Resisting Ryder(3)

“Whoa,” she said as she braced herself on the arm of the couch.

“Need help?” Ryder asked.

“No, it’s okay,” she said as she swayed her way to the kitchen. She rinsed out the wine goblets and returned to the living room where Ryder was paging through one of Jett’s old magazines that had been sitting on the coffee table.

“We loved motorcycles as kids,” he said as he paged through. “I’m the one who introduced him to the world of bikes.”

Stormy smiled. For a brief moment it felt just like Jett was sitting there, on the couch, in his favorite spot, reading his favorite magazine. For those few seconds, Jett was still there. He wasn’t dead and buried in the cold, hard ground.

“This is really awkward, but do you mind if I stay here tonight?” Ryder asked as he looked up at her with his hazel eyes. “I’ve been riding all day, and I’m exhausted. I could just pass out here on the couch if that’s okay?”

“You’re Jett’s brother. Of course it’s okay,” Stormy said as she went to grab blankets and pillows for him.

She glanced at her watch, which read nine o’clock, and decided it was probably a good time for her to retire as well. Her swollen eyes were so fatigued that she wanted nothing more than to crash for the night, but having a perfect stranger staying in her house was going to make it a little difficult.

“Here you go,” she said as she tossed him some clean linens and a fluffy pillow. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to go to bed now. It’s been a really long day.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said.

“Goodnight,” she said with a shrug as she walked back towards the bedroom.

“Stormy?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for letting me crash here tonight.”

“That’s what family does.”

Stormy locked her bedroom door the minute she got inside. She didn’t know Ryder from Adam, and although she wanted to believe his intentions were good and that he was a good guy, there was a reason Jett never told her about him. She didn’t trust him quite yet, and it was going to take some time.

As soon as she climbed into her bed and under the covers, she tossed and turned as she struggled to shut her mind off. Within minutes, however, her tired body won against her wound up mind and she was out cold.





CHAPTER 2




The moment she opened her eyes, the sun was shining and the alarm clock read a little past seven o’clock. She had hoped to sleep in that day. The more time she spent sleeping, the less time she’d spend mourning Jett. The less hours she had to spend in a world without Jett, the better.

She heard a light rapping on her door.

“Stormy?” a man’s voice called out. “You up?”

Stormy shot up, forgetting for a second that Ryder had stayed the night. She pounced out of bed and unlocked the door.

“Yes,” she said. She only opened the door a few inches, but standing next to him felt just like standing next to Jett. The top of her head lined up right at Ryder’s mouth, about like it did with Jett.

“Do you want to go out for breakfast? I’m starving. My treat,” he offered.

Stormy laughed for the first time in days. “That’s why you’re knocking on my door at seven in the morning?”

Ryder’s full lips spread into a wide smile. His teeth were perfectly straight and bright white, just like Jett’s. Stormy couldn’t help but think about kissing him. She wanted so badly to know if his kiss would feel like Jett’s. She stared at his mouth as her mind wandered, lost in thought and obsessing over the fact that she would never again get to experience Jett’s kisses in her lifetime.

“Stormy?” he interrupted her trance-like state. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she said as she shook her head. “Just thinking.”

“I probably remind you of him, huh,” Ryder stated with his hands on his hips. He ruffled his fingers through his buzzed, chocolate hair and sighed. “I’m sorry. Didn’t even think about that. Must be hard for you.”

Stormy shrugged and then nodded as she fought back another wave of teary eyes. They seemed to come and go in random intervals, and any little thing that reminded her of Jett set her off.

“Hungry?” Ryder changed the subject. “You look hungry. Let’s go. Hurry up.”

“Give me two minutes,” she said as she shut the door. She hurried and threw on black yoga pants and another baggy, old sweatshirt of Jett’s. She wrapped her hair up into a top knot and made her way to the bathroom to freshen up and slap on a hint of makeup.