Chapter 25
25
“You’re asking me this question? After you went missing for hours? Where have you been?” Ryder asked, his tone icing my blood. “Last night, I told you to wait for me. When I came back, you had vanished.”
I blinked. “None of your business. Again, why is it your problem?”
“Because I promised to watch over you. And your going MIA isn’t making the job easy on me.”
“You’re impossible. I was tired of being bossed around by you, and I left with Tasha. Since when am I supposed to report my whereabouts to you?”
Joseph, still holding my hand, walked between Ryder and me. “Enough with this, you guys. Can you talk to each other without trying to rip your heads out? This is getting ridiculous. Stop. I’ll lock you two in a room until you can figure out your shit.”
“You don’t want to do that,” Ryder said, the venom unmistakable in his tone. His eyes were fixed on me. “Believe me, that’s the worst idea you can come up with. Never say I didn’t warn you.”
“Then mind your own things. Ava is old enough to not explain her actions to you. She owes you nothing. You’re what? Like twenty at the most. Who are you to barge into her life when you can’t stand her for more than a minute?”
“Hey surfer boy, you sure you wanna get in the middle of this?” Ryder asked, his hand gesturing to me and him. “You sure it’s a good idea? If I were you, I’d stay out of it. Don’t get involved in our family business.”
“Family?” I clenched my jaw and breathed in, desperate to remain calm. “Unbelievable. Stop. Just stop. God, how do you think it’s even possible? We’re not family. No. Never been one. We’re not related. And anyway, you want nothing to do with me,” I said, unable to bury my exasperation under nice words. “I’m not yours to care for. Find someone else to annoy. Misty looked like she could use your help last night. Oh no, my bad, you already did enough.”
“Don’t get in the middle of this.” His tone sounded like a cruel warning.
“Or what, Daddy?” I used my most condescending tone.
He cursed under his breath, his eyes becoming weapons ready to vaporize me.
“Whatever. I’ll be out of here in ten minutes. Leave me alone, Ryder.”
He dragged in a long breath. “Baby girl, you have no idea, do you? You have no clue about anything that happened. And here I thought you were smart. Guess I was wrong all along.”
“Why are you talking in puzzles that I can’t understand? It has nothing to do with intelligence. Nothing you say ever makes any sense. Why can’t you tell me what it’s about once and for all? Even Tasha refused to say anything.”
“Never mind. Go and play with your toys and mind your own business.”
“Ohmygod. You’re such a pain in the ass. Is your only goal in life to infuriate me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t help it if you’re acting dumb. You can’t even see what’s right in front of your eyes.”
A loud grunt passed my lips. “Speak. English.”
“Sorry, baby girl. You’re not ready for what I have to say. We’ll talk when you’ve grown up.”
I stamped my feet. “Gosh, I hate you. How is it that every time you open your mouth you exasperate me to no extent?”
A smirk tilted his lips. “You’re welcome.”
Joseph stepped forward, reducing the space between the two of them. His back was firmed, his stance rigid. He never let go of my hand as I stood behind him. Both guys stared at each other, neither of them backing down.
“Respect. Ever heard of it?”
Ryder snorted, not breaking his stance. “Go chase waves, surfer boy, and leave us the heck alone.”
Moving into the small space in the middle, I pushed their chests with both hands, forcing them to step back.
“This is getting out of hand. Ryder, stay here. I’m not done with you.” I switched my attention to Joseph. “Wait for me in the truck. Please. Let me deal with him. You don’t have to get mixed in this. If he’s not worth my time, he’s not worth yours either.”
Joseph spoke to me in the soft voice he always used around me, his gaze still locked on Ryder. “Avalon, you don’t have to waste your energy on him. We can just go. Let me help you gather your stuff.”
I framed his face with my palms, forcing him to look down at me. “I gotta settle whatever this is once and for all. Don’t worry, he’s harmless. Just being a prick and can’t help himself. And by the look of it, it is possible he is about to become a father.”
“What?”
“Long story. Misty isn’t a trusted source. I’ll explain later.”
“I’ll wait on the front porch. Come and get me if he’s being out of line.”
