10. Ryder
RYDER
It was Thursday night. The perfect night to drown my sorrows at the bar in town. But instead, I was the stupid fuck who agreed to meet my date who didn’t show up on Tuesday.
Why?
Call it insanity. Maybe I needed to feel like someone still wanted me in some way. Hell, maybe it was just curiosity. I strode into the bar, scanning the customers for a woman who looked even remotely close to the woman on the dating profile.
She wasn’t in here, but someone else was, and she looked just as fucking gorgeous as she did two nights ago. I started for the bar, but then hesitated when I remembered her yelling at me that she hated me.
Did I really want to hear from another woman how much I disappointed her? Nope.
But just as I was about to find another table, I saw her swipe her finger under her eye like she was crying. I really hated seeing women cry. Not because it made me uncomfortable, but because it reminded me what a shit I was when I was younger. I’d made quite a few girls cry with my teasing.
Sighing, I headed over to the bar, thinking that maybe I could make her smile.
Or at the very least, I could give her a target for her anger and sadness.
“Beer,” I said to JR as I took a seat.
He quirked an eyebrow at me, then glanced at Ellie, as if seeking permission to serve me.
“Something wrong?” I asked as JR turned away.
Ellie didn’t bother to look at me. “Are you talking to me?”
“Well, you are sitting next to me.”
“You sat next to me.”
So, she was gonna go that route. Arguing semantics instead of telling me what was wrong.
“Yep, I did. Thought I’d finish our conversation from the other night.”
She finally turned to me, her eyes slightly red and watery, but she did a good job hiding behind her sadness.
“What conversation?”
“About date night.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion as she stared at me. “There was more to discuss?”
“Well, your date never showed. Neither did mine. Do you think it was us?”
“I highly doubt she could tell what a horrible personality you have just based on where you were sitting.”
“Ouch,” I chuckled, taking the beer as JR slid it to me.
“But you know, I do have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Why only Tuesdays and Thursdays? What’s wrong with Mondays and Wednesdays?”
I took a sip of my beer and angled myself to face her now that she had invited more conversation. “Good question. Mondays are never a good idea because it’s the first day of the week.”
“And that matters, why?”
“Well, you’re pissed you have to go back to work.
Usually, something happens on Mondays to make your week start off wrong, which puts you in a bad mood.
Which means if you go out with someone on a Monday, your attitude is all wrong, and you’ll end up showing the worst of yourself instead of your better half. ”
“Interesting,” she murmured, taking a sip of her wine. “And Wednesdays?”
“Oh, well, Wednesday is hump day,” I grinned.
“That doesn’t mean you actually have to hump someone,” she rolled her eyes at me.
“No, but people tend to be overly optimistic about the end of the week coming. It’s like…
a renewal of energy. The week is half over, so you get this deceptive happiness that makes you think you can go out and have fun.
And then you realize in the morning that you still have to get up and go to work. ”
“So, you might stay out later than you should because endorphins have given you false hope?”
“Something like that,” I grinned.
She nodded, thinking it over as she took a sip of wine.
“So?”
“So, what?” she asked, looking back at me.
“Well, now that I’ve told you, what do you think of my thought process?”
“I…think you put way too much thought into days of the week.”
“Maybe, but you can’t deny that there’s some logic there.”
Huffing out a laugh, she went back to her wine. “So, it’s Thursday. Are you meeting someone?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, glancing around the bar. “If she shows up. You?”
“Well, I thought I would put your Tuesday/Thursday dating theory to the test.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” I said, glancing over my shoulder when I heard the bell ring. “That would be her.”
Ellie looked over her shoulder, raising her glass. “Have fun.”
“You, too, Ellie.”
Sliding off my stool, I walked over to the door where my date was waiting. “Sarah?”
“Ryder?” she smiled.
She was pretty enough. Sandy brown hair and brown eyes. She had a nice smile and looked friendly.
“Yeah, should we get a booth?”
“Sure.” She looked around the place before sliding into the booth. “I’ve never been here before, but I’ve driven past it a lot.”
“Do you live far from here?”
“Batavia.”
I nodded, my eyes sliding across the bar to where Ellie sat, sipping her wine.
“Do you live around here?”
