Page 88 of Save Me

Ryleigh turned at the sound of the sliding glass doors opening and was surprised to see her sister walking out.

“I can tell by the scrunchy look on your face that you were expecting Ryker.”

“Of course I was expecting Ryker!” she cried.

“Yeah, well…Mom’s dropping some truth bombs in there and I’m kind of bummed that I’m missing that.”

“Then why are you out here?”

“Because I’m worried about you!”

Ryleigh simply stared at her.

“Fine. Mom said to come out here, but I would have done it on my own if the discussion wasn’t so damn juicy!” She laughed. “I have to admit, the highlights of most family disagreements are when you get tipsy and put us all in our places, but I think Ryker’s cool and calm in-your-face approach is my new favorite thing.”

“Would you shut up? Ari, in case you haven’t noticed, I ran out of there because of your new favorite thing!”

“Yeah, okay, I noticed that. But…um…why?”

“Because it was all just…it was like the damn haircut! He just does these things without thinking of me or how I’ll react!”

“Or…maybe all he’sdoneis think of you and he was trying to defuse a situation,” she countered. “Maybe seeing you get upset all the damn time is hard on him and he hates seeing that? Maybe in his own misguided way, he was making sure that nothing like what’s been going on in this last month happens again.” Stepping in close, she gave Ryleigh a small poke in the shoulder. “And maybe you should be grateful to have a man who cares about you enough to go to such extremes.”

“It wasn’t an extreme. I’m sure Will…”

“Will never confronted anyone,” Ari reminded her. “We lost an entire year together because he refused to confront Liam and then when he showed up here, he didn’t want to rock the boat to such an extreme that he let Mom fix him up with you! Or did you forget about that? I mean…IwishWill had been as bold as Ryker just was! Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

She was beginning to see that…

“He’s just so much!” she blurted out. “He overwhelms me! He’salwaysoverwhelmed me! The haircut thing I could deal with, but him poking the bear like that with Mom? Jeez, Ari…and then he goes and gushes about me in front of everyone! I didn’t know what to do! No one’s ever gushed over me. Ever!”

“Some people would see that as a very sweet or romantic thing…”

“And then…the icing on the cake…announcing to everyone that he loves me! Not once has he ever said those words to me and then he just casually throws it out there while he’s putting Mom in her place! I mean…did he evenmeanto say it or was he just trying to make a point and it seemed like the thing to say or did it just slip out?”

“Ryleigh…”

“I don’t know how to handle someone like Ryker. Everything is intense and exciting and it makes me feel nervous and jittery and out of control all the time!”

“And I know how you love to be in control,” Arianna murmured.

“It’s not a bad thing.”

“No, but it’s not a good thing either. Not when you’re trying so damn hard to be in control that you end up missing out on life. Believe it or not, those nerves and jitters and out-of-control feelings are part of being in love. Actually, those are some of thebestparts of being in love.”

“I never said…”

“You didn’t, I know, but…maybe you are. Don’t be afraid to feel it, Ry. Embrace it. You’ve never been as happy as you’ve been in this last month and I’ve loved seeing you like this. I get that you’re upset with Ryker for sort of going off-script today, but…cut him some slack. He’s had to sit back and watch a lot of crap unfold and he’s finally getting his chance to show that he’s a stand-up guy. And you need to let him.”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, please. We’re a loud and boisterous group. If you don’t speak up, someone will speak for you and then it’s usually wrong. Look at how we all mess with Jamie. He gets flustered and he’s easy to pick on. We do it out of love, but he sort of rolls with the punches even though he hates it. And you used to do the same thing. If Ryker’s going to be part of the family—and I’m not saying that to pressure you—but if he is, then he needs to kind of assert himself early on.”

“Dammit, I hate that you’re making sense. I really wanted to stay mad for a little longer.”

“Well…you can be mad that he told the whole family he loved you without telling you first, but…maybe make that a conversation for later when you’re alone. For the rest of the day, we really need to focus on Dad and make sure he’s feeling okay.”

Muttering a curse, she shook her head. “I didn’t even think about that. I got so wrapped up in all this Ryker drama that…”

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