Resisting Ryder(12)

“That was low.”

“Do me a favor,” Stormy said as she turned to face him. “Don’t ever make another assumption about me again. Ever.”

“Well this day’s gone to shit,” Ryder said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

The two sat in complete silence as Ryder climbed back on the bike and continued riding around. A million thoughts circled Stormy’s mind as she tried to gauge Ryder’s intentions. At first she loved how comfortable and genuine he was with her. She loved that he had Jett’s smile and his same eyes and matching hair. She loved that he seemed to want to take care of her, but the minute he brought up anything about Jett’s money, everything she liked about him went out the window.

For all Stormy knew, Misty had recruited Ryder to spy on her, to peek into her life and see exactly what kind of person she was. Maybe Misty wanted to know how much money Stormy was worth now that Jett had died. She was always trying to get her hands on whatever she could. Misty had always insisted that Stormy was only ever after Jett’s money, and who better to get on the inside than Jett’s doppelganger brother?

“Look,” Ryder said as he broke the silence. “I’m really sorry. I really am.”

Stormy wanted to believe him but she just couldn’t. Her heart was still too raw from that week’s events.

“Maybe we should head back to my place,” she said in his ear. She wasn’t feeling the ride anymore. She knew she was being overly sensitive, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry, Stormy,” Ryder said the moment they got back to Stormy’s. “Please forgive me?”

She glanced over at his face and he truly looked apologetic. He held his hand across his heart as his eyes pleaded for her forgiveness.

“I’m sorry too,” Stormy sighed. “Please don’t ever bring up Jett’s money around me ever again.”

“Got it.”

It was not quite lunchtime, and Stormy just wanted to lay down for a bit.

“Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen,” she said, though she really didn’t need to tell him to make himself at home at this point. “I’m going to take a nap.”

“It’s, like, 10:30,” he said. “You’ve only been up a couple hours. You’re really going to take a nap?”

Stormy nodded and trekked back towards her bedroom. She buried herself beneath the covers for the millionth time that week and sunk her head into the thick, feather pillows. For the first time all week, her mind was blank. She wasn’t thinking about Jett, and she wasn’t trying to figure out Ryder. She didn’t know what to think about anything anymore. She was tired of thinking. Her mind was exhausted, and she just wanted to sleep.





CHAPTER 5




When Stormy awoke from her nap, her alarm read four o’clock. She’d slept for over five hours. All that time, just gone. She felt bad for leaving Ryder alone all afternoon. She didn’t intend to sleep for that long, but her body must have needed it.

She left her warm bed and headed out to the living room to see what Ryder was up to.

“She’s up¸” Ryder declared when she walked in the room. “I was starting to get a little worried about you.”

She took a seat on the far end of the couch and wrapped herself in the fuzzy, sky blue blanket that was thrown across the back of it. She was still a little groggy from her nap, but she was going to force herself to be sociable.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to sleep the day away.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “You obviously needed it. What do you want to do now? I need to be in bed by eight tonight. I’m leaving at five tomorrow morning.”

“It’s a Friday night in Coleville,” she said. “All there is to do is go out for drinks or rent movies. That’s about it.”

“I’m not a big drinker,” he said. “Shocking for a guy like me, huh.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that Wednesday night when you chugged that glass of wine I gave you,” she teased.

“Let’s watch a movie,” he suggested. “I’m fine with that. What do you have?”

Stormy pointed to a cabinet in the back of the living room with a massive slew of DVDs. Jett was an avid movie enthusiast.

“DVDs are in there. Pick what you want,” she said. She stood up and headed to the kitchen to pop some popcorn. She was still a little ticked about their conversation earlier, but she was grateful for his low-key, low-maintenance company.

She came back with two bowls of popcorn and two cans of soda.

“Sorry I don’t have any candy,” she said as she sat everything on the coffee table.