Page 25 of Selfless

“Okay, honey, I hope you have a great Monday. I love you.”

The doors slide open, and I take a step toward it but come to a stop when I see a set of green eyes narrowed at me.

My heart pounds in my chest, and it’s hard to breathe. My palms instantly start sweating.

“Ashlyn?” my mother calls out in my ear. “I said I love you.”

“I love you too,” I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat. And then drop the phone from my ear before hanging up.

My heart still pounds in my chest as I look at him. He’s wearing a dark blue button up tucked into a black pair of slacks. His hair is styled to perfection in that messy way, and his face is freshly shaven. He looks perfect, and that makes it hurt even worse.

I quickly look around the elevator to see if he’s alone, and I let out a long breath when I don’t see a half-dressed woman in there with him. I’d cry if there was.

His eyes look me up and down, and his lips pull back with disgust. As if he has finally realized he was way out of my league. It hurts more than his words ever could.

I swallow nervously and take a step toward the elevator. “Ryder …” My voice cracks on his name, and I curse myself for being like this. I was doing better. I thought I was gonna be able to get over him, but seeing him right here and now proves I never will. He’ll always be the one who got away.

Instead of saying anything back, he steps over to the right and presses the button on the elevator, and then he squares his shoulders as he places his hands in the pockets of his slacks, giving me a “go to hell” look right before the doors slide shut on me.

I stand there half dazed as realization dawns on what he just did. He hates me so much that he can’t spend one minute with me in an elevator? Did he seriously just close it on me? The moment of panic I just had is replaced with rage.

I shove the door open to the apartment so hard that it bangs on the wall. I hear someone hiss shit, but I ignore them.

“That bastard,” I hiss.

“What’s wrong?” Becca asks.

I look at her as Jaycent excuses himself from the room. “He just shut the elevator door on me,” I growl.

“Who?”

“Ryder,” I explain, gripping my cell. “I was on the phone with my mother. The doors slid open, and I went to step in it but paused when I saw Ryder already standing inside the elevator. He just gave me this ‘go to hell’ look, and then as I went to step on the elevator, he reached over and pressed the button for it to shut.” My arms go wide. “On me. He’s being a child!” I’m shouting as my temperature rises.

“You’ve got to be joking.” She sighs.

I shake my head and then run a hand through my hair. “Nope.”

She walks over to me and places her hands on my shoulders. “You have got to make him hear you.”

“What’s the point?” I ask, pulling away.

“The point is that this is not who you are.” Her voice rises. I narrow my eyes at her. “Jesus, Ashlyn. You are not this woman who lets a man treat her this way. Make him listen. Make him see that he is being an ass. That he has been wrong for long enough. Quit being this woman who lets a man make her feel small and doubt herself. You did nothing wrong, and he needs to see that.”

I let out a long breath and look over to see Jaycent has reappeared. “You’re right,” I growl.

“Yes, I am,” she says with a nod.

I’ve let this go on long enough. I smooth my skirt down and then push hair from my face. “I am not that kind of woman. And I’m tired of letting him make me feel that way.”

He just thinks he hates me. Wait until I’m done with him.

CHAPTER SIX

RYDER

I stand at one end of the long conference table with the Manhattan view to my left. Men fill the seats, and my father sits at the other end.

I lean over it, my hands flat on the black surface. My hair is washed and fixed, I actually shaved this morning, and I didn’t pick my clothes up off the floor. I look well put together for once, but I feel like shit inside. I love you, too. I knew the moment the elevator came to a stop on her floor that it would be her standing there, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Or what I felt.

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