I nodded and watched him exit the house, not before pointing an accusatory finger in Ryder’s direction. “Don’t hurt her, you hear me? You touch her, I’ll end you.”
I closed the door after him and faced Ryder, his features still wearing a mask of irritation, his eyes so dark I couldn’t look elsewhere, mesmerized.
“The fuck you couldn’t have called,” he said with a stride forward.
“I turned off my phone. Spies don’t leave traces about their whereabouts,” I said, trying to ease the escalating tension in the room with a half-joke.
“Spies?”
“Forget it.”
Ryder remained silent. My heart leaped in my throat. I tried to swallow, but I could barely take a full breath in.
Something shifted between us.
Tingles spread all over my skin.
Under a spell I couldn’t escape, I studied his profile. It wasn’t hate emanating from him in that instant, but something else I couldn’t define. More potent. More intoxicating. That had my entire being vibrating with awareness.
As if linked by an invisible thread, we came closer together, halting when only a foot separated us. Ryder’s hastened breathing matched mine. Whatever mind games we were playing, I couldn’t escape its grip on me.
“Did you spend all night waiting for me to get back?” I asked, my voice rough as if I’d cried for hours.
“I had no idea where you were. I drove all over town. Even broke into Chris’s bedroom. Just in case.”
“You did? Why?”
“Because.”
“It’s not a good enough answer. Why?”
He said nothing. His fingers circled my left wrist, and he flipped it around, exposing my forearm to his scrutiny. One of his digits traced the length, shivers rising in its trail. He watched my flesh for a couple of seconds before I freed my arm, once again afraid he would notice the marks I put there.
“You don’t get it. You just don’t get any of it, do you?” he asked.
“What am I missing? Enlighten me. I can’t keep up with anything you say. For once, tell me the truth. About everything.”
He averted his eyes, looking in the distance, breaking the daze we had fallen under.
“Why can’t you be honest with me for once? Whatever I did to enrage you, I can’t fix it if I’m not aware of what the problem is. What did I ever do to you?”
His throat rippled, stealing my attention. Ryder was such a mystery. One I wasn’t sure I really wanted to uncover. Whatever it was, I had a hunch I’d never recover from it. Not fully at least.
“Don’t go with him.” He broke the tensed silence, his tone softer. “Stay here.”
“I’m going. We have a surfing lesson. Nothing you say will stop me. Unless it’s something I need to hear. Unless it explains why you hate me so much.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets, balancing on his heels.
“I don’t hate you.”
“Well, you have a funny way of showing it. One day you tell me I should be afraid of you. That I should never come to your place without an invite. Then you bring me coffee and say you are sorry, only to start again with the mind games the next day. I never catch a break. Something is wrong with you. It’s not normal to be possessive of someone you barely know.”
We faced each other, breathing the same air, our bodies so close that if I took a big enough inhale, our chests would collide.
“Don’t go.” Ryder pleaded once more, his voice lower. The storm in his irises lessened. Like clouds parting to give the sun the attention it deserved. The green color returned. Precious emeralds.
My lips separated, but no sound left my mouth. I had never been on the receiving end of Ryder’s intensity when it wasn’t mixed with hatred.
“Joseph and I have a full day planned. I gotta go.”
The armor Ryder kept around himself returned right before my eyes. He stepped back, something resembling hurt filling his features.
I breathed in. “Well, in that case, if you have nothing to tell me, enjoy your day. Don’t wait for me. I have a date later.” I swiveled on my feet and went to my room to pick an outfit for tonight and everything I required for the day.
After a quick shower and dressed in a pair of denim cutoffs and a cream tank top, I returned to the living room, Ryder still hadn’t moved. Passing by him, I leaned over to grab my purse I discarded earlier by the door when he reached for my hand.
“What?” I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral, void of emotions.
He said nothing. Instead, he glared at me as if I should be able to read his inner thoughts without any explanations. As if his face contained the answer to all the secrets he kept from me.
We stood there for a minute, neither of us saying anything.
“That’s what I thought,” I said after a long beat. “When you’re brave enough to tell me the truth, to be honest, then we can have that discussion. In the meantime, mind your own stuff and leave me out of it.”
With a sharp intake of air, he let go of me, and I sensed his eyes on my back as I made my escape.