Chapter 15 #2
Ryder remains silent, driving toward the exit. Fans line the fence waiting, hoping I’ll roll down the window and sign something.
Rodney, one of my super fans, as he likes to call himself, is in his usual spot.
“Is that guy here every day?” Ryder scans the group, carefully pulling through the gate, making sure not to hit anyone as they crowd the car.
“Yeah. He’s nice and always respectful. I think he has some kind of disability.” He’s a middle-aged man who doesn’t say much but always has something for me to sign.
She turns onto the road and accelerates. “Do you know his last name or his story?”
“No. He waits here, sometimes outside the stadium. He rattles off my stats and talks about the game. He’s never been aggressive.”
She twists to look out the rearview window. “Is he a Stingrays fan or Cole Matthews fan? Ever seen him before you landed in Miami?”
I think for a second. “I don’t know. I think he told me he’s from Colorado, but I don’t remember ever seeing him back home.”
Ryder’s eyes bore into my side, but I choose not to look at her.
At a red light, she pulls her phone from her pocket and starts tapping away.
“What are you doing?”
She ignores me.
“Jones?” I say her name to get her attention.
“Doing my job.” She finishes her message and sets her phone on her leg. “You know, you’re not making this easy. I need to know about guys like that. People who follow you. Show up, looking to get close to you.”
Her tone is tense and irritable. Part of me gets it, but the other part. . .
“This is my life. People are everywhere all the time. They want my attention and something from me. I can’t look at every single person as if they might want to kill me.”
The severe quiet grates against my nerves along with whatever has pulled Ryder back into stone-cold mode. I thought we were past this.
Her phone buzzes, and she peeks at it.
“Who is that?” I gesture to her phone.
“Gus.”
“Gus? The gate security guard?”
She glances at me, but those blue-green eyes are shielded by her aviators. I want to reach over and slip them off to see if I can tell what’s really going on.
“Yes. We chatted while I was trying to figure out where in the hell you were. He’s going to see what he can squeeze out of your number one fan next time he shows.”
Ryder is getting to know the team’s security. I guess it’s to be expected, given she’s there basically every day, but now it’s my turn for questions.
“And Gus thinks you are. . . ”
Her head swivels in my direction. “We know each other. We work out at the same gym.”
Something about that irritates me, but I drop it like a hot coal. The silence around us is thick and pokes at my last nerve. I’m not one to shy away from issues, so I don’t.
“Hey. Is everything ok?”
We didn’t talk about her nightmare, and she was quiet this morning. I wonder if this is part of the aftershock.
“I’m fine.”
Fine, my ass.
I almost laugh. I may not have much experience with women, but I know with certainty that absolutely nothing is fine.
She stops at a red light but keeps her focus on the mirror, ensuring no one is following us.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Her tone is set, and her response is tight.
If she’s not willing to budge, then I’ll risk it, push buttons, and see what happens.
“Ok. Well, let me add to the nothing. I forgot my best friend asked to stay with me. He’s attending the SportsElite event and texted me a few weeks ago.”
Her head slowly rotates in my direction, and I suddenly wonder if my brain has developed the ability to convert things into instant replay.
“He’s. . .staying at your apartment.” Her tone is softer now, but there’s still an edge to it.
“I know the timing isn’t great. But with everything going on, I forgot.”
It’s as if I can feel her body lock up. “Annnndddd. . .you’re not going to tell him he can’t.”
I actually contemplated it, but I’d feel like a real jerk. “He’s my best friend. I can’t—”
“What are you going to tell him?”
I run a hand over my face. “I’m not sure yet. Thought maybe I’d go with the truth,” I say confidently.
We are back to silence.
Fuuuucckkk.
“Look, I know we talked about no overnights, but he’s my best friend. The timing is terrible, and I screwed up. I should have told him when he messaged me. I can’t tell him he can’t stay with me and give him no reason. I won’t lie to him.”
“So, you’ll tell him about me?”
I let my head fall to the headrest. “Yeah. I trust him. He’ll understand and won’t blow it out of proportion like my sister would.”
