“Chace?” I demanded again, watching him close his eyes briefly before returning them to the road. Why was this drive taking so long?
“A kid, Bailey. Christina saw him playing happy families with another girl and a little boy.” I felt my heart drop and my throat tighten like I wasn’t getting any air.
“A…a…a kid?” I stuttered. No, it wasn’t possible, was it? He was only eighteen. How could he have a kid that no one knew about?
“Yeah, a baby, you know, a year or two old or something.”
“No, you’re wrong. She’s wrong. She’s making stuff up.” I tried to come up with any excuse as to why it wasn’t possible, but in all honesty, it was entirely possible. Ryder wasn’t exactly celibate.
“Think about it, Bailey. You remember he disappeared from school for a few months a couple years back. Came back an entirely different person.” That jogged my memory. Ryder wasn’t always the bad boy. He did leave and come back. I remembered all the rumours about why he’d gone, but none of them were about having a kid. Oh, this was all too confusing. I buried my head in my lap and tried to make sense of everything.
“What’s his car doing here?” Chace hissed beside me after a while. I looked up to see that we were in my driveway.
“He’s asleep,” I said as I climbed out of the car, wincing when I heard the clap of thunder. I didn’t say goodbye or thank him at all. He didn’t deserve my gratitude. As I made my way across the lawn to the door, it opened suddenly, and Ryder came charging out.
“What the hell are you doing with him, Bailey?” Ryder growled and turned to face Chace, who had now stepped out of the car. Great. Just great.
“He was just giving me a lift home, Ryder. It’s okay. Relax.” I tried to defuse the situation before it exploded.
“Relax? You shouldn’t be anywhere near him. You can’t trust him,” he yelled at me, taking a step closer to Chace.
“And she can trust you?” Chace shouted at him. “I know why you’re doing this. Why don’t you leave Bailey out of it?”
Doing what? Leave me out of what? Before I could ask what the hell Chace was talking about, Ryder’s fist connected with Chace’s cheek with a resounding crack. Chace stumbled backwards momentarily before lunging forward and knocking Ryder to the ground. I called out to them to stop, but they either ignored me or couldn’t hear me through the rain and thunder, which seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.
After about five minutes of me shouting and them rolling around in the grass trying to get in as many hits on each other as possible, I gave up and slumped down onto the ground. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I buried my head between them and let the tears fall. I had no idea what was going on anymore. There was clearly some bad history between Ryder and Chace that I was completely unaware of, and it was beginning to look like I was just a stupid pawn in their game.
I didn’t know how long they fought for or how long I sat in the rain, but I eventually felt cold fingertips running through my hair. I looked up to see Ryder’s undeniably gorgeous green eyes staring back at mine with worry.
“Bailey, you’re turning blue. You are going to get hypothermia. Come on. Let’s get you inside and warmed up.” He cupped my cheek and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“Do you have a child with another girl?” I asked without even thinking. Well, there went my plan to ease into the conversation. Oh well. It was out in the open at least.
“Bailey, come on. Let’s go inside, please. You will freeze if you stay out here any longer.” He tried to get me to stand up, but I wouldn’t move. Not until he answered my question.
“Answer the question, Ryder,” I yelled at him, tears streaming down my face once again. I was thankful for the cold rain now, because my tears just blended into icy drops biting into my skin.
“Bailey, please?” He crouched down in front of me, pleading for me to get up. “I will answer every damn question you have once I get you inside and warmed up again. Not before.”
I still didn’t move. I knew I was being childish and stubborn, but I think I had the right. It seemed as though everyone had been lying to me about one thing or another. I screamed when I felt Ryder’s cold hands grasp my waist and lift me up. He carried me into the house bridal style. I expected him to put me down once we got inside, but he didn’t. He continued up the stairs to my room, setting me down in my computer chair.
“Blankets and towels?” he asked. I looked at him, wondering why he needed them. We were inside now. It wasn’t so cold.
“Bailey! Blankets and towels! Where the hell are they?” he shouted at me. Why was he getting angry with me? I should be the one who was angry.
“C…c…cup…cupboard in in the h…h…ha…hall.” My teeth were chattering, and I could no longer feel my hands and feet. I was warmer in the rain. Ryder ran out the door and returned a minute later with his arms full of towels and blankets.
“Ah, Bailey. You’re freezing,” he whispered. He pulled me out of the chair. I was too cold to resist, so I just stood there while he removed my wet clothes and began to dry my icy skin. He wrapped a towel around my hair and led me over to the bed.
“Lie down,” he told me. I just looked at him and then at the bed. My head felt all fuzzy. Pretty sure my brain was frozen. Ryder sighed and lifted me once again, gently placing me on the bed and tucking a blanket around me. I was still so cold. I couldn’t stop shivering even though I was dry. My eyes started to feel heavy, but I had to stay awake. I needed to do something, but I couldn’t remember what.
I watched Ryder as he also removed his wet clothes so he could dry himself off. I expected him to get dressed again, but he didn’t. He climbed under the blanket behind me. He wrapped his legs through mine and put his arms around my waist.
“Uhm…” I started to say, but he stopped me by pressing a kiss to my shoulder. I could feel his naked body pressing up against me everywhere, and I slowly felt myself warming up.
“Don’t move, Bailey. You’ve got to get warm, and sharing body heat is the best way,” he whispered in my ear as he pulled the blanket tighter around us. I wondered briefly whether he only thought that because he got to lie naked with me, but I soon realised he was right. I was feeling much warmer once he was wrapped around me like a protective cocoon and soon found myself drifting off to sleep.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
The bitter smell of coffee and burnt toast woke me from my sleep. I sat up, wondering what my mother was doing downstairs. Shouldn’t she be at work? My bedroom door opened, and in walked an almost naked Ryder carrying a tray of food and drink.