6. Chapter Six
6
Wren
Ryker and I almost kissed once, and now we’ve grazed our lips – barely scratching the surface.
It’s the first thing that comes to mind when I open my eyes the following morning, my dreams filled with nothing but those amber eyes staring at me. I wanted to forget anything happened, pretend it never did, but I’m filled with this need to get better acquainted with his lips
For the love of God, I hope the man forgot about our deal and isn’t waiting in the kitchen for me with a plate of food. I can’t take his close proximity much longer. My parents didn’t raise me to hide away from my battles, though.
I’m going to get showered, dressed, then walk out there like nothing's bothering me.
I’ll face him head on.
With my mantra stuck on repeat, I skip into the bathroom with a smile on my face and start my morning routine by brushing my teeth. While I whiten them, I comb a brush through my hair and twist it into a large braid because I’ve decided to head to my parents place this afternoon.
Just because Ryker and I had a very small kiss, doesn’t mean I don’t still have a job to do – which means I can’t leave until I do an exercise with him today.
Unfortunately, I’m not counting on him participating much.
Since we’re going to be outside this morning, doing more yoga, I forgo the shower and head straight for my closet instead. When I get my yoga clothes pulled on, I quickly search through my things for something to wear to my parents house.
A horseback ride sounds great, something to really get the stress of this job off my back, so I grab a folded pair of loose-fitting jeans and t-shirt.
I exit the guest room slowly and keep my ears open for any obvious signs that Ryker is in the kitchen cooking, but I come up empty.
Good, maybe he decided to ignore the request I made before we went our separate ways.
My steps become more eager, until I round the corner and find Ryker hunched over the island while scooping a large spoonful of cereal into his mouth. I plaster the best smile I can manage onto my face and step into the kitchen, trying not to flinch that he doesn’t bother looking at me – not even a simple glance.
To my surprise, though, there’s a plate sitting on the counter with eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns with steam still billowing from it. “This mine?”
Ryker grunts. “I owed you breakfast, and that’s the best you get.”
“Uh, thanks,” I whisper while pouring myself a decent cup of coffee.
He only hums in response and when I turn around he’s scrolling through his phone with a frown on his face. “Dammit.”
“Everything okay?”
“Now’s not the time to be getting into my head, teach.”
I sigh, then lean against the counter while holding my plate with one hand and scooping food into my mouth with the other.
When I swallow the first bite, I shrug my shoulders. “And if it’s as a friend?”
Ryker rolls his eyes and glares at me. “I highly doubt anything I tell you will go off the record, so I’ll pass.”
“Suit yourself,” I mumble.
As much as I’m here to do a job, I’m also here to make sure Ryker makes it out of this place in a better mental state. I can’t exactly do that if he doesn’t trust me to get him there, which means getting onto his good side.
“You know, I used to get bullied as a kid.”
He snaps his attention to me with a raised brown, then looks me up and down.
“You? Seriously?” Ryker frowns and shakes his head. “You’re beautiful, why would anyone want to make fun of you?”
“As much as I believe what you’re saying now, that wasn’t always the case.”
I push away from the counter and slip onto the empty stool next to him. “I was called brace face for most of my high school years, and it didn’t help that I was a farm girl through and through. They loved the country jokes.”
“That’s it? All because you had braces and liked to work on the farm?” He shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t see the problem here, Wren.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I didn’t see it either. It wasn’t just about that, though. It was everything – I was a straight A student who loved to read, was president of the drama club, and it took me a while to figure out the kind of clothes that made me look the best.”
“Did anything ever get better for you?”
“In high school? No. Once I got to college, though, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let others get to me like that again. It was smooth sailing after that – and it was helpful that I went to a therapist in the middle of it all, she gave me tons of information to cope with my emotions.”
He hums in response and nods, then goes back to shoveling the food in mouth while I stare at him in silence.
As if sensing my eyes on him, Ryker glances at me from the corner of his eye and groans. “I really hope you aren’t expecting me to go next now that you’ve shared something with me.”
“It would be nice,” I say with a small smile. “But, no. The only way me being here will work is if you trust me, and I can’t expect that to happen when you barely know me.”
While he ponders my words for a moment, I shovel another large bite of breakfast into my mouth and point at it with a bigger smile. “This is great, by the way, thank you.”
“No problem, a deal is a deal.”
We sit in silence through the rest of our meal, then I rise from the island and carry my plate to the sink.
He’s still glaring at his phone when I turn around, and I tap my chin. “Let’s get started with another yoga exercise.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea,” he mutters.
“We had a small breakthrough yesterday. Let’s see if we can manage to get another one.”
“Sure,” he mumbles while tossing his phone on the other side of the island.
“Trouble in paradise?”
His eyebrows dip, and he scowls. “There’s no ‘trouble in paradise, teach. That would require having someone in my life, and that’s never going to happen.”
Good, we’re getting somewhere. I cock my head to the side, nodding slowly, and ask, “And why do you say that?”
“Relationships are the last thing I need in my life. Love is a myth, so I steer clear of it.”
“What makes you think it’s a myth?”
