Page 14 of Something to Someone

“Stop,” I snapped. And thankfully, she heeded my request. That and my dad appeared beside her. He kissed her forehead and whispered, “Leave her be, honey.” My mom sighed and shook her head like the idea was preposterous. What good was coming to my house if she couldn’t interrogate me about my life?

He then shifted to me, wrapping a loving arm around my shoulders and kissing my temple. I’d always been a daddy’s girl. He’d been there for me through every high school softball game, every late-night study session, and every heartbreak. Even for the ultimate heartbreak my mom so kindly alluded to. The heartbreak to end all heartbreaks. The loss I never saw coming.

But he never came with judgment or opinions, just support. He was the parent I leaned on when I had to. And I was lucky to have him.

He didn’t say anything to me—he didn’t have to—I felt the love and apology without any words.

He grabbed a drink and walked back outside while I wiped my sweaty palms on my crocheted swimsuit cover-up. But it didn’t do much good. Although the fruit on the tray in front of me was perfectly placed, I fiddled with it because I needed something to do with my hands.

“Sweetie,” my mom began, gripping my forearm with a forlorn, apologetic look on her face.

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something else, but voices, new voices, echoed from the entryway. And I’d never been so excited for an interruption.

Especially since I would have recognized that voice anywhere.

“Natalie!” I exclaimed. Eager for the interruption, my voice was a little higher pitched than normal, and Natalie clocked it the moment I walked out of the kitchen to greet her. Her eyes were wide with confusion, but I hugged her anyway.

“What—” she began to question when I pulled back, but she quickly stopped. She spotted my mom over my shoulder and nodded. “Ahh,” she said instead.

Swallowing down any lingering frustration, I looked behind my best friend. “Hey, Theo. Thanks for coming.”

Theo gave me a tight-lipped smile and glanced skeptically toward the backyard. When he’d begun living with my best friend, before they realized they were in love, the lack of desire to be at parties such as these was how we bonded. Theo always acted like he hated being around people, but as long as Natalie was there, he was perfectly content.

“I promise there’s only—”a few kids,I was about to joke, but my ability to speak suddenly disappeared when the front door swung open, and Ryder stepped inside.

Wearing his standard wide grin, he pushed a hand through his disheveled black hair and brushed a few stray pieces off his forehead. “Thanks for waiting, guys,” he said, striding farther into the house and toward our group.

My mouth went dry, and I forced myself to blink and look away when he stopped in front of me.

“Hi, Caroline,” Ryder crooned, and my traitorous eyes bounced to his. “Thanks for the invite.”

With other people around, I managed to bite my tongue until he threw me a smirk that I couldn’t resist.

“Funny, I don’t remember inviting you, Ryder.”

His smile only grew wider, and he ran his tongue across his perfectly straight, white teeth. “Really? I thought it was an open invitation.”

I returned his shit-eating grin. “You’re right. So run along, the other kids are in the pool.”

Next to me, Theo snorted, but Ryder wasn’t fazed by my jokes. “Oh, Caroline, you wound me. You know, I’m a big kid now.”

“No more diapers or anything,” Theo chimed in.

“Exactly!” Ryder exclaimed, clapping his best friend on the shoulder.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Natalie shake her head right before she clapped her hands together and proclaimed, “I need a drink.”

I ushered everyone into the kitchen and toward the fridge, ignoring Ryder’s presence I could feel at my back.

I’d done everything I could over the past week to ignore the thought of him. Actually, it had been a year and a half of trying—and failing—to ignore him and every other feeling he managed to conjure within me.

But it felt a little pointless. Although he’d been silent for most of the week, I knew he hadn’t let it go. He was busy with graduation and finals and searching for a job. But if I knew anything about Ryder, he was stubborn and enthusiastically pursued every interest. Me telling him that I couldn’t give him what he wanted wouldn’t stop him. Little would at this point which was making me wary.

I served Natalie a drink and let the guys fend for themselves as we joined the party outside. I was keen to get as much distance between me and Ryder as possible.

“So, Ryder told me that he’s the best man in his friends’ wedding thatyouare planning,” Natalie said as we took a seat on the bench under a large tree toward the back of my yard. It was the perfect, shaded spot that kept us far enough away from the crowd but close enough that I could keep an eye on everything.

I took a long sip of my drink and tugged my sunglasses down from where I had them propped on top of my head. “Yup,” I confirmed. “The couple are really sweet, and I’m excited they chose me. They had an unlimited budget, really, so they could have gone with anyone else.”

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