Quicksilver Dreams(169)

                “I’ll get you one.” I went to the fridge and opened it, finding it full of all kinds of food fixings, which seemed to be mocking me. There was enough food to make several meals for multiple people. Grabbing a water bottle from the side door, I set it on the table next to Sy and took a seat across from him, awkwardly silent, not knowing what to do with myself.

                “Thanks.” He took a deep swallow.

                The table itself was rustic looking, made of some kind of distressed wood, and my fingers lightly traced the nooks and crevices. Shit, shit, shit. The food I’d just eaten was now sitting heavily at the bottom of my stomach. I could feel it burning a hole in my gut. And the silence was starting to get on my nerves. I tried to think of something to say, some light conversation that would keep my mind occupied.

                “So how long have you known Ryder?”

                “About ten, twelve years. Since he saved my ass from a beating I didn’t deserve.”

                “What happened?”

                “When I was about twenty, a dumb girl was trying to make her boyfriend jealous and came on to me. I didn’t realize she was playing me until I found myself surrounded by three guys who were drunk and wanting to beat my face in. Ryder, who wasn’t much older than I was at the time, had seen the whole thing. He tried to talk the guys down, but they weren’t having it. They threw the first punch, but then Ryder and I cleaned up.”

                I thought about the guy at the club who’d tried to make a grab for my ass. “I’ve seen him take someone out before. He can be ruthless.”

                “Ryder’s a good guy to have on your side. He’s a guy who doesn’t put up with bullshit. Never has.”

                I nodded, seeing the truth of those words.

                “Listen, Taylor.” Sy grabbed one of the napkins from the takeout bag and ran it over his mouth. “Ryder’s intense, and he can maybe seem overwhelming, but he’s the best guy I know. He’s real. What you see is what you get, and he’s loyal to a fault. He lives his beliefs, and just so you know, he’s not a big ladies’ man who goes out trolling for women. He doesn’t ever bring women back here. You’re the first.”

                “What does that mean?” I asked, taking a deep breath. Hearing Sy defend him was helping calm the churning, emotional roller coaster my brain was taking me on.

                “I don’t know. What do you think it means?” He challenged me with a firm, unrelenting stare.

                “I don’t know! I know he’s had me under surveillance for a while.”

                “Six months.”

                “You were in on this investigation too?”

                “From the beginning, until he decided to make a move to get closer to you, and he needed to be more covert.”

                “Sy, a lot’s gone down that you don’t know about.” A lot I didn’t want to have to talk about just yet. “I know this doesn’t really mean anything to him in a personal way. He’s just worried about me. He wants to catch Frank and whoever is helping Frank with this mylunate terrorism.”

                “So you don’t have any feelings for him?”

                “I’m not saying that...” I looked down at my hands, surprised to find them nervously shredding a napkin. Memories of the passion we’d shared on Te’re rose to mind, and I remembered riding him, panting and moaning at the same time that my entire body was strung with need and hunger. I came apart to the sound of him shouting his pleasure, our bodies slick with sweat, heat and triumph.