Rate the Hate
Maddox
Ryder leaned against the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee already in hand. "I wouldn't say she hates you."
I reached for the coffee pot. "But you wouldn't say she doesn't."
I poured myself half a cup, mostly to give my hands something to do. Normally, I didn't give two shits if someone hated me or not. But Delaney's sister?
Yeah, that could be a problem.
This was why I'd asked Ryder, flat-out, how bad Tessa hated me.
And now, he was being cagey about it.
He took a slow sip, watching me over the rim like he was waffling between a pretty lie and the stone-cold truth.
I just waited. I had plenty of time. Barely a minute had passed since the two sisters had walked out the front door, leaving me and Ryder alone in the kitchen. They'd be gone for at least an hour, maybe longer.
Finally, Ryder said, "Fine. She hates you."
No kidding. I didn't bother asking why. "Alright. Scale of one to ten. Give me a number."
He took another long sip. "Do you mean before you showed up with her sister? Or after?"
I gave him a look. "Does it matter?"
"Hell, yeah, it matters." He snorted. "You've seen the stories, right?"
He didn't say which stories. He didn't have to. By now, Sloane's disappearance was the number-one news story in the country and was making the rounds worldwide. My mouth tightened. "Everyone's seen the stories."
"Right. So look at it from Tessa's point of view. Your former fiancée dies in this tragic accident, and you don't seem to care."
I refused to lie. "Yeah, because I don't."
"Which is why the whole world thinks you're an asshole."
My fingers flexed around the handle of the cup. "Including you?"
He looked almost offended. "Hell no. If that were the case, you wouldn't be here."
I studied his face. "So you believe me."
"That Sloane is fine?" He shrugged. "I believe you believe it."
I knew a hedge when I heard it. "But…?"
"But it seems to me, she would've surfaced by now."
He was right, which was why I wasn't just ignoring it and hoping it would go away. Sure, it might look like that on the surface, but all over the globe, threads were being pulled. One way or another, Sloane would eventually be found.
I was betting on alive – and hoping for it, too. Hey, I wasn't a complete asshole. If something had truly happened to her, I'd feel like a total shit, in spite of how she'd been hammering me in the press.
But my gut told me I was right – even if the whole world thought I was wrong.
Then again, it's not like I'd shared my theory with anyone but Ryder.
I was keeping quiet for a reason. Why give anyone a heads-up?
I shrugged with a casualness I didn't feel. "I guess we'll find out eventually."
His eyebrows lifted. "And how long is that?"
I wasn't following. "What do you mean?"
"How long does Sloane have to be missing before you admit the second part?"
"The second part?"
He gave me a look. "Missing and…?"
I recalled all those headlines. "Presumed dead."
He nodded. "Right."
"People are already presuming."
"And how long before you presume?"
It felt like an interrogation, and I wasn't in the mood. "Just what are you getting at?"
"I'm just saying, it's already going on two weeks."
"Yeah, so?"
"So eventually, you'll have to admit you were wrong."
I took a slow sip of my coffee. "Unless I'm not."
"Unless that," he agreed, setting down his cup. "But let me ask you something. If you had a daughter, and she was seeing a guy with your kind of history, how would you react?"
What the hell? "My kind of history?"
Ryder started ticking off on his fingers. "Bad reputation, jilted bride, a heart made of stone…you get the picture."
I knew the answer. I wouldn't like it. "Except Tessa's not Delaney's dad."
"Yeah, but she's Delaney's big sister, and just between us, she feels guilty as hell."
That made me pause. "For what?"
"The way it sounds, their mom was pretty rough on Delaney."
I tensed. "You don't mean—"
"I don't mean Delaney was abused – not physically. But the way it sounds, the mom could be pretty harsh." His expression turned serious. "To Delaney. Not Tessa."
From my few glimpses at the mom's social media, I got what Ryder meant. Tessa could do no wrong. And Delaney could do no right.
Not looking to insult his future mother-in-law, I kept my thoughts to myself.
Ryder went on. "And now Tessa's thinking she should've done more to protect her little sister. My guess? She's overcompensating." He gave me a wry smile. "Trust me, if you were anyone else, you'd be half in love with her already."
That word – love – hit me harder than it should've, but not with the sister he meant. Sure, Tessa was gorgeous. Anyone could see that. But in my eyes, she didn't come close to Delaney.
Ryder watched me for another beat before saying, "Look, I know Tessa's acting a little intense—"
"Just a little?"
"Oh, fuck off," he said without any real heat. "I just mean, you haven't met the real Tessa. Trust me, you'd love her."
There was that word again. Love. My jaw clenched, but I said nothing.
Ryder kept going. "And she'll love you, too, once she gets to know you." He flashed me a sudden grin. "That's why I invited you…so she could see you're not the monster in the news."
My thoughts strayed to Delaney's T-shirt, the one I'd glimpsed as she'd bolted from my bedroom. Monsters Need Love, too. I smiled at the memory, even as I said, "Yeah? And how's that going?"
For a long moment, Ryder didn't reply. Anyone could see this wasn't going terrific – and not only when we'd first arrived. Just this morning, before heading out with Delaney, Tessa had given me a look that could've curdled milk.
Finally, Ryder laughed. "Hey, don't blame me. You're the one who showed up with her sister."