The next day...

I am ringing up a costumer for a bouquet of daisies. He is a young guy, probably in his late teens who is avoiding eye contact with me.

"First date?" I ask wrapped the flowers up in paper.

"Uh, yeah," he says.

I smile, "well, bringing the girl flowers is the first step to a successful date."

"Is that your tagline?" He jokes.

"Hmm, maybe it should be! Carley!" I shout making the guy flinch a bit. He thanks me quickly and basically runs towards the door.

"What?" She asks.

"'Flowers are the first step to a successful date.' Should that be our tagline?" I'm bouncing on the balls of my feet, I'm so excited, "we can make T-Shirts!"

"That sucks. It's not catchy. At all," Carley shrugs. All my excitement disappears just as quick as it started.

"Oh," I sigh, "I guess we don't need a slogan."

"Probably a good idea." Carley looks around the shop, "where's your shadow?"

"Work. I'm Ryder-less for two whole days. What do you want to do?" I ask hopping up onto the counter and swinging my legs.

"You know it's rude that you want to hangout with me because Ryder is working," Carley shakes her head at me.

"That isn't what I meant," I say, "what crawled up your butt?"

"Gabe." She answers with a shrug.

"What happened?" I ask. This is the first time we've been alone since the double date. Her face reddens slightly and I can tell tears are about to fall.

"He said he is dealing with 'an issue with his ex' and doesn't want me to get mixed up in it. What kind of crap is that?" She asks but I can tell there is more to the story.

"Maybe it's the truth? I'll try to get more information from Ryder," I say putting my arm around her shoulders, "he seems really into you."

"I thought so too. But I don't know."

"Girls night tonight?" My excitement returning, "wine and cookies and ice cream!"

"Yes."

***

We are lounging on my couch watching some reality TV show and laughing about nothing. Our snack are gone and the wine bottles are empty, I'm definitely feeling it.

So is Carley. She is giggling at her phone and texting.

I roll my eyes, "Gabe?"

She nods and smiles looking away from me.

"So what was his actual reason, besides the girlfriend thing. There has to be something else?" I say trying to get her attention back to me and away from her phone.

She shrugs and tries to move on but I stop her, "just tell me." I whine. I hate not knowing things and knowing that Ryder and Carley know is driving me crazy.

"Secret secrets are no fun," I start.

Carley stops me, "ugh. Fine. Just don't sing that stupid song again."

"I'm listening," I say batting my eyelashes. That makes her laugh and throw a pillow at me, which makes Boomer's tail start wagging thinking we are playing some fun game.

When he realizes that the game is over he wonders back over to his bed and falls asleep instantly. Oh, to be a dog.

"His ex is claiming that he got her pregnant. She just had the baby a few weeks ago. He is getting DNA tests done and stuff. He says she cheated on him multiple times so he just wants to be sure before deciding what to do," she says this all in one breath. She peaks at me and then puts her head back down, like she is scared of what I'll say. Why is she scared of what I'll say?

"Why wouldn't you tell me that?" I ask now and decide we'll talk about the situation after.

"You are very judgmental. I don't want you judging him. If it's his he will decide what to do but he also knows that it could possibly not be his," she explains.

"I'm not judgmental!"

Carley sighs, "you can be. Especially about things that you don't understand."

I'm pretty furious right now but try to ignore it because I want to be there for Carley. See? I'm not judgmental, I'm just a good friend. Yes, let's go with that.

"Would you be okay with him having a kid?" I ask , "you'd have to go to, like, soccer games and shit."

"See, that is judgmental!" Carley says trying to laugh off the insult, "but, if we did end up together I'd be fine with it. I want kids."

"You do?" I ask.

"Yeah, you don't?"

I think about it for a little bit. I think about changing diapers and losing sleep and not being able to drink wine for nine months plus more if I decide to breast feed. Then I think about Boomer and a baby and that sells it.

"I'd have a baby. Boomer and the baby would be so cute together," I say now daydreaming about a baby with Ryder's blue eyes laying on Boomer.

"Boomer, a baby, and a puppy would be way cuter." Carley says and I can't tell if she's mocking me or not.

"Wow, you are so right!" I exclaim making Boomer lift his head slightly to make sure nothing serious is going on.

We are back to laughing at nothing and pretending the whole judgmental thing never happened.

My phone starts ringing with an unknown number so I ignore it and continue my running commentary on the reality show we're watching.

A few minutes later my phone rings again with the same number.

"I think you should answer it," Carley says.

I answer and say a tentative, "hello?" and look over to Carley who is looking at her phone with a very serious expression. My heart starts beating too hard and fast in my chest.

"Addison?" I hear a deep voice say.

"Yes?" I barely squeak out.

"Ryder has been injured. He asked me to call you."

And my world goes dark. Carley take the phone from my hand and talks to the man on the other line. She begins pacing around the room, saying goodbye to the person, then dialing someone else from her phone.

"Can you come pick us up?" I hear her ask but it seems like she is so far away from. I feel like we are trying to have a conversation underwater and I can't really make out the words but I know she is speaking.

"Gabe is going to pick us up and take us to the hospital," Carley explains too quickly for me to fully understand.

"Are you okay?" She asks wrapping her arm around me tightly. Her warmth is barely comforting.

He is going to be okay. He has to be okay. I keep those thoughts running through my head as Carley helps me into the car and we speed off towards the hospital.