Page 4 of Forbid Me
“Yeah, whatever,” I say as I hold in the laughter bursting to be free. If I laugh, this argument will continue, and I have no desire to continue pandering to her high-maintenance nature.
“You’ll be sorry,” she says, her voice going from sickly sweet to pissed off, and I presume she’s trying to lace some danger in there somewhere. Fucking ridiculous.
“Fuck off, Melanie, and be sure to give me a wide berth in future.”
She scowls and then moves past me, brushing her shoulder against my arm and making me physically shudder. Once she’s moving her way along the benches, my eyes move back to see Charlie looking my way questioningly.
‘Tell you later,’ I mouth, and she nods. ‘Watch,’ I mouth as I point in Ryder’s direction, and for the next few minutes, she just needs to enjoy the show…
Chapter Four
CHARLOTTE
“Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with him?” Suzie says to me as we watch Ryder trying to scratch his nuts discreetly on the pitch as the game continues to play.
“I have no idea,” I say as I shrug, my laughter dying to burst free. I haven’t told Suzie about mine and Travis’ silly prank, because then I would have to explain more than I want to. Suzie would question me about things I don’t know the answers to yet. But she does know that I am planning to ditch Ryder after the match today, finally listening to the little voice inside that is trying it’s hardest to stamp out the negative one that Ryder has been feeding for the last two years. I guess just twenty-four-ish hours of knowing Travis has my back helps, even though it shouldn’t matter, but self-doubt is a bitch that is hard to shift.
Suzie is adamant that we’re going out to celebrate once the deed is done, and once she has her mind set, it’s hard to shift her focus. God love her.
“What the fuck is up with Ryder?” someone behind says as the whole crowd starts to titter about him jumping around haphazardly.
“He looks crazy.”
“Jumping around like a frog.”
“What a douchebag.”
And the comments continue as Ryder puts his hands by his dick, rubbing around his crotch like a maniac as he jumps from one side to the other. The whistle is blown for the game to pause, and Coach is shouting from the side-lines. I know this prank is so fucking childish, but I shut off the noise around me as my eyes connect with the blue ones that I love, and when Travis grins at me and gives me a wink, I feel everything fade away, my heart beating back to life with hope and possibilities.
The changing room has mostly emptied when I walk in and see Ryder clutching his pearls on the bench. There are a couple of guys milling around along the back wall, chatting by the lockers. I can’t see Travis, but I presume he left before I made it here. Suzie is waiting outside for me, and if I’m not back out in the next ten minutes, then she’ll come in and see what’s taking so long—also known as, come and rescue me from Ryder if he’s giving me a hard time. I’m nervous as I stand before him, a few feet away, and I almost feel sorry for him when he looks up at me, his face red and frustration pouring out of him. I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing.
“What are you doing in here?” he says in an unfriendly manner.
“I, uh, came to, uh—”
“Fucking spit it out, Charlotte. I haven’t got time for your bullshit right now,” he barks, and I’m momentarily stumped at how he’s speaking to me, before a fire flares inside me, igniting like an inferno that has been waiting to blow.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” I bite, my hands going to my hips, my voice sounding more confident than I actually feel. I won’t back down though. Not now. Not ever. He’s made a fool of me for far too long.
“Excuse me?” he says, squinting as his slight movement on the bench makes him grimace. I’m pretty sure his dick is red raw from all the scratching—good, he deserves it.
“I just came here to tell you that we’re over, Ryder. I’m ending things.”
“What?” he rages as he stands up, his jaw clenched as he does.
“We’re done, and that’s all I have to say,” I tell him, feeling my resolve dim a little as he looks at me with pure hate on his face.
“Don’t talk so fucking stupid, Char, we’re not done and you’re being ridiculous. There’s no reason for us to be done.”
“Oh no? Not even a reason called Melanie?” I spit back, and his eyes look at me in shock. “Yeah, I know all about the two of you, and you’re both welcome to each other.”
“She’s just a bit of fun, a side piece to give me what I want,” he snarls. Fucking hell, how did I ever think I loved this guy? In this moment, I realise I never did, and all he had over me was the control he’s carefully curated over time.
“Because I never did, right?” I throw back at him and immediately wish I hadn’t.
“Yeah, that’s right, because you’re a fucking prude who lays there like an ironing board,” he retorts, and I want the ground to swallow me up. The couple of guys at the back are watching, but I see them stepping a little closer as the seconds pass by. I don’t know if they’ll attempt to intervene, all I know is I need to get out of here and away from Ryder.
“You haven’t given me what I need or want for a long time, and I don’t know if you ever did. Always acting like a fucking shy girl, blushing and refusing to mix things up. Do you think anyone will ever want that? Do you seriously think that any guy could love a cold fish?” he says, his voice getting louder with each word.
