Resisting Ryder(19)

“I’m still trying to figure everything out,” Stormy said as she kept her thoughts about Ryder to herself. “I’m thinking of going out to California to visit him. I want to get to know him a little better. He’s all that’s left of Jett.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” her mom scoffed. “That’s absurd. Don’t do that.”

“So I shouldn’t go visit my dead husband’s brother? Is that against some sort of widow guidelines that I don’t know about?”

“I didn’t say that,” her mom rolled her eyes. “I just think it’s weird. You don’t know this guy. Jett didn’t want you to know he even existed. There’s got to be a reason.”

For the very first time, it occurred to Stormy that maybe, just maybe, Jett was afraid she would want to be with his strong, older, lookalike brother instead of him. Perhaps that was why he didn’t want her to know he existed. He was afraid he’d lose her. Maybe Ryder wasn’t a bad person after all, he was simply competition in Jett’s eyes.

Stormy’s face lit up as she came to that revelation. Everything was starting to make perfect sense to her now.

She smiled as she refused to believe it could possibly be any other scenario. This was the only thing that made sense to her, and it was the only thing she wanted to believe.





CHAPTER 7




Stormy’s fingers drummed nervously against the top of her kitchen table as she sat and stared at her phone. She wanted to reach out to Ryder, but she didn’t have a good reason. She simply wanted to hear his voice. The voice that sounded so much like Jett’s, the voice that soothed her when she was in a bottomless pit of grief and mourning, and the voice that could somehow make her day instantly ten times brighter.

Don’t be silly, she scolded herself. This is beyond inappropriate. The timing is all wrong. You’re going to make yourself seem like a desperate idiot. You have no place looking to get into a relationship with anybody right now.

Patience was never a virtue of hers and she impulsively grabbed her phone and called him before she had a chance to talk herself out of it again.

“Hello?” she heard his voice say on the other end. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her ears and her face immediately flushed.

“Ryder?” her voice squeaked. Her attempt to sound casual had failed miserably.

“Hello?” he yelled into the phone. Judging by the sheer loudness in the background he was at some sort of bar.

“Who is that?” Stormy heard a woman’s voice say in the background. She sounded like she was sitting right next to him.

“Stormy?” he yelled. “I can’t hear you.”

This was a huge mistake, she told herself. She was absolutely mortified. He was clearly settled into his old routine back home in California and everything was back to business as usual. It was a Saturday night. Why would he not be out on a date with some gorgeous girl? She hung up the phone and slammed it down on the table before burying her face in her hands.

A minute later her phone began to ring. It was Ryder. Her heart raced again, and her palms were sweaty as she took a deep breath and answered it.

“Hello?” She said in her sweetest, most innocent tone.

“Stormy,” Ryder said. It was much quieter where he was now. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

She wasn’t prepared for that question. She just wanted to hear his voice. She hadn’t thought beyond that.

“Yeah,” she said. “I just – “

“You had me worried there for a second,” he said as he sighed into the receiver.

“If you’re busy, we can talk another time,” Stormy offered.

“I’m out right now, but if you need me, I’m here,” he said. “Stormy, are you okay?”

“I just felt bad that I didn’t get to say bye to you last weekend,” she half-lied. It seemed like a legitimate reason for calling him. “I really enjoyed your company during those days. Thank you for that.”

“Oh, is that all you wanted?” Ryder laughed. “Listen, kid. I’m out right now, but why don’t I give you a call a little later?”

“Sure. If you want to that is,” she said.

“If I don’t call you tonight, I promise I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said. “If anything comes up, and I mean anything, don’t hesitate to call me again.”

“Thanks, Ryder.” Stormy hung up. Still mortified and hope fading fast, she couldn’t help but imagine him walking back to the bar and hopping back on his barstool with that redheaded vixen, Veronica.

She hated herself for making her weekend with Ryder into something it wasn’t. Ryder was just checking on her and making sure she was okay. She was attracted to him, sure, probably because he looked exactly like Jett, but looking back, she didn’t get any kind of vibes back from him. He probably just thought of her as a naïve, kid sister. He did call her “kid” after all.