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One thing I appreciated about Avery’s father, after the wounds had healed, was that there was no drama to our situation. He cut me off cleanly and never tried with me again. There was something to be said for clean breaks. It suddenly felt like if I kept trying with Ryder, there would always be drama. His ex was nasty. She wasn’t going down without a fight and I didn’t want to be her enemy.
When I slinked into the house, Mallory was there with a confused look on her face. “You’re back a lot earlier than you’re supposed to be.”
I nodded and let out a big huff as I settled on the bottom step. “Yep.”
“Okay. Tell me why.”
I made a face and met her eyes. “His ex-wife showed up. They were still fighting when I snuck out.”
“Okay, but why do you smell like delicious chicken?” She inched closer. “And your skin is blood red. What happened?”
I touched my neck and winced at the tenderness waiting for me. “I ran into someone bringing chicken up when I sprinted out of there.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Ryder didn’t try to stop you?”
“He asked me to stay and kept telling her to leave, but it was messy, Mal. She’s mean. She insinuated that I’m fat and flat out called Ryder a cheater. He…” I stopped and looked away as I got to the root of what was really bothering me about Ryder. “He still argues with her like they’re married. It’s passionate.”
She winced and blew out a long sigh. “Damn.”
I nodded. “Yep.”
A few beats passed and then she made a dismissive sound. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I get good vibes from Ryder. I’d love to get a look at his home to see how it’s arranged. Speaking of, let’s go up to your bedroom and sort it out. I bet the energy is terrible and that’s what’s causing the trouble.”
“I think I’m going to shower off the chicken smell first.”
“And the sex smell. It’s no wonder his ex was trying to cut you down. You smell like Ryder passionately screwed your brains out.” Waving me up the stairs, Mallory sighed. “I have a neighbor to see about hot yoga. I’ll wait until you’re out so Avery isn’t alone. Not that he hasn’t been in his fort alone all night anyway.”
28
***Fiona***
“You want to talk about it?” Jake leaned back on his elbows and watched me.
I glanced back at him on the blanket and smiled. He’d brought me to a festival in the park to watch a band he was considering managing but so far, he was just watching me. The early afternoon sun was bright as I glanced back at the stage. “Talk about what?”
“Ryder.” He said Ryder’s name like he already knew everything. Everything being the horrible interaction with Sara, the way I’d run away, the way I’d ignored Ryder’s calls all night long.
It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet. That didn’t stop me from feeling like it’d been a week and like I was somehow the worst person in the world while also feeling like the most victimized. It was ridiculous.
“Is that a no?”
I turned onto my side and rested my head on my fist. “You’re trying to get me to talk about my date with Ryder while on a date with you?”
He grimaced. “Yeah, my preservation skills seem to be on the fritz. Stay mad at him. Matter of fact, fuck Ryder Steel.”
I laughed and lightly pushed his shoulder. “I’m not mad at him.”
“No?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes at his skeptical face. “I’m really not. It was awful. And humiliating. But I’m not mad at him.”
“Humiliating?” He sat up and I followed so I could talk to him face to face.
“Yeah. That whole situation was embarrassing. I’m still red from running into our dinner.” I motioned to my chest and shook my head. “Can I ask you something?”
Jake pulled me into his lap and lightly ran his fingertips over my chest. “Ask away.”
“I’ve never been married or even had a serious relationship so I don’t have any experience with bad break ups. If all the feelings are gone, do you still argue super passionately?”