He slams his hand on the table and shakes his head. “Maybe we should do yoga later, not really in the mood for it right now.”
I open my mouth to say something, but he throws a hand up to cut me off before I can even speak. “I’m really trying to be nice, but I can’t promise it will stay that way if you don’t back the hell off.”
“As much as I want to make you comfortable, I think it’s time for me to set my foot down a little bit.” I cross my arms and frown. “First of all, we had a deal – breakfast in the morning, and you’d cooperate with me.”
He rolls his eyes at that last statement but stays silent. “Second of all, you aren’t going to be able to leave until we make some kind of progress. You need to take this seriously, Ryker, or I’ll have to report this back to your manager.”
Ryker arches a brow. “Aren’t there laws against that?”
“Sure, unless I feel you are harmful to yourself or others.”
He clenches his jaw tightly in response, face turning red, and I sigh. “Your blackouts are dangerous, along with the short fuse you have, and I’ll have no choice but to relay that back to Mack if you don’t give me something.”
“This is all bullshit,” he spits while storming to the back door. When I don’t follow him, he spins around and asks, “Well, are you coming?”
“Yeah.”
I figured today we could work on the fish pose – or Matsyasana. It’s a pose that’s great for people who tend to bottle up their anger or stress, which is exactly what Ryker does.
We both come to a stop on our mat, and he looks at me. “Let’s get on with it.”
“First, I need you to take a few deep breaths and try to calm yourself.”
Once he does that, I take a deep breath of my own and now. “We’re going to start by sitting down with our legs in front of us.”
“Alright,” he mutters.
“We’re going to lean back while resting our upper body onto our elbows, with forearms flat on the mat.” I make sure he’s doing it right, then nod. “Good.”
“Annoying is more like it.”
“This next step, you’re going to press down on your palms and forearms while lifting your heart up toward the ceiling.”
He scoffs. “Are you kidding me?”
I glare at him. “No, I’m not. Make sure you roll your shoulders back and stretch back until you rest the top of your head onto the mat.”
“Now what?”
When I glance over at him, he’s barely got himself lifted up and he looks bored. I shake my head and frown. “You want to push your chest out a little more than that.” He does as I say, and I nod. “Not perfect, but definitely better. The more we do poses, the easier it will become to form them.”
“Okay, what’s next?”
“We’re going to hold the pose for a minute while taking deep breaths.”
I keep an eye on the time and him, making sure he’s taking deep breaths, then clear my throat when a minute passes. “What do you feel?”
“Frustrated,” he mumbles.
“Do another minute, try to center yourself and focus on clearing your mind.”
Another minute passes and he grumbles, dropping the pose like he’s a sack of potatoes. “This isn’t working, I’m done.” He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before he walks away and disappears back into the house.
Seems like a common theme with him, but at least he attempted the pose today – even if he tried fighting it at first.
When I finish my yoga routine and head back into the house, a soft sound fills the air, putting me on high alert.
He must be playing the guitar. It’s likely one of the things that helps with his stress, and it seems as though he needs the release.
I listen for a moment, letting the chords seep into my soul, and my eyebrows shoot up when I hear a soft voice echoing from down the hall – that’s what has me moving in the direction of it. The closer I get to the sound, the deeper and raspier the voice gets.
It’s mesmerizing, calling to me like a siren deep in the ocean.
There’s a large door that’s cracked open and I steal a quick peek inside. Ryker is sitting on a lone stool situated in the middle of the room, an acoustic guitar perched on his lap, and his eyes are closed as he hums along with the chords. After he’s done humming, he leans forward and opens his eyes briefly to scribble something down in a notebook that has me scrunching my eyebrows.
When he turns back to sit straight, I dart behind the wall so he can’t see me and listen as he croons into the empty room. His voice is soulful, full of emotion, and husky. It has me leaning against the wall, out of eyesight, as I listen to the words he’s trying to say.
And I’ll try not to let you down, even if the world is crumbling to the ground.
There’s so much hurt in his voice that it has my eyes blurring with tears, but I quickly shake them away. If he wanted me to hear him singing, he would’ve told me about this. As quietly, and inconspicuously, as possible I try to make my way back down the hall.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ryker snaps. When I keep walking and don’t answer him, a large hand comes down on my shoulder to spin me around. Just like I imagine that richest chocolate to look like, his eyes are blazing like an inferno that makes those dark swirls overlap the lightness in his gaze. “This isn't free for all.”
“I, uh, didn’t mean to interrupt.”
His top lip curls into a snarl, jaw clenching with the anger coursing through him, and he shakes his head. “I should’ve known I wouldn’t have my privacy with a damn shrink here, and this is why I didn’t want you here in the first place.”
“You’re right,” I whisper. “It wasn’t my business to eavesdrop.”
“You can go now,” he growls out.
Before he can get any more rude, I scurry down the hallway with his stare burning into my back.
I can hear him cursing down the hall, then the faint sound of something crashing, but I don’t pay it any mind as I head toward the sliding glass door that leads out to the pool.
Maybe I shouldn’t be here after all. It doesn’t seem like anyone will be able to get through to him, not even me.