“So when did you get back?” my mother enquired as we followed her into the kitchen. I tried to suppress a cough and ended up choking, a blush creeping onto my cheeks again. I couldn’t answer the question.
“You okay, love?” Ryder whispered in my ear, lips brushing against my neck as he soothingly rubbed my back. I shivered and felt him smile.
“Yep, all right,” I said quickly. “Just need some water.”
I jumped up from my stool, avoiding the strange look my mother was shooting in my direction, and filled a glass of water.
“So, you were telling me when you got home,” my mother said when I sat back down on the stool next to Ryder. I took another mouthful of water to prolong the inevitable and choked on that too. Would she believe that he surprised me at prom, left me at Indie’s for the night, and then picked me up this morning instead of me knocking on Indie’s door at seven a.m. after sleeping in Ryder’s car all night in the sticks and demanding clothes to wear for the day?
“Bailey, are you sure you’re all right? You look very flustered,” my mother asked, concern etching her face. She reached a hand across the counter and felt my head for a fever. I swatted her away and leant back.
“I’m all right.” I smiled at her and risked a glance at Ryder, who had a massive smirk on his face. He leant forward and rested an elbow on the counter top, his other hand wrapping around my back.
“Got back last night. Surprised Bailey at the dance.” Damn it! He admitted the truth.
“Uh-huh.” My mother gave me a look. I just tried to smile and pretend I hadn’t done anything wrong. “I thought Bailey was staying with Indie last night.”
“I did.” I answered too fast. Her eyebrows shot up, and she looked at Ryder.
“She did. I picked her up for breakfast, and we just spent the day together.” Lying came so easily to him. He could charm the pants off the queen. The real queen, not the prom queen…well, me too. “We were just driving and talking, catching up. Time kinda got away from us for a little bit there.” Ryder continued with such ease I briefly wondered how many times he had been in this situation previously but quickly shook that thought from my head. It would only depress me.
Ryder shifted in his stool and angled his body toward me slightly. I jumped when I felt his hand slip under my shirt and begin tracing patterns on my lower back. I wriggled forward trying to get him to stop, but he didn’t. I could see a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. He was enjoying this way too much.
“Oh well, that’s good. Glad you got to spend some quality time together. Bailey, dear, are you really sure you’re all right?” my mother asked again while Ryder’s fingers slowly moved higher up my back. My cheeks were burning hotter than ever before.
“You look a little hot.” She tilted her head to the side and examined my face carefully. I tried to keep it impassive, but it was kind of hard when I had one of Ryder’s hands tickling up my back toward my bra strap and the other hand now massaging my thigh. I was just thankful that my mother couldn’t see Ryder’s hands for the huge breakfast bar.
“You’re right. I do feel a little warm,” I admitted and used that as an excuse to stand up and take off my jacket. Ryder wouldn’t be able to touch me then because it would be much more noticeable without the coverage of my coat. I slowly shrugged my jacket off and placed it on the counter in front of me before sitting back down again.
“Better?” Ryder asked.
“Much.” I smiled at him and leant forward to watch my mother prepare dinner. Ryder’s hands were fidgeting in his lap now. I tried not to giggle at him. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and pulled his lip ring into his mouth—something that had suddenly become a thousand times hotter than before.
“Bailey, please tell me you didn’t wear your shirt inside out all day today, did you?” My mother’s voice tore my gaze from Ryder’s soft pink lips. I glanced down at my shirt, and sure enough, it was inside out. Shoot. I’d dressed in such a hurry at Indie’s that I hadn’t noticed.
“Uhm, well…” I looked at Ryder with wide eyes when I heard his sharp intake of breath and a choking noise coming from him. I shoved my glass of water in his direction and glared at him for a moment while he tried to compose himself. He failed and ended up laughing, which he then attempted to cover with another cough.
“You two are acting very strange.” My mother’s eyes darted between the two of us. Uh-oh. “Bailey, why is your top inside out?”
“Ah. I dressed in the dark…” I said quickly, hoping she would believe me. I was a terrible liar.
“Hmmm,” she responded before she turned back to the vegetables she was preparing.
Ryder had finally calmed down. He pulled his phone out of his pocket when it beeped with a text message. A frown appeared on his face as he quickly typed out a response.
“Everything okay?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“Uhm, no.” With his eyebrows pulled together, he grabbed my hand in his and apologised. “I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.” He stood up and apologised to my mother for bailing on dinner and headed toward the door with me following.
“Can I help with anything?” I asked when we reached his car. The look on his face worried me. He looked sad and pissed off at the same time.
“No. It’s just stuff I was dealing with while I was away.” I felt his lips press on my forehead. Something was off. “I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
“I thought you’d dealt with everything,” I blurted out as he began to get in the car, stopping him midway. That was why he’d come back. He said he’d sorted everything out, yet now he was telling me there was more he had to deal with. Why him? Why now?
“Not enough. I can’t explain now. But I will soon. I swear.” I nodded, knowing I wouldn’t get any more of an explanation from him then, and turned around to walk back inside, wondering what was going through his mind. I had so many questions and couldn’t ask them because I knew he wouldn’t tell me.
Why was he so reluctant to tell me what was going on? Was it because he didn’t trust me? Was it that I didn’t mean anything to him? Was he worried whatever it was would hurt me? Had he done something he knew would hurt me and he was trying to keep it quiet?
“Bailey,” Ryder called out to me when I reached the first step. I slowly turned to face him. He ran the four steps it took to close the distance between us and grabbed my face in his hands before slamming his mouth on mine. It took me a second to respond, but when I finally did, I felt both his body and mine relax into each other. My hands gripped at his shirt, trying to pull him closer. One of his hands trailed down my back while the other fisted into my hair, tugging slightly. When Ryder pulled away, we were both breathless. My heart was beating erratically. I rested my forehead against his and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his arms around me.
“I really did miss you, you know?” he whispered. “The last two months have been hell.”