Page 61 of Myself

I see Ryder patting some guy on the shoulder, and then he is coming toward us. “Hey, guys,” he says as he comes up to us, draping his arm over Ashlyn’s shoulders.

She shakes him off, and I wonder what is going on. She seemed fine on our way here. What’s happened in the past ten minutes that I don’t know about?

“Everything all right?” he asks her.

She nods, but even I can tell she’s lying. I look over at Jaycent, and he looks away from them, knowing something is wrong. “We’re going to go find ...” He trails off and then grabs my hand. I go to protest since Ryder is right in front of us, but he’s too busy looking at Ashlyn to even care what we are doing. Jaycent yanks me away from them.

“Wonder what that was all about?” I say as we make our way to the other side of the boat.

“I have no clue, but it looked intense,” he says.

We pass a few guys I remember them going to school with before we come up to a waiter with a tray of cocktails. Jaycent stops him and grabs me one before taking one for himself. As I lift the drink to my lips, I pause. “Shit!” I say a little too loudly.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, turning to face me.

“I think I just figured out the reason Ashlyn is mad.”

“What is it?”

I look over at the woman who stands by a table top on the back deck. “Vicki is here.”

“What?” he asks as he looks around. “What is she doing here?”

“I don’t know. But I know Ry didn’t invite her,” I state.

She is talking on her cell phone and spots me. I go to turn and walk the other way, but she’s already heading toward us. “Becca.” She huffs, coming to a stop and hanging up her phone. “Where is Ryder?”

“I don’t know,” I respond, lifting my drink.

She looks at Jaycent. “Have you seen him?” He just shakes his head. “Well, I know he’s here.” She stomps her foot. “I just saw him with that woman.”

I say nothing, and she storms off, letting out another huff. “I never did like her,” Jaycent says, watching her stomp off. “She always acted like a spoiled brat.”

“Me neither. She was always mean to me.” I take another drink.

“So how did Ashlyn take the news about you moving out?” he asks, changing the subject.

I spit out my drink at his question. “Uh ...”

“You haven’t said anything to her yet?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

“It’s only been five days,” I respond defensively.

He crosses his arms over his chest. “So when are you going to say something?”

“If I tell her now, then Ryder will find out that she is moving and ask why. That will lead to him finding out about us.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “He deserves to know, Becca. Christ, your father already knows,” he hisses.

“I know,” I snap. “Thanks to you.”

“That was not my fault, and you know it,” he argues.

“You did come out and tell him we were together.”

“What?” he snaps. “Would you rather me say we were just fucking?” I narrow my eyes on him.

“Becca?” We both look over to see a man walking toward us, but his eyes are on me. “Becca, is that you?”

---