“Uh…yeah,” I said, drawing my attention back to the woman in front of me. “I just got back to town. I was living out in New York.”
“Oh, that’s exciting. What did you do out there?”
“Lawyer.”
“Big shot,” she said, blushing as she propped her chin on her hand. “What was it like?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but couldn’t think of any way to describe it. “Um…in some ways good, and in other ways bad.”
I remembered Ellie’s watery eyes and glanced back at her, wondering what made her so upset that she would sit in a bar crying. Not that it was important.
“That’s a cryptic answer,” Sarah laughed.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “Sorry, it’s just…been interesting being back home. So, what do you do?”
“I work at the resort in Whitefish.”
“Whitefish. That’s quite a haul.”
“About twenty-five minutes. It’s not too bad unless the weather isn’t cooperating.”
What a boring conversation. We were talking about driving to work. There had to be something better to discuss on a first date. Hell, I wasn’t even on a date with Ellie, and I had a naturally fun conversation with her. Why couldn’t it always be that way?
“So, now that you’re home, what are you doing?”
“Nothing yet,” I answered, my ears perking up at the sound of the bell over the door. “Um…just trying to figure out my next step.”
“Yeah, that sounds hard. I’ve never been that far away from home, so I don’t know what that’s like. New York seems like a world away.”
She continued talking while my eyes wandered to the man who entered, his focus on Ellie.
“Is it hard to be out of the city?”
“No, not really,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too distracted. But I was curious about this new man. He walked over to Ellie and introduced himself, going in for a hug.
I snorted in amusement. That was awfully presumptuous, and based on the way she stiffened, she thought so, too.
“Sorry, was something funny?” Sarah asked.
“Uh…no. I mean, I was just thinking about how…you leave the city and come back here, and it’s so quiet.”
“I bet. What was it like to work in one of those skyscrapers? Was it scary to be up above all the world?”
I wanted to shoot myself right now. What was it like to work in a skyscraper? Was this really what we were going to talk about?
“It was like climbing a mountain,” I went for.
“I would think it would be completely different. A different culture. A different way of life. There’s something so magical about traveling that far away, don’t you think?”
This was why I went out on Thursday nights. Yes, there was the chance that I would meet someone boring like this woman, but I had an easy out. And as I looked over at Ellie, it seemed she needed the early out as well.
I ordered drinks for us and pretended to engage in conversation with Sarah, but there was nothing that interested me. She was nice enough, but there was no spark. No connection. By the time our second round of drinks came, I was ready to get out of here.
“Excuse me,” Sarah smiled. “I’m just going to use the restroom.”
I stood along with her, just like my father taught me. But the moment she walked away, my eyes went right to Ellie.
Struggling was the word I would use to describe how she was handling her date. I almost sat down, but then I saw her roll her eyes, and I decided to have a little fun with her.
“Excuse me,” I said, walking up to her table. “Are you—” I laughed, running my hand over my mouth. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it’s you.”
She looked up at me in confusion. “Um…”
“You don’t remember me. I mean, that’s a little hurtful, but…Mike.”
“I don’t…” She shook her head, not understanding what I was doing.
“From the Underground.”
“Sorry, but what is the Underground?” her date asked.
“Oh, hey, I’m sorry. I’m Mike,” I said, holding out my hand. “Yeah, I met this one at a sex club.”
Ellie was just taking a sip of wine and nearly choked on it.
“Feisty one, she is,” I chuckled. “Trust me, you do not want to get on her bad side. She likes the whip.”
“Hey!” Ellie snapped.
“Uh…” Her date scooted back in his chair. “You know, I think I should go.”
“I’m not—I didn’t meet him at a sex club!” she shouted at his retreating form. “Wow, thanks a lot.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Why are you smirking at me?” she snapped. “You just ran off my date!”
“And you were bored to tears. You’ll thank me tonight when you go home and enjoy a glass of wine instead of staying here for the next hour, listening to whatever he was going to say next.”
Despite how mean it was, she was having a hard time denying that she was grateful she no longer had to sit with the man.
“You can pay for my drinks since my date walked out.”
“I’ll tell JR to put your drinks on my bill.”
Standing, she grabbed her purse and flung it over her shoulder. “Now, how are you going to get out of your date?”
My lips twitched in amusement. “I think I can find a way.”