She stares at me as we sit at the light in front of my apartment building, and I’d give a million dollars to know what she’s thinking.
“I’m here to protect you, not him.”
“Fine.” I use her word.
There’s a long moment of silence before her voice breaks through.
“Can I be there when you explain to him that you’re being protected by a woman?”
Ok. There we go. A bit of the tension melts as she de-escalates with sarcasm.
“Hold on.” I raise a hand. “Do I sense a little bit of smartass in that question?” I tease because she and I need to get over whatever all this nothing is floating in the air, threatening to suffocate us.
She makes some kind of throaty-snorting noise. “Matthews, you and I won’t survive this without my smart mouth.”
I laugh. “As long as you can take as good as you give.”
I hear her scoff, and I smile, relieved she’s laying down some of her cool, stiffness.
She enters the parking garage, and I barely hear her soft voice as she parks and turns off the car.
“Thank you for waking me last night. I’m sorry. . . ” Something tells me this is only a bit of whatever is going on with her. “If that happens when your friend is here, that’ll be one more thing to explain.”
Other than her staring at me through the dark, wide-eyed and terrified, I think this might be Ryder being vulnerable. I sit, not even attempting to get out, fearing it will shove her walls right back in place.
“Are you worried about that?”
She fidgets with the fringe on her jeans. “Explaining night terrors like that—”
“You don’t have to explain anything.” I cut her off, not wanting her to be ashamed or afraid for one second. “If I hear you, I’ll come wake you. It’ll be ok.”
She removes the shield of her sunglasses, and her eyes finally meet mine. She nods slightly.
“And don’t apologize for that. . .ever.”
Her eyes roam over my face before she opens her door and climbs out. We ride the elevator up to my apartment.
“Your secret admirer sent another note.”
“What?” I’m surprised Rob didn’t call me.
“Yep. Your agent sent it over, along with a stack of other love letters. I didn’t know you were so popular with the haters.”
“What was it?” I’m not sure I really want to know.
“It included a picture of you and me from the game they could’ve pulled from any site.”
The elevator dings, and the doors open.
“What did it say?”
She doesn’t answer as I open the door, and the area around my ribs shrinks.
“They delicately painted a burn hole through my chest with a well-crafted, “You’re finished, or she is,” typed underneath.
” Her voice is so casual as she sets her backpack on the floor.
“It’s good news, really. First, they might be turning their attention to me to get to you, and second, they went back to email rather than risking getting up close and personal again. ”
“You think this is good news?”
Her coolness about the situation makes my growing agitation plunge higher.
“Cole, they’re playing again. We need that to find them. If they’re putting some of their attention on me, that’s good.”
A steel rod fuses to my spine. I don’t want this maniac coming anywhere near Ryder.
“I’m still pondering the message, though. It seems. . .juvenile. It’s definitely not very creative.”
“What do we do about it?”
She shrugs. “I assume you’re still not quitting.” She lets that hang there, a half-statement, half-question. “We keep doing what we’re doing. I’ll work on the web and hope this person messes up, giving us something to go on.”
I stare at her and her calm exterior.
“It’s kind of strange, though, that they would step back.”
“What do you mean?”
“They went from slashing your tires back to letters. They’re either worried about getting a little too close or suspect you’re taking precautions.”
I watch her ponder it all.
She bites her lip. “I can’t say for sure, but I have no doubt Mindy would like to burn a hole straight through me.
My shoulders relax, and my lungs expand a little as I see her mouth twitch.
I huff a laugh, needing it to release the rest of the tension throughout my body.
So many things are spinning through my head like rapid fire, and I need it to stop.
I need all this to stop, and this Ryder to stay with me.
The Ryder that makes me feel not so entirely alone.
The one that almost feels like a partner in this mess.
More than anything, I need that target to move back to me, which is absolutely not what is supposed to be happening here.
I run a hand over my face as Ryder begins to sweep the apartment.
What the hell is happening?
I don’t know what to feel or think, and I’m pretty sure I don’t understand a single thing about anything. Mostly, the protective instincts firing in all directions for the woman I’ve hired to guard me.