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The name Ryder didn’t reach me for another three seconds. When it did, my eyes flew open. I sat up in bed. Across the dark room I could hear even breathing as Ryder slept on. I hissed his name, but he didn’t respond.
In the hall, the woman’s voice grew stronger as she came closer to Ryder’s room. “Ma’am, I assure you, my son is not dating a girl named Grace. I don’t even believe he knows a Gra—”
The door came open and the light from the hallway spilled inside, falling on Ryder’s bed where I sat upright, clutching his blankets to my chest.
The woman in the doorway gasped and jerked to a stop, pressing a phone to her ear. Her mouth fell open as her stunned gaze latched onto mine.
A split second later, she composed herself, clearing her voice and saying, “Just a moment, please.” Covering the speaker end, she lowered the phone to her waist and stared hard at me. “Are you Grace?”
I nodded, too afraid to talk.
She let out a disappointed sigh and lifted the phone back to her ear. “I owe you an apology, Mrs. Struder. I guess your daughter is here after all. I’m so sorry. I had no idea—what’s that? Yes, yes, of course…” As she gave my mother directions to their house, Ryder finally began to stir on the couch.
Lifting his head, he winced against the light from the hall and raised a hand to shade his eyes. After squinting around his fingers, he said, “Mom?” just as she disconnected. “What’s going on?”
At the sound of his voice, Mrs. Yates let out a shriek of surprise and spun his way. “Ryder!” she accused. “What’re you doing on the couch? And why is there a girl in your bed?”
“Huh?” he slurred, glancing down to find himself stretched lengthways under a throw blanket.
As his eyes popped open, he zipped his attention to his bed and froze when he saw me gawking back. Jerking into a sitting position, he spun back to send his mom a guilty smile.
“Busted.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Mrs. Yates arched a brow and tapped her foot, waiting for him to start talking.
He didn’t disappoint. “Mom, I can explain.”
She smiled stiffly. “Oh, good. I was hoping someone would.” Then the fake smile fell, and her eyes went cold and hard. “Get up. Both of you, please.”
I flew out of the bed, noticing Ryder was just as quick to scramble off the couch. As we both straightened our spines with our hands held stiffly down at our sides, ready to take our punishment, Mrs. Yates sighed as she shook her head, glancing from me and then back to Ryder.
Then she focused on me, or rather on my clothes. “Do you have something else to change into?”
I nodded, glad she wasn’t going to make me face my mom in a pair of pajamas.
“All right then. You change. And you—” she narrowed her eyes on Ryder “—will come into the hallway and explain this mess to me. Right now.”
Ryder lowered his head and began to follow her without resistance until he glanced my way. He paused abruptly, his gaze growing untrusting.
“Make her change in the guest bathroom down the hall,” he said suddenly, shocking both his mother and me. He glanced toward Mrs. Yates. “If she’s left in here alone, she might climb out the window and escape.”
I gasped, hurt and betrayed he would throw me under the bus like that. The thought of climbing out the window hadn’t even crossed my mind. Though after he mentioned the idea, it would’ve been a good plan.
“Smart thinking.” His mom motioned me forward. “Grace, there’s another bathroom this way.”
Grinding my teeth, I gathered my bag and shoes and reluctantly started toward the doorway leading into the rest of the house.
When I met Ryder’s eyes, he winced as a way to apologize. “You gotta settle this,” was all he said.
I straightened my chin and stepped into the hallway. Mrs. Yates showed me to the guest bathroom, and I moved inside, shutting the door, before I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against the wall.
Mom was going to be here in a matter of minutes, and she’d probably bring that creepy husband of hers. I had no idea what I was going to say, how I was going to explain. I wanted to linger in that bathroom for the rest of my life, but I ended up hurrying as I yanked on my street clothes and stuffed my pajamas into my book bag. Then I opened the door and followed the sound of two adults ripping into Ryder.
When I entered the living room, I found him staring at the floor as a man and woman demanded to know what he’d been thinking, why a girl was in his room, and how they were going to explain this to my mother.
He looked a lot like his dad, I decided as I set my book bag on the floor. Mr. Yates had a couple distinguished gray streaks in his hair, but their build and facial features were nearly identical.
No one noticed me; Ryder’s parents were too busy demanding an explanation and he was trying to calm them both down.
