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Tonight was shit.
After watching Whitney walk out—
no, after telling her to leave—he’d spent only a few mind numbing moments listening to Clara talk about the event, a date, and the future of “them” working together. He’d realized real quick that everything came with strings, and part of him just wanted to get out.
He popped the top off his long neck, tossed it into the sink, and took a long swig, pacing back and forth in front of the massive windows in the main room of his house. It was dark. He could still see the reflection of the moon off the lake where he’d let his real self come out and skinny-dip with Whitney. He thought of how her skin had glowed. How she was the best damn “I’ve Never” he’d ever had.
Until she’d wanted more.
Wanted more of him. Wanted something from him. And he’d sent her on her way. His good manners were good and gone when he should have used them. He could at least have softened the blow, but instead, he’d bluntly asked her to leave.
“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d have to come talk sense into you,” Bass said, letting himself through the front door.
“How the mighty have fallen,” Huck agreed, coming in right behind the attorney.
Ryder really, really didn’t want to hear what they had to say. But he knew his sister and the gossip ring too well to not know why his friends were here.
“I have plenty of sense, and I haven’t fallen anywhere,” Ryder said, then took another drink of his beer.
Huck had brought his own drink, some organic whatever the hell it was that he drank from a straw like a damn juice box. But it was the shit-eating grin on his face that really irked Ryder.
“Whatever you say, boss,” Huck said. “Although, if that were true, then why did our women and Lily spend the last half hour screaming at us about how you’re a jackass?”
And there it was. “They don’t know what’s going on.”
“Oh no?” Bass challenged, and crossed his arms. “Sounds like they do. And from what I gather, it also sounds like you may need a smack in the face to give you some clarity.” Bass looked all too willing to be the smacker. Especially since it’d been Ryder to deck him a while back, when he’d found out he was dating Penny.
“This is the first time I’ve had clarity in weeks.” Ryder defended himself. “I’ve been slacking at work, was late to a damn meeting with Davenport the other morning, and now I have a big land development project on the line. I don’t need distractions.”
“Bullshit,” Huck said. “A distraction’s exactly what you need. The love of a good woman’s the best kind of distraction on earth, and you’re lucky to have such a thing. But you’re pissing it away.”
“What I’m pissing away is an opportunity for this—”
“Blah blah, land project, blah. I heard you,” Huck said. “And so what? This whole town is behind you. Has been from the beginning. Diamond Construction is thriving.”
“Because of how it’s operated. I start slacking now and I may miss an opportunity that I can’t ever get back.”
“Oh, I agree with you there,” Bass said. “Only I think it’s the wrong opportunity you’re missing.”
Ryder just frowned, and Bass shook his head like he felt sorry for him. Fuck that. He was fine. Had been fine. And would be fine again. His chest didn’t hurt that bad from letting go of Whitney—from actually pushing her away. It only hurt when he breathed. Or moved. Or stood still.
“I know letting go of control is hard, believe me, I understand more than I can tell you,” Bass said. He had his own issues with it, and somehow, he’d stepped up and adjusted when it came to keeping Penny. “Sometimes you have to give a little slack to get the reward.”
“I tried that once. Didn’t work out.”
“You tried that with the wrong woman,” Bass said. “Whitney is not looking for what you can offer, she’s looking for you.”
“How would you know?” Ryder said.
“Because I have eyes, you idiot,” Bass replied. “She brings out the good in to you. The fun side. You just have to realize that you don’t have to keep living in the shadow of one mistake. You may think you’re keeping control, but you’re really letting the wrong things control you.”
That hit Ryder like an anvil, harder than any slap ever could. Bass was right. He was so determined to keep a tight hold on what he thought was right. He’d thought to tackle the situation with Whitney like he would every other thing in his life. But she wouldn’t let him put her in that box of polite niceties and respectable dates. She was different. She had been from the beginning.
“You don’t have to prove who you are anymore,” Huck said. “We know. Everyone knows. And if they don’t, that’s their problem. You’re a good man. A responsible business owner. For Christ’s sake, you haven’t taken a vacation in ten years, and you’ve kept Diamond Construction in the black from day one. So stop making excuses as to what this is really about.”
Well, shit, Huck had just handed him his ass. The man was right. The real issue was Whitney. How Ryder felt about her and how he’d acted.
“I love her,” he said, the realization hitting him like a truck. “And that scares the shit out of me.”
