Chapter 28 Ryder
RYDER
Iam obsessed with Evelyn Harper.
I thought maybe fucking her would quell some of the anxious energy that has me thinking about her constantly, but it only seems to have amplified it. Especially now that her underwear is in my pocket.
I’m not an underwear guy. I mean, sure, I loved taking it off Evie, but I’m not one to keep trophies.
But here I am, squeezing her underwear in my pocket and remembering the way my fingers slipped so easily inside her.
It doesn’t help that she keeps touching me.
Resting her hand on my chest or pressing in close to me.
I let her drive tonight—this is her party and she’s had a long week, not to mention a long season—so I wasn’t about to push any public displays of affection or make it clear to anyone here that she’s mine.
Even though just watching her hug Aiden had every nerve in my body firing.
But as the party winds down and people start saying goodbye, I give up pretending.
Eve's close group of friends crowd around the fire pit, the keg dragged close so no one has to get up, and because Evie can’t sit still when anything needs to be done, she’s throwing trash into a bin nearby when the last seat is taken.
She wanders over, her eyes scanning the Adirondack chairs, and I take it upon myself to grab her hand and pull her down into my lap.
She doesn’t resist. Instead, she sinks down against my chest like she finally gets a moment to relax.
I abandon my drink on the ground and wrap my arms around her, leaving a light kiss on her forehead as she sighs into me.
Around us, everyone chats and laughs easily, not a single soul paying attention to the girl I’m now squeezing.
I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling like I don’t belong here. My dad was constantly running away from our family to focus on his business, and my mom was popping pills to deal with a life she didn’t choose. I was lucky I had Gam to rely on, but she didn’t have the authority of a legal parent.
But sitting here with Eve feels a little bit like the home I always wanted. Maybe it’s because Sunflower Hill always was home, but I didn’t have the people around me who made me feel that way. Gam is the only reason I ever really come back here, because she is someone who feels like home.
But this feels like what I always wanted when I was a kid. Maybe it’s a trick of the light or the beer going to my head. Maybe it’s one of my best friends from high school sitting across the fire pit from me, or the girl in my arms who’s using me as a pillow.
Maybe it’s the fact that I can actually relax here, despite being surrounded by a ton of people.
I keep pushing off my return to New York, and though I know that I need to go eventually, I’m searching for any reason not to. First Eve was sick. Now she needs help with the water wheel.
I can’t help wondering what might come up next.
Maybe I’ll just wake up one day and decide I’m not going back.
Eve presses closer into my chest, her hair tickling my nose, and I leave a kiss on her forehead that causes a smile to spread across her face.
And considering the fact that Izzy is asleep in the chair next to us, snoring lightly as the rest of the party continues without her, I figure it’s well within my right to call it.
“I’m thinking it’s time for bed,” I say, my lips brushing against her skin as I speak.
She nods into my chest, brushing her hair out of her face and adjusting her dress as she stands.
She catches Aiden’s eye. “Can you put out the fire when everyone’s done?”
He nods, raising his beer to her. “Thanks for the fun party.”
She grins, gesturing to Izzy. “You can thank her in the morning. She did most of it.”
With that, she turns and grabs my hand, tugging me out of my chair and toward the house.
And I get a giddy feeling in my chest that this girl is repeatedly choosing me.
When we get inside, I find myself fascinated by the way she unzips her boots.
The way she ties her hair up and throws her socks in the laundry basket by the door.
The way her shoulders slump when she sits on the edge of her bed and I know in the way that she looks at me that she wants a smidge of help because she’s tired and just wants to sleep.
So I pull her dress up over her head and grab something for her to wear to bed from the drawer she directs me to.
Once she’s dressed, I tuck her beneath the sheets and strip down to my underwear, climbing in bed next to her and pulling her tight to my chest. She turns toward me, pulling the sheets up over her shoulders as she buries her face in my neck.
There have been many times in my life where I’ve taken the opportunities I’ve been presented with based on logic, not feelings.
I wrestled with taking over my dad’s business but did it anyway because it seemed like the right thing to do.
I moved to Manhattan because that’s what every kid my age was doing when they got the chance and it made sense considering my new responsibilities.
This… doesn’t necessarily make sense.
But when she sighs into my chest and curls into me, I’ve never been more sure that this is exactly where I need to be.
I wake in the early hours of the morning when there’s only a hint of dawn in the sky. Eve sleeps peacefully in front of me, her ass tucked into me like it was made to fit my body. I run my hand along her hip, delighted that I’m allowed to touch her like this now.
She stirs, turning to kiss my cheek before cuddling in close to me.
But I’m entirely too excited about her to fall back asleep. And she seems… very content with sleeping.
So instead, I push myself up against the headboard, making sure she’s still comfortable tucked into my side, and grab my phone.
In the hours between dawn and whatever hour it is that has the sun high in the sky and my stomach grumbling, I schedule six local companies who specialize in historic building restoration.
Three of which say they can handle a water wheel while the other three seem unsure what I was even talking about.
I reply to every email Sana has sent me over the past few days that I marked as unread with the intention of replying later, and order a ridiculous breakfast to the house because I’m not certain Evie has any food to make.
When the knock at the door rouses her from her sleep, I throw my arms over my head to stretch as she mumbles about the farm being closed.
I push her toward the bathroom when she makes a beeline for the stairs. “I just ordered us breakfast. I’ll get it set up downstairs,” I tell her, leaving a kiss on her head.
“Oh, okay,” she mumbles, redirecting to the bathroom.
And the look on her face when she comes downstairs a few minutes later is absolutely everything.
Her eyes go wide when she sees bacon—I make a mental note of that—and she pops a piece in her mouth.
She does a little dance when she sees breakfast sausage and moans in pleasure when she bites into a buttered biscuit.
So apparently I have to pull out this kind of breakfast for her every day because I love that she loves breakfast.
When she finally sits down and gathers a plate for herself, I push my phone across the table so she can see the schedule of quotes I set up.
“What’s all this?” she asks, clicking through the first link I added. “Is this… did you do this all this morning?”
I nod, happy that she seems pleasantly surprised. “Six different companies are coming to take a look. Normally I’d only pull in a couple, but I’m worried the water wheel is a bit too specialty to assume just anyone could take it on.”
She nods her enthusiastic agreement. “Yes, definitely.”
“So, two are coming today and the other four over the next three days,” I say, loading her plate with some eggs when I notice her eyeing them. “And that sets us up perfectly to take our favorite one to next week’s town council meeting.”
“Wow,” she says, taking a bite of her eggs. “You really did a lot this morning.”
I shrug. “I knew you’d wake up worried about it. Figured I’d nip it in the bud.”
She smiles, and a second later, her foot rubs along mine underneath the table. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, loading her up with more bacon. “But I haven’t even gotten to the best part.”
She raises an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“During the town council meeting, we’re going to go to dinner.”
“Is that the best part for you or me?”
I can’t help but grin. I love when she busts my balls.
“For you, obviously. Figured I’d throw you one.”
Her eyes narrow as she points a piece of bacon at me. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
I push my seat closer to hers so I can pull her out of her chair and tug her into my lap as I steal what’s left of her bacon. “I don’t want you to worry about the water wheel. And I definitely don’t want you regretting what led to it breaking.”
She runs her hand along my cheek, kissing me lightly. “I don’t one bit. I trust you, Ryder.”
My chest tightens at her words. The girl who won’t rely on anyone is choosing to trust me.
And I swear, I will never give her a reason not to.