Page 12 of Coming For Her Curves
Brock sighs loudly from the backseat. He acts like he didn't forget his uniform just last week. “Yes, Mom. I got it.”
He leans up between the two seats. “Ryker, you should come to my game tonight.”
“Brock!” I yelp.
“What, Mom? Ryker likes sports, so I just thought…”
His voice trails off, and I hear the hurt in his voice. I get it. I do. His father has never been there for him. He has always traveled for work. I tried to make excuses for him, but in the end, I should have left him. I'm tired of my son being disappointed. I look at Ryker, and he must see the expression on my face because he asks softly, "Would it be okay if I came to the game tonight?"
I hold my breath and then let it out slowly and then nod my head to confirm. “Okay, yeah, sure. Brock will love that.”
I’m not sure who is more excited. Ryker smiles as if I just gave him a million dollars or something. “Yes. I would love that.”
“Woo-hoo!” Brock shouts from the backseat. “Everyone will be so excited.”
He's on his phone the rest of the ride. We drop him off first, and then Ryker is taking me to the doctor's office. “So... uh, should I be worried about the fact that you knew where I lived last night and I didn't have to tell you how to get there?”
He keeps looking straight ahead. "I'm not going to lie to you. I never will. I've kept an eye on you through the years."
“What exactly does that mean?”
He shrugs. “It means that I've followed you on all social media. I've seen you every time I've come into town."
I interrupt him. “You haven’t been in town."
He nods. “Yes. I'm in town a lot. It was hard going unnoticed, but I did it."
I remember what Caroline told me at work. “Did you come to Brock's basketball game the other night?"
He doesn’t even hesitate. “I did.”
I shrug. “Why didn't you say hi then?"
He just shrugs.
He pulls into a parking spot at the doctor's office, and I gesture at the building in front of us. “And you knew I worked here. How?”
He clenches his eyes closed, shakes his head, and looks at me. “I knew you worked here. I follow the social media page for the office, looking for any glimpse of you, and I had my dad switch doctors to be able to check on you.”
As I absorb all that, he asks me for my phone.
I'm thinking about everything I just learned as I hand it to him.
He types into it. “I'm putting my number in here. Call or text me if you need me before you get off work today. Or, uh, if you just want to talk."
I take my phone back, grab my purse, and am about to get out. “Ryker?"
“Yeah, honey?"
I wish I was the type of person that can just sit back and enjoy things, but I’m not. I have to analyze every situation, every word, everything. “What are we doing here?”
He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I'm going to win you back, Izzy."
“Why?” I ask him.
“Because I never stopped loving you."
Hearing those words from him has me trembling. “Thanks for the ride.”
