Page 46 of The Scars of Us

When I reached him, he pulled me into his chest, cradling my face as he examined the bruise like Kamden had earlier.

“I’m fine.” I pulled away, uncomfortable with him looking at me so closely, afraid he would see what lay underneath if he looked too long.

“Ready to go?” Ryker asked as he joined our hands.

Giving him a small smile, I nodded. He led me to the passenger side of his truck, opening the door and helping me get in the raised cab.

“Where do you want to go?” Ryker asked when he got in.

“Hmm. What about Cafe Luna?” I suggested.

Cafe Luna was a quaint brunch spot that Nori and I went to occasionally. They had delicious paninis and breakfast, including a spicy chicken chorizo and black bean omelet.

“Wherever you want, baby,” Ryker said as he started the truck.

It only took us about ten minutes to reach the restaurant. Ryker once again threaded our fingers together after helping me get down from his truck.I really like this side of him.A smile took over my lips as I glanced at him, but I quickly darted my gaze away when he caught me looking at him out of the corner of his eye.What are you, like twelve? Quit being such a girl.

We were seated in a booth right next to a huge window overlooking the street. People hurried past us on their cell phones, some talking on them as others stared at the screen while trying not to run into anything.

The waitress came up to our booth and took our drink order. After she brought our drinks and jotted down what we wanted to eat, I impulsively asked Ryker, “Did you mean what you said the other night?” I couldn’t keep the question inside any longer—it had been nagging at me the whole drive.

The muscles in his jaw tensed as he swallowed. “No.”

“Then, why did you say those things to me?”

He didn’t say anything for several seconds, and I was afraid he was going to get up and leave me there, not wanting to deal with my bullshit anymore.

“Fear.” He reached for his glass of water before taking a long drink.

Fear? What was he afraid of?“Fear?” I repeated, wanting him to clarify.

He gave a quick nod as he set down the glass. “I thought you were blowing me off.”

“So, you decided to blow me off first?” I raised my eyebrow and rested my arms on the table.

“Look.” He sighed. “I know I made a mistake, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I… I have issues.” He leaned in, grabbing my hands and locking eyes with me. “I’ve been fucked over in the past, and it’s hard for me to trust someone after what I went through.” He sat back and shrugged his shoulders. “We all have our own demons.”

“Yeah, but some demons are worse than others.” I stared at my glass, tracing a finger along the rim.

“That doesn’t make them any less easy to deal with for the person that has to live with them.”

He had a point. Just because I felt my demons were worse, didn’t mean that Ryker’s weren’t hard for him. I didn’t even know what his were to be able to judge. I wouldn’t feel right asking him to tell me since I kept so much from him all of the time.

I nodded in understanding. “So, where do we go from here?”

“I’m not sure.” He released a heavy breath. “All I know is that I want to keep seeing you. That is, if you still want to.”

“I want to, but I’m scared.” I gnawed on my lip as I looked over his face. “What if you hurt me?”

Abruptly, he stood before coming to my side of the booth and scooting in next to me. He draped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. He used his other hand to tilt my chin to look in his eyes.

“Honestly, Warrior, I’m scared, too. I haven’t felt this way about someone since… well, a really long time. I promise I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me.”

My heart fluttered. I wasn’t completely sure I could trust him, but I was willing to take the chance. Life wasn’t meant to be lived in fear, and I felt that moving forward with Ryker was taking another step to becoming stronger, to becoming whole.

Instead of answering him with words, I brought my lips to his, hoping that was enough of an answer for him. I wasn’t good at expressing my feelings, but I hoped that the kiss demonstrated how I felt, showed that I was trusting him not to crush what was left of me.

When we finally parted, he said, “So, was that a yes?”

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