Ryder stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed.
“I hope you don’t mind if I lay here for a bit?”
“No, not at all,” Stormy said. She was secretly glad he was making himself comfortable around her again. “Just stay on your side, buster.”
Ryder grabbed the mountain of pillows and arranged them between the two of them.
“Does that make you more comfortable?” he teased.
He laid on his side and propped his head up in his hands as he stared at her. His eyes traced the outline of her body under the covers, and the pale light from the lamp illuminated her pretty face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Stormy asked. “You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m not,” he lied. “I’m not looking at you in any certain kind of way.”
On the inside she was half-elated and half-confused. For a split second, she thought about leaning over and kissing him. It felt right in that moment, but she decided against it. If she was misreading their chemistry, she couldn’t risk having an awkward weekend the rest of her stay. She took a deep breath, tried to fight back her urges, and closed her eyes.
When she woke up, it was morning, and Ryder was sound asleep right next to her on the other side of the pillow fortress, lying on top of the covers.
CHAPTER 10
Stormy crawled off the bed as slowly and quietly as she could and tiptoed her way to Ryder’s bathroom. As soon as she got inside, she realized her suitcase was still out by the front door, where he had left it the day before. She snuck out the door and down the hall and wheeled her bag back as silently as possible, but the uneven wheels clicked loudly against the concrete floors and Ryder popped up the moment she re-entered the room.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Ryder stared at her, groggy-eyed, and leaned back down onto the pillow. He climbed under the covers and pulled them over his face as the sun shined in through a break in the curtains. Stormy wondered if he had intentionally fallen asleep next to her or if they had both just passed out at the same time. She tried not to read too much into it, but she couldn’t help it.
Ryder’s bathroom was palatial. It was probably almost the same size as his bedroom, which was easily the size of her entire trailer back in Coleville. A marble whirlpool rested in the corner while double sinks with gold faucets and limitless cabinetry lined one wall. A walk in, tiled shower was nestled into another corner of the room, and off from the shower was an entry into an enormous walk in closet with custom shelving. Everything was meticulously organized.
One thing was certain – Ryder was big time. Whatever he was doing was making him filthy rich. She wondered why, then, if his MC was so substantial what beef would they have with Jett’s small town, small time MC?
She stripped down and stepped into the tile shower. There were several different showerheads that did numerous different things, but she figured out how to turn on the rain shower head above her and made the water about as hot as she could stand. The falling water trickled down her long hair and dripped down her body. It was one of the most relaxing experiences she’d ever experienced. She couldn’t believe this was Ryder’s life. He got to live this every single day.
Stormy thought about the house she grew up in with her family. They had one shower in the house, which was tucked away in a moldy basement bathroom. She rarely used it, opting to use the bathtub on the main floor instead. Even the shower in her trailer was a plain, white acrylic tub and shower combo. This was pure, unadulterated luxury.
She grabbed a bottle of Ryder’s men’s shampoo and lathered up her hair. She loved the cedar and musk smell that filled the steamy air around her. She breathed the hot air into her lungs as she grabbed a bar of some sort of homemade-looking soap and smoothed it over her body. She was used to drugstore brand everything, but she was beginning to enjoy seeing how the other-half lived. There was something to be said about high end bath products, and she wasn’t quite sure she’d ever be able to go back to the cheap stuff.
She conditioned her hair and let it steam in the hot water before rinsing off and stepping out. She had never felt so rejuvenated and relaxed in her entire life, and for the first time, she had gone more than twenty-minutes without thinking about Jett and the downward spiral she was trying to avoid.
She stepped out and wrapped a fluffy towel around her body. The room was filled with steam, and she could hardly see where she was going at first. She felt her way towards the vanity and used her hand to wipe the mirror so she could see her reflection.