Resisting Ryder(31)

Stormy didn’t want that moment to end. She didn’t want to go to bed. She didn’t want to wake up. She didn’t want to drive to the airport. She didn’t want to go back home to Coleville where her real life was waiting for her. Ryder had painted such a beautiful portrait of the life she could have if only she tried, but she wasn’t sure things would pan out the way he promised. If there was anything she had learned in her almost twenty-three years, it was that life never goes as planned.

She snuggled in closer to him as they sat in silence under the starry sky. If there was nothing going on between them, she didn’t want to know, at least not yet. She just wanted to enjoy his company and the comfort that he gave her.

“My arm’s falling asleep,” Ryder said minutes later as he gently lifted it up from around her. “Sorry.”

That blissful moment on the deck was officially over as they each sat up and repositioned themselves apart from each other on the couch.

Ryder looked at his watch. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah,” Stormy agreed. She stood up and stretched her arms out wide and stifled a yawn. She knew she had to wake up early the next morning if she wanted to make it to her flight on time. The plane was leaving LAX around nine, so she needed to get there at least by six or seven if not before.

She followed Ryder back inside, closing the sliding glass door behind them, and trekked down the hall to his room where her bags were. She pulled out her pajamas and went into his bathroom to change. When she came out, he was just sitting quietly on the edge of his bed, in the dark.

“Oh, you scared me,” she said as she jumped.

“Sorry,” he said as he turned towards her. “I was just waiting for the bathroom.”

She shuffled over towards the bed and sat down next to him. As their eyes met, she could tell he had something on his mind.

He swallowed audibly as his eyes moved down to the floor and then back up at her again. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Stormy had never seen him so out of sorts before. This was not like him at all.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she grew more and more concerned.

“I just don’t want you to leave,” he blurted.

Stormy smiled from ear to ear as her hunch was beginning to be confirmed.

“I don’t want to leave either,” she admitted.

“I really enjoy spending time with you.”

“Me too.”

His eyes shifted towards her lips as he leaned in closer to her. Within seconds, his mouth was pressed against hers and his hand was brushing against her soft cheek. She couldn’t believe it was happening. She had wanted it to happen. She had willed it to happen. She had manifested this moment, of that she was sure. At the same time, however, it didn’t feel the way she thought it would. Her feelings of excitement and bliss were instantly replaced with remorse and guilt.

His lips felt like Jett’s. That was enough to make her realize how wrong it was. It was too soon. He was Jett’s brother. She needed more time to grieve. She wasn’t ready to move on yet.

She pulled back away from him only to be met with an apologetic and embarrassed look on Ryder’s face.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. He wasted no time in getting up off the bed and walking out of the room as he closed the door behind him.

Stormy traced her lips with her fingers. They were still warm and she could still taste him. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had ruined the good thing they had going, just like that.

She climbed under the covers of Ryder’s enormous bed and concentrated on the moon that glowed in through the window. She was too tired to get out of bed and shut the curtains, so she laid there, lost in thought, waiting for her eyes to close. She replayed Ryder’s kiss in her head over and over, like a scene in a movie, and analyzed it as much as she could.

She thought about what she could say to him the next day to make it all better, to take away the sting of rejection and the awkwardness that was sure to fill the space between them. She wondered if this would be the last time she’d ever see him and it made her sad.

Stormy thought about going out to the living room where Ryder was sleeping and kissing him back just to prove to him that it wasn’t that she didn’t like him. She didn’t want him to feel like he’d done anything wrong, even if she felt that way about herself.

Before she had a chance to give it anymore thought, exhaustion had overtaken her and she found herself passed out. By the time she opened her eyes again, the moon outside the window had been replaced with the sun which was starting to rise bright and high in the sky.

She popped out of bed and hurried into Ryder’s bathroom to get ready. She wanted to make herself look as good as possible, as if that would stifle any of the awkwardness that was bound to go on that morning. If anything, she just wanted to leave him with a good picture of her in his head, though she wasn’t sure why it mattered.