24. Finley
Chapter twenty-four
Finley
“Woo-wee, that was a weekend for the books.” Joey drops his bags on the ground near the front door of his home then pulls Ryker in for a hug before he can protest.
As the two men embrace, I stifle a laugh. Ryker tries to pull away, but Joey holds him firm, smacking him on the back. “I’ll miss you so much, Tornado Daddy.”
Ryker’s back shakes with laughter as he pats Joey awkwardly. “I’ll miss you, too, Joseph.”
Joey jolts back, eyes wide as he holds Ryker’s shoulders and grins. “Are you serious?”
“No,” Ryker deadpans.
A second later, the two men are cackling at their own antics.
“Anywho, give me a call if you want me on your next chase. Like I said, I quit my job, so…anytime.”
“The Storm Prediction Center said we could get a good line of storms coming later this week. Give Hawk a call, and let him know your schedule.”
At the sound of Hawk’s name, Joey truly blushes. Or he’s blushing because Ryker invited him on another chase. Either way, it’s cute as hell, and I find myself smiling despite how ill I’ve felt since my conversation with Ryker last night.
Looking back, I shouldn’t have jumped him when he came into the hotel room, because it made not touching him or being googly-eyed over him today harder. But after the successful launch and all the swirling thoughts in my head, I had a weak moment where I wanted to be connected with him again. But now, because of me, we’re in a strange limbo.
Since we woke this morning, Ryker has struggled to be cheery. Which means he’s struggled to be the excited and exuberant man he was before our talk last night. He’s done his best, and at least this drive he was nicer than the one before.
We spent the majority of it chatting about the data Hawk’s been starting to analyze. Joey, however, knew something was up between us. He kept staring at me when he thought I wasn’t looking then doing the same to Ryker, burning a hole in the side of his head like he was attempting to read his mind.
“Will do, T-Daddy. Thanks for having me along. I’ve already given Ezra all of my drone footage from the weekend, but I’m going to review it and send over anything I find interesting.”
“Thanks, man.”
They do another gruff hug, and then Ryker steps away so Joey has access to me. My friend wraps his arms around me and squeezes me so tight, all the air leaves my lungs.
“Don’t be a stranger now, y’hear?” Joey pulls back so he can see my face. “I expect us to chase together at least a couple of times before storm season is over and you start school again.”
I attempt to smile as I nod, because I don’t know what’s going to happen after this. “I’ll try.”
Joey frowns then looks at Ryker. “Will you give us a minute? I need to talk to Mommy.”
A surprise laugh explodes from my lips despite myself, and Ryker groans. “Yes, but only if you never call her that again.”
Joey shrugs, mouth lifting up at the corner. “Maybe.”
Ryker sighs and waves goodbye to Joey, heading toward the truck. When the door closes and the engine starts, Joey tugs us so we’re facing away from the vehicle.
“What’s going on, Fin? I thought you and the professor were good now. ”
I stare into his concerned blue eyes, and my chest tightens. “It’s nothing.” Joey stares me down, and I sigh. “We’re figuring out where to go from here.”
“What does that mean?”
I glance over my shoulder. Through the window, I can see Ryker rubbing his face tiredly, and sadness threatens to suffocate me.
I look back at Joey. “He wants to quit his job for me.”
Joey pumps his fist in triumph. “Finally, the man does something right!”
I frown. “I told him not to.”
He groans and places his hands on my shoulders, shaking me gently. “Fin-Fin, why?”
“Because it’s his job!”
“But he said he wants to quit, right?”
“He did, but I shouldn’t be the reason he quits. He has obligations and people he needs to consider other than us, including funding and the paper we’re supposed to write with the data we got this weekend. Those things are important.”
“I get what you’re saying. But what if you’re not the only reason he’s quitting?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know he’s internet famous, and with all the data we got and the fact that the rocket worked, he’s going to be able to do this again—in fact, he’s going to have lots of private corporations and god knows who else up his ass wanting to fund future chases. I also know Ryker is the kind of man that wouldn’t do something if he didn’t want to. He doesn’t do things just to do them. So if he wants to quit, let him. Hell, encourage it. Everything that happens after is white noise that will fade into the background.”
“You make it sound so easy.” I lower my voice. “And I didn’t say this to him, but when people find out we’re together, they’re going to assume a lot of things about us. About me. If he quits, I still have to finish school. What will people think when they see us together?”
Joey’s eyes soften. “Do you really care that much about small-town gossip and what college kids have to think?”
“In this case, I do care about the college kids. They could be my future colleagues.”
Joey dips his chin. “That may be true, but fuck them. If they’re willing to make judgments about you or who you date, they’re not worth your time. You’ve also got people in your corner to vouch for your talents and character that aren’t Ryker, including me.” Joey pauses for a second before he points to my heart. “More importantly, you know what’s true. And that’s all that matters.”
I close my eyes for a second to think. Joey’s right. Will it suck to have people talk about me and think things of me and Ryker? Yes. But I’ve never been someone who cares about that before. I just didn’t want to feel like I got to where I am because of how Ryker and I interacted prior to this weekend, but I know now that was my fear talking. I did deserve to be on this chase, and I proved that I was valuable to the team.
God, why does this whole situation have to be so confusing?
If Ryker and I weren’t in this dynamic in the first place, things would be easy. But that’s not the case. And while I want to throw caution to the wind and say “fuck it,” I can’t. At least not now.
I blow out a long breath. “I don’t know what to do. I told him we needed to take some time to think about things before he quits. Have a little breather after this insane weekend. I don’t want him or I to do anything rash.”
“I understand that. Though I have to say, if I was you, I probably would have married the guy already.”
I smirk at the image. “You’d make a cute couple.”
“Damn straight.” He grins before his expression sobers. “In all seriousness, I know this is a weird situation, but I’ll tell you what I told Ryker. He’s a smart man, a good man, but he chose to cross a line with you regardless of the situation. I don’t believe he would have done that if he valued his teaching career over you—I know him enough to know that. And I think, deep down, you do, too.”
My gaze softens, and my lip twitches. “Ryker isn’t the only smart and good man.”
Joey kicks his feet at the ground. “Aw, shucks. People may think I got straw up here, but it’s all brains.” He knocks on his head.
“So many brains,” I say.
He pulls me in for another hug and rubs my back. “I was serious about keeping in touch and chasing together—let’s be more than social media friends.”
I squeeze him back. “Deal.”
Before I can walk away, he stops me again. “Sharkie?”
“Yeah, Sparkie?”
“Don’t worry so much—it’ll all work out. I say, go after your man. Life’s too short.”
“And if it doesn’t work out?”
He shrugs. “Then it doesn’t work out. But if you don’t chase the storm, you’ll never know if you’ll catch it or not.”
I smile at his analogy. “And you?”
“Me, what?”
“Are you going to chase your storm?”
A devilish smile appears on his lips, and he tips the brim of his cowboy hat. “He’s chasing me, darlin’, but I think I’ll let myself be caught.”
We hug one more time, and I wait till he’s inside before I head back to Ryker’s truck with too many thoughts swirling in my head. When I open the door, a song by Journey plays quietly while Ryker types out a text on his phone. He looks up at me and studies my face, worry etched across his forehead.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, but honestly, I don’t know if I am. This weekend has been a lot—more than I ever could’ve imagined. I’m ready for a long nap and my favorite pint of coffee chocolate chip ice cream.
But there’s a part of me that wants to lean forward, kiss Ryker, tell him to quit his job, and insist that we’ll figure everything out as we go like Joey urged me to.
Instead, I do the rational thing. I buckle my seatbelt and settle in for what I know will be an awkward drive back to Kansas.