Page 8 of Dubious Secrets

“He’s definitely more active at night, unless you’re up early enough to feed him breakfast. Then you’re his best friend.”

“I try not to be up before noon unless I have to be,” I say gingerly.

Ryker smirks and grabs his wallet and keys from the bowl on top of the shoe stand. “Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.”

I walk behind silently and try to hold my surprise when he opens the passenger door for me before I climb in. When he gets in the car and starts it up, he nods at the large touchscreen on the center console.

“Play whatever you want.”

My eyebrows raise. “Whatever I want?”

“Whatever.”

A smile plays on my lips. “Even if it’s alternative rock bands who cover pop songs?”

Ryker stills for a second, and looks both ways on the road as we exit the parking lot before he glances at me. “If that’s what you like.”

“You brave, brave soul,” I say with a laugh. “I’m actually cool with whatever you want. I was just messing with you.”

“I really don’t mind, Stassie. I’m very flexible.”

That’s what she saidis on the tip of my tongue but I swallow it down, not wanting to come off childish. Considering my age still ends in -teen and he’s in his twenties, there’s no need to remind him of our age difference.

Instead, I pick a random song and let it fill the silence of the car. I watch out the window as we head to whatever doctor Ryker picked out.

“I spoke to my brother last night about possibly getting you a job off your feet. Then we can also get you under our company's insurance,” Ryker says.

My heart twists, partly in shame and partly in hope. No insurance, just another thing in life that I’m failing at. But heshrugs it off like it’s not an incredibly generous offer. I only work part time at the coffee shop, not that they offer benefits even if I picked up more hours.

“You already found me a job? Without even knowing if I want to quit the coffee house first?”

He nods, his knuckles tightening over the steering wheel. “It’s like a virtual assistant thing. I’d still want you to stay home.”

I snort. “Shielding your mistake from the world.”

His head snaps to me before returning to the road. “No, Stassie. It’s not like that. Mary said that you have anxiety leaving the house sometimes. That you struggled with school and even now with the coffee shop and its customers.”

My nose tingles and I can’t stop the tears that blur my visions. I wipe them away and nod. “Yeah, yeah I do. Uhm, thanks. That would mean a lot to me.”

I don’t know how this keeps happening, how Ryker keeps being the exact opposite of what I expect. God damn it, and god damn my sister for being the saint that she is.

Ryker clears his throat. “Of course. Whatever I can do to help, Stassie.”

We don’t talk the rest of the way and when he pulls into the parking spot, I make sure to climb out before he can walk around and open the door for me again. It reminds me too much of how a boyfriend should be, but he beats me to the door of the office and waves me in with a raised eyebrow, challenging me to object.

I greet the receptionist and check in for my appointment before moving back to sit next to Ryker. His hand comes down tosqueeze my knee and I breathe a little easier. My gaze meets a woman sitting across from us, and she grins, leaning forward.

“You two are such a cute couple,” she says.

Ryker’s fingers grip me harder, and he grins back at her. “Thanks, but I bet our kid will be even cuter.”

My mouth drops open as the woman settles back into her chair, her lips pressed thin as she looks between us again. And I can practically hear her thoughts about how young we look, too young to be parents.

“Congratulations. I bet you’re excited,” she finally says.

Ryker gives her a meek thanks before we’re called up for my appointment. The nurse guides us into an exam room, then hands me a specimen cup. “Make sure to initial and set it in the small box in the wall, okay? Don’t leave it in the bathroom.”

I nod and follow her instructions in the bathroom right next door, before returning to find a horrified Ryker staring at the posters on the wall. A laugh escapes my throat when I see he’s looking at the dilation chart.

---