Page 44 of Coastal Rewind

That night of my last home game, I thought she might run when I informed her we weren’t having sex. I held onto my last bit of willpower after she practically yelled at me to touch her. I want to do so much more than just touch her. I wanted to make her scream my fucking name every second of everyday, but I would be patient.

Ryleigh was a burst of energy and sunshine but she was also a fucking vault. She would tell me about her travels and the adventures she had with MJ every day. She talked endlessly about her family, but she never revealed what was buried deep inside her.

She never talked about why she ran.

I saw through the facade of her just being a free spirit. To me, I saw a scared woman who never opened herself up to meaningful relationships. I’d go as slow as I needed so she realized I was serious about not being one for casual sex. I needed her to understand that I wasn’t going anywhere.

I was going to win all of Ryleigh Kelly, whether she was ready for it or not.

Nolan cleared his throat, breaking me from my thoughts. “What’s on your mind, kid?”

I shoved his shoulder. “Nothing, just excited to see my boy soon.”

“I still can’t believe Ryleigh agreed to this.”

I furrowed my brow but kept quiet in an attempt not to pry into her personal life without her permission.

Nolan pushed open the door of the bar where were going to for dinner that was just a few doors down from the hotel. The rest of the guys wanted to go out tonight clubbing since we had a rare night off on the road, but Nolan and I decided to have an early night.

We sat at two barstools and waved the bartender over to order drinks. When the drafts were placed in front of us, Nolan took a long sip and then sighed.

“I want to be able to tell you why Ryleigh is the way she is, but I honestly have no clue. One day, we were a big, almost happy family, and the next she was just gone into the wind. She never really came back.”

Something about that surprised me. I figured the Kellys knew everything about each other. They all seemed so happy-go-lucky all the time—like an impenetrable unit.

“She just left?”

He nodded. “She was supposed to go to CCU like the rest of us, but like a week after she graduated from high school, she informed us she took a job in Tennessee. She said it was just for the summer, but turns out she just wanted to be away from us for good.” There was hurt in his voice. It was pretty clear that Ryleigh leaving resonated with her siblings. The abandonment. The betrayal. Old wounds that were being ripped open by force now that she was back for a little while.

I couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt them when she left again at the end of the summer. The day she decided to stay, I saw something visibly click within their family. The missing puzzle piece that found its way back.

Ryleigh didn’t seem like the type to not care. She seemed like a bleeding heart that would cut off her right arm if one of her siblings needed it. Whatever she ran from, it wasn’t them—and it was still haunting her.

“You know if she has been seeing anyone over the last few years?” I shouldn’t have asked but maybe that was the key. Maybe she was just mending a massively broken heart and it was up to me to sew her back together.

“Nah, not that I ever heard. She had some boyfriend in high school but she dumped him right after senior prom. I’ve never heard about any other serious guy in her life.”

“Interesting,” I said, taking a long pull from my drink.

“If you’re trying to solve her like a mystery, let me know what you find. I’ve been trying for years.” He scoffed.

“I’ll make sure to report back.”

“So, you have a thing for my sister, huh?”

I didn’t look over at him, unsure how to answer that exactly. Nolan clapped me on the shoulder.

“Oh, relax,” he said. “I’m not her keeper. You can ask her out if you want to.”

“I have a feeling no one is Ryleigh’s keeper.”

“You’re a good man, Saxley. Don’t let Ryleigh ruin that.”

I nodded, but Nolan didn’t see her like I did. She put on a mask of indifference to act like she was above needing her family, but I felt the way she had clung to me the other night like she needed an anchor to keep her grounded.

Maybe Ryleigh would ruin me, but maybe, there was the potential for so much more.

The conversation shifted to the season as we watched the game that was playing in the bar. We didn’t talk about Ryleigh again but she was always on my mind. When we got back to the hotel, I went up to my room and opened to the selfie she had sent me earlier. I set it as my wallpaper so I got to see both of their smiling faces everywhere I went.