Page 82 of Save Me

“You didn’t seem to mind when I had my hands all over you this morning,” he wheezed before rolling over to sit up. Then he looked up at her. “What the hell, Ryleigh?”

For a moment, all she could do was stare because she didn’t recognize this guy.

And then the realization hit her.“Ryker?!”

What is happening right now?

Recoiling a bit, she took in his appearance and how…wrong it was.

Gone was the beard and the longish hair. Now it was cropped stylishly short and he was clean-shaven. And where Ryker tended to wear black or all dark colors, now he had on a pair of khakis and an ivory cable-knit sweater. Taking another step back as he stood, she could only watch in horror.

“What did you do?” she asked in disbelief. “What…I mean…why…?” Waving her hands in front of him, she struggled to find the right words.

Nervously, he brushed the dirt off of him from his fall on the pavement before meeting her wary gaze. “Um…I thought I’d clean up a bit to meet your family,” he began hesitantly. “Believe it or not, this is how I normally looked before…well…before.”

“Oh my God…” she murmured. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” Slamming her car door, she turned and raced up to her apartment and made a beeline for the bathroom. Ryker caught up to her a moment later as she was doubled over and trying to catch her breath.

“Jeez, Ryleigh,” he said, keeping a safe distance. “I didn’t think the slight change would make you physically ill. What the hell is going on?”

That made her straighten. “I’ll tell you what’s going on! This!” she yelled, motioning to his entire body. “Why would you choose to do this now? Today? Like I’m not freaking out enough and you have to go and transform into…gah!I don’t even know what to call you right now!”

“How about Ryker?” he said sarcastically. “It’s still me. Just a cleaned-up version. I thought this would be better for meeting your family!”

“You’ve alreadymetmy family!” she countered hotly. “They all know you as the guy you were when you left here this morning! Although this version of you is brand freaking new, so maybe you really are meeting them!”

“Ryleigh…”

“No!” she said, holding out a hand to keep him from moving closer. “Dammit, Ryker!” Shoving past him, she stormed toward the kitchen and then had no idea what to do with herself.

“I thought this would make you happy!” he snapped. “All you’ve been saying is how you want everything to go smoothly! And knowing what I know about the way things have been between you and your mother, we both know I’m not the kind of guy she’d choose for you. At least…not the way I looked up until a few hours ago.”

Groaning, she looked at him like he was insane. “And I hated all those guys! You know that! God knows I’ve said it like a thousand times! Why would you think changing your appearance to suit her view of what kind of guy she thinks I like would be a good thing?”

“Um…”

“If you think I didn’t go out with you before because of the way you looked, I can guarantee that I definitely wouldn’t have gone out with this guy.” Then she realized how utterly awful she was being and hung her head. “Ryker…I’m sorry. That was…”

“Bitchy?” he finished for her, and yeah, he was pissed.

With a defeated look, she shook her head. “Do you remember when I told you about why I never accepted your offers to go out?”

He nodded.

“Your confidence scared me, not your looks. And the man I’ve been with, the man who I am crazy about, doesn’t look like…well…this,” she said sadly. “I really like the man you are, Ryker. The long hair, the beard, the tattoos…all of it.”

“Ryleigh, you and I both know that you only chose me that night because of how I look.”

“No, I told you it was because of proximity. I mean…yeah, I knew it would freak my mother out, but there was also a tiny part of me that was finally allowing myself to go after what I wanted. You.”

He didn’t look convinced.

“You told me how you changed the way you looked so you could make a name for yourself. You changed your name. And for what? No matter how you looked or what name anyone called you, you were still this insanely gifted artist! No one could take that away from you.”

“That’s not the point…”

“It really kind of is. How we look is only a small fraction of who we are and if people can’t see beyond that…”

Dammit.

---