Chapter Seventeen
Iwas sitting out front of the address Ryker had messaged me a few hours ago. This is how he must have felt when he came to pick me up last night, when it took him forever to come to the door. I was stuck in the seat of my car, unsure how to move.
I’d spent the better part of today writing.
Ryker had left my house this morning, and the words came flooding.
I hadn’t really thought about the outside world until he texted in the afternoon, breaking the well-manicured concentration I’d built in my living room.
I turned on CovertRetriever’s steam and began writing.
And this time, the scenes I was writing weren’t just me trying to conjure up what I thought might happen between us.
I took exactly what had happened last night and put pen to paper.
From Ryker pressing me against the wall, his hands on me, to us finally ending up in my bed, falling asleep in each other’s arms. I reread the few chapters I’d added to my story a few times over and was enamored by what I’d been able to pump out quickly.
Now here I was, still sitting in my car, nervous to walk up to his door.
This was scary territory for me. Going over to someone else’s house. Going into their space.
Flashbacks of being at Parker’s apartment invaded my mind, where I wasn’t allowed to have any of my things out when I visited.
If I went over and packed an overnight bag, everything must stay in said bag.
I wasn’t even allowed to have a toothbrush out in his bathroom when I left. Nothing of mine was allowed to stay.
I shuddered at the memory, shaking it from my thoughts.
Tonight was about Ryker.
I took a deep breath, exited the car, and made my way to the door.
I knocked twice before it opened, and Ryker stood in front of me in a pair of gym shorts, a dark blue shirt, and his hair piled in a bun on top of his head.
He looked laidback compared to me in a pair of skinny jeans, a tank, and a cardigan.
There wasn’t much of an agenda for tonight’s date, except for Ryker saying he wanted to cook for me.
“Odette.” Hearing my name from his lips made my brain short-circuit. I felt like I lost all semblance of thought when this man addressed me. It was like I was the only woman in the world.
“Ryker.” A smile spread over my face as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his house. It smelled heavenly, like garlic and red sauce.
“Dinner is almost ready,” he let me know as he led me into the kitchen, which looked like a disaster. I giggled and looked around, pots and pans everywhere. “I made pasta with vodka sauce and sausage.”
“That sounds amazing.” I squeezed his hand before he let it go and made his way to the stove, stirring the pan that contained the whole concoction before opening the oven. Garlic filled the room, and I assumed he had bread baking for us. “I didn’t know this would be a whole thing, Ryker.”
I laughed as I made myself comfortable at the bar on the other side of the kitchen.
“Is it bad to say I wanted to impress you?” I could see a smile form on Ryker’s face, but he didn’t turn toward me.
“You’ve already impressed me.” His head shot up at my words.
“Yeah?” He seemed skeptical of me saying that.
“Yeah,” I got up and made my way over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he continued to stir our dinner before the timer went off.
“Dinner’s ready.”
I let go as Ryker turned to pull out two plates from the cabinet. He plated our dinner before grabbing two glasses out of a different cabinet. I grabbed the plates, taking them to the table.
“What would you like to drink?” Ryker turned around to ask me.
Me holding our plates and him getting us drinks felt domesticated, something I hadn’t felt before, even when I was dating Parker.
I shook the thought of him out of my head again.
I normally didn’t think about him at all, but it seemed that with getting closer to Ryker, some of my anxiety around being in a relationship was creeping in.
I just needed to remember what Jemma and I spoke about: Ryker isn’t Parker.
“I’m good with whatever you’re having.”
Ryker followed with two glasses of water, and my stomach growled. I realized I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything today, besides a tea this morning and some chips.
“This looks amazing.” I took a seat and grabbed my fork, shoveling a bite in before Ryker could even get in his chair.
A soft moan escaped me as I chewed the food.
Ryker let out a small laugh as he took his seat and joined me.
The garlic bread he made looked homemade, and I about fainted from the pungent garlic taste. This was heavenly, and I wanted more.
“This tastes incredible.” I finally said after a few bites.
