Chapter 12
Koen~
Honestly, I hadn’t expected to ever see Rya again. After that disaster last week, I hadn’t had any plans on returning to Liquid IV for the simple fact that I had no desire to see her picking up other men when I was not an option for her at all.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel bad for that dig at her self-esteem struggles.
Not only had it not been productive, but I also couldn’t see it helping me get any kind of date with her in the future.
Granted, I didn’t have a plan for that yet, but after seeing her again, I really hoped that this wasn’t it.
As for Kyle, the little sonofabitch really didn’t like me, and I couldn’t even imagine why.
He’d been a rescue that Nixi had found on the side of the road one afternoon, and I’d been the little bastard’s biggest champion when Nixi had called me to tell me that she’d be bringing him home.
Hell, she hadn’t even asked Curt first, and I’d been all about overriding his decision.
So, why Kyle didn’t like me, I had no goddamn idea.
It also wasn’t often that Nixi asked me to run errands for her, but she’d gotten caught up in some last-minute PTA nonsense, and so I had offered to pick up Kyle in exchange for a seat at their dinner table tonight.
Since I was a grown man and knew how to cook for myself, it wasn’t often that I intruded on my sister, but after subjecting me to this demon from hell, she owed me.
Once I got Kyle settled in the backseat-because no way was he going to sit in the front with me-I shut the door, then turned to see Rya standing a few feet away from my car, and I couldn’t lie and say that my heartbeat didn’t speed up a bit.
Now, while she could easily be standing there to give me some instructions or whatever for Kyle, it didn’t matter.
Her emerald-colored eyes looked haunted, and no matter the reason, I didn’t like it.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Did I forget something?”
“Oh...uhm, no,” she stammered a bit. “I just...I just wanted to...to tell you that...that I’m sorry for what happened last week.”
I slid my hands in my pockets as I asked, “What exactly are you sorry for? For judging me, insulting me, or rejecting me?”
“Uh...all three, I guess,” she replied, and it was crazy how a woman that I barely knew could piss me off so thoroughly.
“Well, how about you wait to apologize until you know what you’re apologizing for,” I snapped. “Or better yet, how about you save your apologies until you actually mean them.”
Her head reared back a bit, her eyes wide. “Do...do you honestly believe that I would have come out here to embarrass myself if I didn’t mean it?”
The look in her eyes had me immediately feeling like a jerk. “Rya, I’m sorry-”
“No...no, it’s fine,” she quickly rushed out. “I...this is on me, Koen.”
Before I could say anything to that, she turned, then headed back into Precious Pets, and the sickening sensation in my stomach only intensified.
I was still feeling incredibly insulted, and I was grown enough to recognize that.
I also didn’t want to be a hypocrite. Last week, she hadn’t wanted to hear what I’d had to say, and that had infuriated me, but now I was doing the same thing to her, and that wasn’t right.
While I had no problem with an eye-for-an-eye in certain situations, this wasn’t one of them.
So, since I’d heard that you shouldn’t leave an animal alone in a car, I quickly grabbed Satan from the back seat, then headed back inside Precious Pets. However, when I finally reached the reception area, Rya was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, welcome back,” the receptionist automatically greeted. “Did you forget something?”
“I need to speak with Rya,” I said, not caring if I sounded like an idiot. “Can you call her for me, please? It’s important.”
“Oh...uhm, sure,” Erica-said her nametag-stammered a bit, and I secretly gave thanks to God when she picked up the phone to page Rya. “Rya, can you please report to the reception area.”
I glanced around, searching for intercom speakers, wondering if I was going crazy. “Can she hear you?”
Erica smiled at me. “Oh, that’s because our regular intercom system is designed to be heard only in the back,” she explained.
“It’s designed that way as to not annoy or disrupt our customers or animals who are waiting in the lobby.
However, our emergency intercom system can be heard throughout the entire facility.
” She leaned in conspiratorially as she added, “Our voices are also translated into a melodic tone as to not startle our babies back there.”
Before I could comment on how fancy Precious Pets was, Rya was coming out of the side door, and she immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw me. However, she was completely uninterested in me as soon as she noticed the carrier in my hand.
“Is Kyle okay?” she asked, her concern genuine. “Did we miss something?”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “He’s fine...well, except for being a meanspirited demon, he’s good.”
Rya’s green eyes slid the Erica’s way really quickly, no doubt wondering what was going on. When she looked back at me, she asked, “So...what...what can I do for you?”
“Go out with me Friday night, and then we can call it even,” I said, not caring that we had an audience.
“I’m sorry, what?” she squawked.
“Go to dinner with me Friday night, and then we can call it even,” I repeated. “We can start over.”
Her beautiful eyes narrowed. “Why does that feel like emotional blackmail?”
“It’s only emotional blackmail if you feel something for me, baby,” I pointed out, and in no way taking back calling her baby.
Rya crossed her arms over her impressive chest as she shot me a look. “Does feeling that you’re being ridiculous count?”
“I don’t care what you feel as long as you feel something when you’re around me,” I replied honestly, and when the reception phone began to ring, Erica let it ring three times before reluctantly answering it.
However, just when I’d thought that we had some privacy, another girl came through the side door, and then she immediately grinned at Rya. “Hey, Rya.”
“Hey, Victoria,” Rya greeted back like there was nothing to see here.
The newcomer glanced at Kyle’s carrier, then asked, “Are we picking up or...?”
“He’s picking up Kyle Wilder,” Rya told her, and I had a terrible feeling that I might be losing her to the crowd.
“So, what do you say?” I asked, pushing her again. “If you’re free this Friday, I’d like to take you to dinner. Your favorite spot.”
“My favorite spot is a taco truck on Shrader Street,” she replied, clearly testing me.
“Perfect,” I smirked. “Who doesn’t love tacos?”
Truthfully, it actually wasn’t the tacos that was the problem, and we both knew it.
Shrader Street was on the ‘bad side’ of town, and me and my car would definitely stand out if we went there to eat.
Now, while I had no idea how comfortable Rya was on that side of town, this could very well be a test of my manhood, too.
If we ran into any kind of trouble, we’d definitely find out what I was made of.
“I don’t get off work until four-thirty,” she said, letting me know that we were probably looking at a six-ish timeline, which was fine by me.
“Okay, then...six?”
“Okay, six it is,” she replied, and it wasn’t lost on me-or the two spectators in the room-that she didn’t sound exactly happy about it.
I waited for a few awkward seconds before I said, “Baby, I’m going to need your phone number in case something comes up.”
“Quit calling me that,” she ordered, finally addressing the endearment. “And why can’t you just call here and ask for me if something comes up?”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Rya, your phone,” I replied, my tone no longer a playful one.
Reluctantly, she pulled her phone from her pocket, unlocked it, then handed it to me, and I immediately set Kyle down, wasting no time entering my number, then texting myself to make sure that I had hers in return. This woman wasn’t eager to go out with me, and I wasn’t ignorant of that.
Once I handed back her phone, I said, “I’ll see you Friday.”
“I’ll see you Friday,” she echoed, and continuing to ignore our audience, I grabbed Kyle’s carrier again, then walked out of the lobby without another word for Rya or her two co-workers.
I was too happy with finally getting a date out of her that I didn’t want to risk ruining it by opening my big mouth again.
It wasn’t until I got in my car that I finally let out a relieved sigh, and even though I made it a point to work out three-times a week, I was going to have to go extra hard these next few days if we were going to have dinner on goddamn Shrader Street.