Page 18 of Ryder

I don’t know what he’s going to do with me, but I don’t want him to take me back downstairs and call a cab — so I do what I always do when I get nervous about something. I talk.

“Do you bring women up here?” I avoid his gaze.

“If you’re asking if I’m a virgin, sweetie, the answer is no.”

I smirk. “And here I was thinking Ryder Cane was the ultimate angel.”

“I don’t know where you got that idea, definitely not from me.”

I touch one of the books on the shelf, wondering where Ryder reads. In bed? In the rickety chair in the corner? Does he find a quiet spot to himself? Or read in a cafe? I can’t imagine him doing any of those things, but I know looks can be deceiving.

“This one looks old.” I trace the lettering ofThe Merchant of Venice. Not something I’d expect to see on his shelf.

“Picked it up in a secondhand store. Probably worth somethin’.”

Then a memory jogs. Ryder was dyslexic as a kid… I remember helping him with reading a few times so he could understand the words before reading them aloud in class. He used to dread having to do that.

“You loved reading,” I say quietly.

“You remember helpin’ me?” he asks before I can change the subject.

I turn back to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“That I’m dyslexic? It’s okay, I’m better at readin’ now. The readin’ with you part was good, the readin’ aloud? Not so much.”

“Well, you’re reading Dickens, so I’d say that’s an improvement.” I smile.

He shifts on the end of the bed. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, but if Ryder didn’t want to talk about something, he wouldn’t.

“Don’t get me wrong, I still read a page over and over until it makes sense in my head. If I’d have listened to that asshole Wayne, I never would’ve amounted to jack shit. He told me reading was for sissies. Dumb fuck.”

“Man, he was such an asshole. Do you ever hear from Stu?”

He grimaces. “Nope. Last I heard he was livin’ somewhere in bum-fuck nowhere sellin’ drugs. Knew that kid had issues, but he’s spent more time in jail than I’ve had hot dinners.”

“I never had a good feeling around him.”

“You can spot an asshole a mile away. We’re gettin’ off topic; why are you here, Crys?”

I part my lips, not ready to tell him the entirety of the truth. I mean, where’s the fun in confessing my crush for him never faded? And now seeing him again, it’s only lit the fire even more intensely than ever before.Calm your farm, Crystal. Don’t go getting all googly eyed in the first five minutes…

Though when it comes to Ryder Cane, who the heck am I kidding?

4

RYDER

I stare at her,waiting for an answer. She’s stalling. It may have been five years but I can still read her like a book. Crystal isn’t that hard to figure out. She might think she’s being stealthy, but I know better. She can’t hide anything from me.

“Cat got your tongue?” I prompt when she doesn’t reply.

“I missed you,” she says, flooring me.Her fucking words.“It’s been a long time since we hung out.”

Standing there looking like an angel with those damn wings on her back, it shouldn’t do things to me, but it does. She walked through this damn clubhouse looking likethat, and she clearly has no idea what that does to me. This little innocent act isn’t gonna work with me, but boy is she good at it.

The guys are gonna have questions after seeing me drag her through the clubhouse, and there ain’t any explaining my way out of this one. Especially the wings.

She’s a fucking apparition. She shouldn’t be here, but I’m no saint. I’m not going to push her away, not this time.

---