Page 26 of Ryder
I throw a dish towel at her, but I’m laughing. Everything feels bright today, magical. Even the competition preparations seem more exciting than daunting.
“You’re glowing,” Elena says softly. “It’s a good look on you.”
“I’m just...” Happy. Cherished. Thoroughly satisfied. “It’s been a good day.”
“A good day that started last night?” Her grin is wicked. “Because Rachel said she saw Ryder heading this way after dinner and he didn’t leave until—”
“Don’t you have work?” But I can’t stop smiling, even as I attack my cookie dough with perhaps unnecessary vigor.
“This is more fun.” She snags a warm cookie. “So... details?”
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Fine. But at least tell me if the reality lived up to all that sexual tension.”
The memory of Ryder’s hands on my skin, his voice rough with need as he... I feel myself blushing.
“That good, huh?”
“Elena!”
“Your face says it all.” She hops off the stool. “But seriously. I’m happy for you both. It’s about time.”
As if summoned by our conversation, my phone buzzes with a text from Ryder:
Missing you already, sugar. Save me a cookie? Or better yet, save the cookie dough. Have some ideas about taste testing…
Heat blooms in my chest (and lower) as another text follows:
Though fair warning: might not make it to the oven this time.
“Oh yeah,” Elena laughs, reading over my shoulder. “You’ve got it bad.”
I do. And for once, that doesn’t scare me at all.
The sun is setting when I finally finish testing competition recipes. My legs are still a little shaky from this morning (and afternoon—Ryder had “stopped by” to check on me), but I can’t stop smiling as I clean up.
Voices drift through the open window from the main house’s porch. Jake and Ryder, sharing their usual evening beer.
“So...” Jake’s tone is teasing. “You and Dana finally figured things out.”
“Don’t start.” But I can hear the smile in Ryder’s voice.
“Hey, I’m happy for you. Just... you’re being careful, right?”
Something in Jake’s tone makes me still, dish towel frozen mid-wipe.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryder’s voice has an edge now.
“Just that this is different from your usual... arrangements. Dana’s not some casual thing. She’s one of us, she’s part of the community...”
“I know that.”
“Do you? Because if this goes south...”
“It won’t.” But there’s something uncertain in Ryder’s pause. “We’re just... taking it slow. Seeing where it goes.”
The warmth in my chest turns to ice. Slow? Seeing where it goes? After last night, after this morning, after everything…
