Page 7 of Riding Danger

“Aah, yes.” Ryder opened the booth for him and allowed him to step inside first. “Are you an Adele fan, or is it more of a Dylan influence?”

Ethan frowned and I swear in that moment, everyone could tell that they were father and son. “Who’s Dylan?”

Ryder smiled and nodded. “Maybe one day soon, I’ll tell you all about the people who influenced my music.”

What the hell did that mean? Did he intend to spend time with my son? A kid he had wanted nothing to do with? How dare he say things like that when he’d rejected Ethan?

Ryder’s gaze narrowed on me. Something flashed in those blue irises. Anger? Yeah, there was some of that. Shock too, I supposed. What I didn’t understand was the hurt I found as he darted that gaze between Ethan and I.

Layla cleared her throat. “Why don’t I take a turn with one of the other kid’s first.” She lifted her hand indicating to Everly. “Ryder has decided that ladies go first.” She watched as Ethan’s shoulders sagged. “He and Ethan will be singing after me. I’m looking for one brave little girl.”

It was possible she had picked up on what was happening. As far as I was concerned everything was blatantly obvious, but that could just be my perspective.

Ryder crouched down so he was eye level with Ethan. “Can you give me a moment to talk to your mom.”

Ethan glared up at Ryder. “Why?”

Ryder looked over at me, and I could tell he was struggling. I could of course let him drown, but that wouldn’t help anyone.

“Ethan, don't be rude.” I gestured for him to join his classmates, checking to see which one was entering the booth with Layla. “Go listen to Ms. Layla and Jill.”

As he moved up to the rest of the class, Ryder led me by the elbow to the back of the studio. When we were out of earshot of everyone else, he turned to me. “He’s mine?”

“Of course he's yours. What did you think?” The nerve of this man. “You were my first. And for a long time, my only.”

Ryder looked in the direction of the children. “And you never thought to tell me?

“What the f— fishcakes are you talking about? I texted and called. You never returned any of them.”

His eyes widened and he looked around the room.

“What are you talking about?” Ryder looked pissed. And I couldn’t understand why. “I waited for weeks for you to reach out. That was the deal, remember. If you still wanted something with me you needed to call me. But nothing.”

Was he rewriting history? “Ryder, I called and I texted. Daily, for weeks. And then after I found out, more weeks. You never returned any of them. Eventually I looked for your manager'snumber and called him. He said that you were not taking calls, which was why I told him I was pregnant. It wasn’t how I wanted you to find out, but I didn’t have a choice.”

“You told Terrence?” The shock on his face scared me a little. “I’ve had a kid for…” He tilted his head as he thought. “More than nine years, and that asshole never said a word.”

Wait. Did that mean…? My heart dropped. “You never knew?”

“Shi… you knew me better than that.” More than the anger I saw a moment ago, I saw hurt. “That’s my kid. We both know I would have been?—”

“I thought I knew you.” I wasn’t quite ready to forgive him. Not after how his manager made me feel. But I could give him something. “If you want to get to know him, I won’t stop you.”

His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head from side to side. “I will be getting to know him. Starting tonight.”

“What does that mean?” Surely, these things would take time. I needed to prepare Ethan. And myself. I wasn’t ready to spend time with Ryder. Was I?

“Dinner. Tonight. You can meet me somewhere. Or I can bring takeout. But I will not be missing dinner with my kid as long as I can help it.”

“Ryder, you can’t just show up and demand visitation.”

“Visitation?” He raised his voice and the other two chaperones looked in our direction. In a moment, that harsh whisper was back. “Shi, visitation is the least of what is going to happen.”

Was he threatening me? “What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means?” It was like everything was obvious.

Well, it fucking wasn’t. “I don’t know. Because if you think you can come down here and take my son…”

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