“It’s one of my favorite dishes to make.”
“Why is that?” I questioned as I shoveled another bite in.
“Makes tons of leftovers.” Ryker let out a little laugh, and I followed suit because I couldn’t blame him for that. I loved making dishes that gave me more to eat in the following days. Give me extra lunches and dinners anytime.
“I love your laugh,” Ryker said after a few more bites, and when I looked up at him, he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring down at his plate and scooping up another bite.
“I love it when you make me laugh.” I followed up with the compliment and took another bite myself. My plate was almost empty, and my stomach was nearly full.
The rest of dinner was relatively quiet, but while there was silence between us, it didn’t feel awkward. It felt like we were just having another evening together after spending thousands of them together. Like it was natural for us to do.
After Ryker finished his plate, he took both of our plates to the kitchen. I stood wanting to help.
“Sit,” he demanded without looking up at me. “I’ll take care of the cleanup.”
I sat back down in the chair and watched from afar as Ryker cleaned up dinner. Once he was done, he stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at me. His hands were in his pockets, and his shoulders slumped forward. He looked awkward, like he wasn’t sure what to do next.
I stood from the table, bringing my now-empty glass of water to the sink. He was rocking back and forth on his feet, like he was trying to make a decision, but wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
“Everything okay?” I questioned.
I hadn’t seen him like this yet.
Nervous.
He was normally the suave one walking in and making sure I wasn’t freaking out, but this was a different side to him. One I wanted to unwrap more of. He’d started opening up last night, but I knew there was more to what he was letting on about his life; I just wasn’t sure what it was.
“I want to show you something.” At the statement, Ryker stopped moving entirely, his demeanor turning more serious.
“Okay.” I drawled out the word as Ryker looked at me, his eyebrows scrunching together with concern.
His concern worried me, but if this was us moving in the direction of him opening up to me, I was here for it. I had no idea what could have him this worked up.
Please, just don’t be in love with someone else.
Or a serial killer.
“I want to show this to you.” Ryker walked toward me, grabbed my hand, and then led me toward the back of the house down a long hallway. “I need to show this to you. Before things go further.”
He stopped short in front of a closed door and then turned around to look at me.
Now I was more worried, mostly by what he was saying. We were standing in front of a door at the end of the hallway, and I had no idea what was behind it.
Was this some Fifty Shades kinky stuff? I wasn’t against it, but I wasn’t fully prepared for what might be inside the room.
“Should I be scared or worried?” I let out a nervous laugh, but unlike earlier, Ryker did not follow. “Ryker.”
I said his name more firmly. I needed something more from him in this moment than silence.
“This is important to me,” he started. He took a deep breath, squeezed my hand, and then continued. “But you are also becoming so important to me. So, I need to show this to you, Odette.”
The way he said my name was starting to calm my nerves.
“I want us to be together. Like, together, together.” Ryker’s admission calmed every nerve that had been standing on end.
My shoulders sank, and I relaxed into his touch.
“I want that, too.” It was the one true thing I knew without knowing what Ryker was going to show me. I wanted to be with him, and Ryker saying he wanted to be with me had me even less worried about what was behind that door.
He grabbed the door handle and pushed open the door.
I stepped in and took in my surroundings.
At first, I was unsure of what I was seeing, but then it started to click together.
A large desk sat in the middle of the room.
Three computer monitors filled the space around the desk; ambient multi-colored lighting surrounded the room.
A microphone was propped in front of the quite large gaming chair that was in front of the desk.
Now, this was a gaming setup.
These were, however, not the photos that I’d seen from social media, but this was a true gamer setup. When I’d talked to Jemma, we thought this might be a possibility, but I was confused.
I looked around the room more. Shelves with knickknacks lined the walls, and that’s when I realized what all of this was. Except I needed to hear it from Ryker. Because right now I was looking at a gamer award. I scanned the walls again, not just one award, but multiple.
Was he actually a gamer like how Parker was?
I turned toward him.
“What is this?”