Page 31 of Save Me

“You really are nosy…”

“And I own it. But here’s the thing, Ry: at some point, you’re going to have to bring him around your family. You can pop up at places all over town like those little whack-a-mole things, but until your family sees the two of you interacting together, they’re going to just assume this isn’t going anywhere. So you need to figure out when that’s all going to happen.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. If I can just fake date him for a few weeks and then have a fake breakup, they’ll give me time to get over my broken heart and then…you know…we can all move on.”

“Or…you’ll be right back where you started. Ryleigh, come on, you’re smarter than that. I get what you were thinking with this plan, but I don’t think you’re going to get the results you’re hoping for. When it’s all over, your mother is probably going to have a list of guys on standby, just waiting for their chance to go out with you.”

“So…what…I should marry Ryker to get everyone to leave me alone?” she asked with a snort.

Until…

“We could go to Vegas and…” Visions of herself and Ryker at some little chapel came to mind.

“No!Stop it! That’s totallynotwhat I’m saying and what is wrong with you? Why don’t you just get your siblings to sit down with you and back you up while you politely and maturely tell your mother that her interfering has to stop? Other than Jamie, they’re all respectable and level-headed.”

“Did you know they’re going to leave him in charge of the pub while they take a month off to travel? Can you imagine that?”

“Please, he practically lives there as it is, so I don’t think it will be too big of a stretch, but focus!” Then she paused. “When is this vacation happening?”

“Not anytime soon,” she murmured. “Believe me, if it were that easy and I knew I’d get a month’s reprieve, I would just suck it up and lie low until they left. But no, I had to take matters into my own hands and do something drastic.” Groaning, she said, “What is wrong with me?”

“You’ve spent your whole life being the peacekeeper and the one who hates to make waves. And now, sadly, that’s come back to bite you in the ass.”

“Accurate.”

“So…the siblings backing you up?”

“We’ve all tried. After everything Ari and Will went through, I thought things would have calmed down. Instead, it just amped up the attention on me.”

“And you’re sure you don’t like this guy? I mean…I know he’s not like any of the guys you normally choose to go out with, but…from everything you’ve told me, he seems nice.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Actually, Ryker was probably nicer than any guy she’d ever gone out with.

And she didn’t want to examine that too closely.

“I get that he looks a little rough around the edges, and he came on a bit strong the last few months,” Ivy was saying. “But…you’ve been chasing after a certain kind of guy and that hasn’t worked out well for you either.”

Resting her head back against the sofa cushion, she wanted to argue, but she stayed quiet.

Ivy continued, “You’re very structured and I know you like things a certain way, but…maybe this rut you’re in needs to be broken. And…maybe Ryker’s the guy to break it.”

“Why does everyone think I need a man in my life?” she demanded lightly. “Where is it written that being single is a bad thing? I happen to like my life. I enjoy my job, I meet some interesting people, and having a love life is highly overrated!”

“O-kay…”

“Ryker’s not the guy, okay?” Ryleigh snapped. “He’s been hitting on me for months and I’ve gone out with him twice now. Don’t you think if there was something there, I would have felt it by now?”

“Maybe…”

“I get that you’re concerned about me and I love you for it, but…can you just be my friend and not take my mom’s side on this whole thing? When the right man comes alone, I’m gonna know it. And it’s not going to be someone she ambushed me with or someone I practically have to pay to go out with me.”

“You’re paying Ryker to go out with you?”

“Ugh, no! Dammit, Ivy, you know what I’m saying!”

All her friend did was snicker.

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