Page 32 of Selfless

“Who is Nibbles?” Nick asks with confusion on his face.

“Nibbles is our mother’s pet rabbit,” Ryder answers, sniffing.

“He’s lying,” I say flatly. “Ryder, leave.” I say but not sure it’s believable.

“Sis, how can you say that?” he asks and places his fist in his mouth and pretends to bite down on it. He sniffs again. “How can you speak of Nibbles that way?” he asks, and then I see tears in his eyes.

Enough of this bullshit! I slam my hands down on the table and lean over it.

“Are you drunk?” He leans into me, and a slow smile spreads across his face. He’s fucking playing with me. And I realize this is my payback from barging into his office this morning. “This is not funny,” I hiss, my eyes narrowing on his.

His smile fades, and he sticks his bottom lip out as it quivers. “I’m not laughing, sis. This is serious. Mom is just heartbroken. We have to get home now.”

“Isn’t your mother in Seattle?” Nick asks confused.

I watch Ryder’s jaw clench, and I smile. Yep, I’ve told him quite a bit about myself already. And now I’m glad I did.

Not wanting him to get the best of me, I throw him one last go to hell look and take a deep breath before falling down into my chair. I smile over at Nick. “What’s the rush? Nibbles is already dead.” I shrug carelessly and flip my hair over my shoulder. My dress may be covered in wine, but I’m gonna smile like I don’t give two shits that Ryder is here making a fool of himself. “Where were we, Nick?”

I look up at Ryder, and he glares down at me. I ignore him as he yanks his phone out of his pocket. I’m not going to let him win this battle. He types away at his keys, and I watch Nick look up at him confused. Poor guy. He has no idea he’s in the middle of a war.

I know Ryder is just trying to pay me back from what I pulled earlier. And I’m not even gonna say I don’t deserve it because I do. I was way out of hand to barge into his work like that, but this is different. We both have said what we needed to say. Now, there’s nothing left.

I clear my throat, and Nick looks at me. I lift my eyebrow in question for him to answer my question.

“I, uh … a drink,” he finally answers me nervously and then swallows. “Maybe get you a new drink?” he asks, sounding unsure of what to do.

“I think that’s a great idea,” I say since I’m wearing the other one I had. Nick slowly raises his hand as he looks around the packed restaurant timidly as if he’s one of those students who isn’t sure they know the answer but wanna participate, and I hold in a sigh. The man is not gonna stand a chance up against Ryder. He’s gonna eat him alive.

All of a sudden, Ryder’s phone starts ringing. I lean back in my chair. Oh, this’ll be good. “Hello, Mother,” he says softly.

My head snaps up to look at him. His mother? He doesn’t talk to her. Well, he hadn’t when we broke up a week ago. Could that much change in a week?

I place my elbows on the table, very unladylike, and rest my chin in my hands. Will this end? “Hang on, Momma. I’m gonna place you on speakerphone.”

My eyes widen at that. Why would I want to hear what the woman has to say? She hates me! The feeling is mutual after what I now know she did to Becca. That woman can go to hell.

He hits a button on his phone and pulls it away from his ear. “I’m here with Ashlyn,” he says and then holds it down to my face. I see Jaycent written across his screen, and I narrow my eyes up at him.

Oh, that son of a … “It’s Mother,” he says loudly probably letting Jaycent know he’s on speakerphone. “Momma, Ashlyn is here.”

I look up at him with pure hatred as he stares down at me with amused eyes, but he manages to contain his smile. “Ashlyn?” I hear Jaycent squeal, and it causes me to jump back in surprise. “Oh God, Ashlyn, Nibbles is dead,” he cries, and I cringe at how badly he sounds like a woman. Nick can’t possibly believe this is real. A quick look over at him tells me I was wrong. The idiot believes it.

“Tell her what happened,” Ryder orders.

“Uh ...” Jaycent pauses. “Your father ran over him … her. Ran over her. She was just hopping along …” The voice breaks, and I roll my eyes as Nick’s widen. “Tire marks … over her back …” Ryder chokes back a sob, and I roll my eyes again.

“Kill me now,” I mumble embarrassed.

“Oh God,” the voice over the phone wails at my words, and I blow some loose blond hairs from my face. I can’t believe I actually took my time to get ready for this.

Nick’s wide eyes finally meet mine. “Ashlyn, you should go. Your mother needs you. We can have dinner another night …”

“Oh, what a sweet boy,” the whiny voice adds. “I need my babies, Ashlyn. Ryder, please. Come home. We must have a … burial.”

I ignore them both and look around the restaurant. How stupid can these two be? I just told Nick that my parents live in Seattle and can’t he tell that’s a man disguising his voice? God, this guy is an idiot. And Ryder is just an ass!

I can feel Ryder’s eyes on me, and when I look back at Nick, he nods encouragingly.

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