Page 76 of Hate To Love You

A second later, my bedroom door flies open and Ryker storms in. His gaze softens when he finally sees me curled up on the bed. He walks over slowly, the bed moving as he takes a seat on the edge.

I don’t move. I just stare at him, dumbfounded. Why is he here?

Ryker’s green eyes search mine as his hand caresses my cheek, pushing my hair back behind my ear. He lets his hand rest there as his thumb moves slowly up and down.

My eyes close instinctively at his touch. At the way he makes me feel when he touches me.

When I open my eyes, Ryker is watching me intently, a sorrowful expression on his face. He hasn’t spoken, so I decide to be the one to break the silence.

“What are you doing here?” the question sounded kind of rude, but I genuinely want to know why he’s in my bedroom right now. Something flashes behind Ryker’s eyes, and I wonder if maybe I’d hurt his feelings.

“I needed to make sure you were alright,” he says simply, as if that statement wasn’t completely out of character for him. My eyes soften a bit at the thought of Ryker being so worried about me that he showed up at my house to make sure I was okay.

“I told you I was fine,” I sigh. Ryker’s brow furrows slightly.

“You said you’d be fine. Which means you are not fine right now,” he says, his voice deep and serious. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he demands.

I roll my eyes because of how demanding he is.

I remember thinking it back when we were first working on the project. I also remember thinking about if he was just as demanding in the bedroom. He is in fact, even more demanding in the bedroom and it is the sexiest thing in the world, hands down.

“What if I don’t want to tell you?” I try, knowing he’s going to make me tell him one way or another. There’s no way I’m getting out of this.

Ryker’s jaw ticks as he grips my chin to make me look at him. It’s not hard or forceful, but it’s enough to hold me in place.

“Tell me, Rebel,” he says through gritted teeth. God, why does he want to know so badly?

“Ryker, it’s nothing.”

The grip on my chin tightens just a bit as Ryker’s patience with me begins to wither. His roughness stirs something inside me, and my once dry panties are now wet. Ugh, he’s so hot.

“Guinevere Lane Sharpe, I’m not playing with you,” he growls. The use of my middle names takes me off guard and he can clearly see that. “I looked you up when I found out who you were,” he says casually, as if that isn’t super creepy.

“What the hell, Ryker! Why would you do that?” I try to pull out of his grasp, but it’s no use.

“I needed to see who I was going to be working with. I can’t take any chances,” he explains. This is insane.

“What are you talking about? Take any chances?”

Ryker shakes his head, a small knowing smirk crossing his lips.

“Nice try, Rebel. We’re talking about you,” his eyes turn serious, and I can tell he’s done messing around. “Now talk.”

I groan exaggeratedly as I pull myself up into a sitting position, bringing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

“My mom called today. She told me some things about my dad that I just… I wasn’t expecting,” my voice is low, barely a whisper as I begin to recall everything my mother said.

Ryker’s eyes move between mine, waiting for me to continue. My heart tightens and I can feel myself shutting down, but I know Ryker won’t let me.

“She told me my dad had another kid. A two-year-old son,” I begin, trying to hold back tears. I don’t want to cry in front of him. I don’t want to look like a weak little girl.

But my tear ducts betray me, the fuckers.

A tear flows freely down my cheek, and I have to turn away to hide it. But it’s too late.

Ryker reaches up to brush it away with his thumb. My lower lip wobbles at the gesture. Why is he being so gentle with me?

“Keep going,” Ryker urges, and I take a deep breath before continuing.

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