Page 18 of Ryder: Shadows and Desires
Once the margarita rushes right through me, I slide the empty glass away. “Gonna hit the bathroom.”
Tiffany sips the remainder of her rum and coke, the straw still in her mouth, as she says, “I can distract him if you need.”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “He’d probably be more pissed if he found out we made an elaborate scheme to avoid him.”
Dolores waves a hand, her nails short and unpainted. “Just go. It’s a free country. He needs to know you live your own life. Or, you know what, maybe even smile at him. Tiff says you work together?”
Hesitantly, I reply, “Yeah, we do.”
“Well, then, co-workers say ‘hi’ to each other. That’s all it is.”
Inhaling deeply like I am about to arrive at a gym meet, I muster the courage to brave the restroom, embodying as much of that confidence as possible, refraining from seeking him out. But when I round the corner of the dark hallway, Ryder isthere, the men’s restroom door shutting behind him as he exits.
There’s something different about him when he’s wearing his street attire of jeans and a nicer shirt, not an ounce of sweat on him.
If I thought his pale gaze couldn’t sink to even more icy depths, I was wrong—no, wait, why does it matter if he’s pissed? This is another accident. Like, this time, it’s acompleteaccident.
Deeply exhaling, I mumble, “Nice seeing you too, Ryder.”
“You really just happen to accidentally appear here?”
I try to play it off as a joke. “Maybe you’re showing up where I’m showing up?”
He shifts his weight to one leg, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I’ve dealt with a fuck-ton of drama in my past, and this is how it all fucking starts.”
It’smyturn to glower, and I nearly roll my eyes. “It’s a small town, Ryder. Most people would just be like, ‘oh, hey, what a coincidence!’ Instead, you’re all murder mystery on me. I can’t help that.”
He scoffs, although I swear I see asliverof amusement in his eyes. Anger replaces it just as quickly, like it caught him off guard, and he didn’t like it. “Just leave me alone outside of the gym, alright?”
How did I ever have a raging crush on this jackass? “Cool, I’ll just clear up this whole week’s schedule, then,” I quip, going into the bathroom. “Where I had ‘stalk Ryder to the bathroom’ listed four times.”
There’s a falter in his pale eyes again, like he considers the preposterous idea of doing anything other than scowling at me, but I don’t stay to find out by how much.
After angrily peeing and washing my hands, I head back to my table, my hands still damp as I didn’t take the time to dry them. I shift in my seat, which slightly wobbles if I don’t lean on the countertop. “Well, I ran into him right in the damn hallway. Now he thinks I’m stalking him!”
Dolores’s brows raise as she drinks her wine, and Tiffany asks, “Did you try playing dead?”
A laugh spills out of me. “No, but Ididtry to play it off at first. Got me nowhere… you know what? At least Jeremy never had to meet his hero. Ryder is like a damn porcupine.”
We all share a laugh, each of us trying to steal a glance at the bar where Ryderstillis. Dolores says, “Well, he might be an asshole, but heisa handsome one. They don’t make many men that look like him.”
“Yeah, that’s why I used to fangirl over him. He’s totally ruinedthatfantasy.”
Tiffany chimes in, “So, who is the guy with him, then? He’s chatting it up with someone at the bar. Wonder if people actually like him in real life...”
I think of Ryder talking to what had to be his niece, and then someone namedConnor… therearepeople to whom he’s not an ass. But out of respect for him being my fighter, I don’t bring it up.
“I have no clue. Maybe it’s some deep secret,” I reply, drinking more water while wishing it would turn to wine.
“Maybe he’s got a secret life we aren’t supposed to know about,” Dolores suggests.
I perk up, as that would check out. “Could be.”
Staring at Ryder’s back before glancing down at my water, knowing I need to order another drink.
That sexy, obtuse blockhead is going to be the death of me.
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