Page 21 of Perfectly Imperfect Us
I barked out a laugh, though I was afraid it came out more as a sob. My hair hung in my face and I hoped it provided a screen so he couldn’t see the extent of the issue.
Ryder’s hand found my chin and gently tilted my head up, the sun shining brightly on fresh skin that hadn’t seen daylight since fifth grade. My heart pounded and I thought I might be sick right then and there.
“Ava, what—”
I didn’t think. I just turned and ran, my only thought to flee the situation. Maybe I’d move to a new town. Start over. Pretend none of this had even happened. People did it all the time for more devious reasons. I could do it too.
I barely made it onto the path that led back to the dirt parking lot before Ryder grabbed my arm and spun me around.
“Wait!” He wrapped me in a steel hug, escape no longer an option.
All that adrenaline from having my secret exposed to the one person I really couldn’t handle having criticism from morphed into anger. I was so damn sick and tired of hiding. Of putting on a show so people wouldn’t stare. Or point at the freak. I’d been doing it for close to twenty years and I was bone tired.
I tilted my chin up of my own accord and looked him right in the eye. “I have vitiligo. Most people don’t know as I keep it covered up. Now you know my secret, so you can let me go.”
Ryder’s gaze darted across my face and I willed myself not to flinch. After what seemed like a lifetime his eyebrows relaxed and his expression cleared. But his arms didn’t release even a fraction of an inch.
“You know you’re beautiful without makeup, right?” he ventured.
I scoffed and wiggled to see if I could break free. “Sure. I guess that’s why those kids in school used to call me Patches, huh?”
Ryder didn’t remove his arms, but he did move them, all the better to wrap around my waist and cup the back of my head. He gently tugged me, resting my check against his warm bare chest.
The man was cuddling me.
And I reveled in it.
Would have cocooned myself against his torso for the rest of my life had that been a viable option. He ran a hand along my spine, each swipe removing a layer of fear that had held me in its grasp for decades. I’d told someone and he hadn’t run from me in disgust.
“Have you heard of Ginnie Harlow?” Ryder finally said, his voice barely above a grumble.
“Of course.”
Everyone had heard of Ginnie. The famous vitiligo fashion model who’d taken the world by storm a few years back. Good for her, but one beautiful person with the skin condition didn’t change the minds of everyday people or make it acceptable to be the different one in your community. I was happy to have the trail blazer and admired her immensely for it, but it didn’t change the way I felt about myself.
“Do you trust me, Ava?” Ryder asked, his light eyes unreadable as he pulled back.
“On a scale of one to ten, where one is Virgie Maywell and ten is Skylar, Lacey, and Kadee, I’d say you’re a solid seven.” What can I say, his hugs were magic. I was already feeling like my normal self despite the unplanned unveiling.
His eyes crinkled at the corners and he gave a short bow. “Why thank you, that means a lot. Come with me.”
He grabbed my hand and tugged me back to where our bags were clustered together on the sand. He dug around in his backpack and came up with his cell phone.
“I need to text someone who I think can help.”
I frowned, back to being uneasy. “Help how? And who?”
Ryder started thumbing out a message even as he quirked an eyebrow. “This is the part where you need to actually trust me.”
I sighed, but found I did trust him. A little bit.
His phone dinged and he was back to texting. I bit my lip and hoped for the best.
“There.” Ryder shut off his phone and tossed it back into his bag. “I gave Ginnie your contact information and she said she’d be texting you tonight.”
My jaw dropped.
“Maybe after talking to her you’ll see what I mean when I say you’re beautiful. Not just your face, or your clothes, or your personality.Allof you is beautiful, Ava.”
