted to talk about that right now. I didn't want to talk about my dad, football, school or anything. I just wanted to enjoy time, that I was sure is limited, with Gabby and let everything else disappear.

"I don't want to talk about it." It came out a little harsher than I meant it, but she just nodded.

She was quiet for a long while as we continued through the pool. My hands were still holding hers and all I wanted to do was pull her against me and kiss her. When we got to the wall this time, I pretended to stumble, and she caught me, making it easy for me to wrap my arms around her.

She gave me an evil look. "You did that on purpose."

I looked into her eyes for just a moment before I said, "Yeah, I did." I was leaning against the wall now and I pulled her against me and kissed her. I loved how she kissed. She hesitated before she slid her hands up my chest and around my neck. I moved my hands from her waist going inside her shirt to slide them against her soft back and waist. I felt goose bumps break out all over her body and I pulled my mouth away from hers, smiling as I kissed her neck until I reached her ear and whispered, "If you want me to stop, say the word."

I pulled away to look at her and wait for her answer. Instead of saying anything, she bit her bottom lip before grabbing my face and bringing my lips to hers.

I slid my hand up the back of her shirt to unclasp her bra when we heard the pool door close and the sound of a woman clearing their throat.

I pulled away from her immediately to see an older woman wearing a hospital uniform.

"Excuse me," she said with her hands on her hips, "this pool is for rehab sessions only. I'll have to ask you to leave."

We didn't say anything as we got out of the pool and grabbed our bags. We went to the small room they had to dry off before going back to my room.

She waited a minute before looking at me. By her expression I could tell that the fun, coy, pick-pocketing Gabby was gone. "This can't happen again. I don't know what came over me."

There it was. Was she serious? I was starting to get pissed off. "Don't you think there is a reason this keeps happening? If I remember correctly you kissed me the first time. Not to mention, you kissed me back, repeatedly. Then you bail. Are you just here to tease me? If you are then you should just stay home."

She looked at me with a blank face before taking the towel off and draping it on the chair. She grabbed her stuff and headed out the door saying, "Bye, Golden Boy."

All I could do was watch her leave. Dammit. I hit the bathroom door with my hand. "I'm so fucking stupid." I didn't mean to snap at her like that. I had been feeling miserable since I heard about my father. And there was only one way to fix that. As soon as I get discharged, I'm going down to the sawmill and I'm going to fix this. Then, I'm going to get Gabby's address and fix her.