Resisting Ryder(36)

The next morning she awoke in her bed, only something was different. She rolled over and saw Hayden lying sound asleep next to her. She sat up, startled, as bits and pieces from the night before played through her head.

What have I done? She asked herself. What was I thinking?

Seeing another man lying in Jett’s place was just too much for her, and she couldn’t keep herself from instantly sobbing.

“What? What?” Hayden popped up, suddenly wide awake. He reached his arm over and grabbed hers. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Stormy was inconsolable. She couldn’t stop hyperventilating long enough to tell him what was wrong, but she had a feeling it didn’t matter to him. He got what he wanted from her. He won the battle the night before.

“Stormy!” he yelled. “What’s wrong? Talk to me!”

He reached both arms around her and pulled her into him, holding her in his strong arms and rubbing her back.

“You’re okay,” he whispered into her ear. “You’re going to be okay.”

She calmed down long enough to catch her breath and wipe her face clean with her sleeve.

“I feel so guilty,” she huffed.

“Guilty?” Hayden questioned. He looked confused. “You’re not married anymore. You’re a single woman.”

Stormy glared at him.

“Poor choice of words. Sorry,” he said as he looked down. “I just mean, it’s not like you cheated on Jett or anything. I’m sure it’s weird having another guy sleeping in your and Jett’s bed. Believe me, it’s weird for me too. You insisted I stay last night, remember? You said you didn’t want to be alone.”

“I did?” she questioned. She was beginning to remember less and less of the night before.

“Mm, hm,” he said as he nodded. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll take off now. I don’t want to upset you any more than I already have.”

He climbed out of bed and slipped on his jeans that were laying in a heap on the floor. He pulled his shirt over his head, leaned down, and kissed her softly on the forehead.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” he said as he tossed an envelope onto the bed next to her. He must have had it in his pocket all night. He turned and walked out the door and down the hall. Stormy waited until she heard the front door open and close before tearing into the envelope.

She was expecting a letter, a birthday card, something typical, but it was a little rose gold ring with tiny white diamonds around it. It was the promise ring he’d given her in high school. It was the same ring she had tossed in his face the night he’d broken up with her before he moved away to college. She had thrown it at him in his Jeep and was sure it was lost or stuck between some crevice, never to be seen again, but he’d found it. He must have searched his car high and low to find that tiny little thing, and he’d kept it safe for the past five years.

Maybe he was really coming around? She thought to herself. Maybe he deserved another chance?





CHAPTER 14




Stormy spent the rest of her birthday trying to make excuses for her late night hook up with Hayden. Her once hardened heart was beginning to form a soft spot for him, and the possibility of moving forward with him was back on the table. She wouldn’t tell him that though. She wanted him to work for her.

At the same time, she couldn’t understand why Ryder kept popping into her head. She hadn’t talked to him in two weeks and although she had fun with him, she had convinced herself that her attraction to him was simply because he was the living, breathing, successful and independent version of the man she had loved more than anything in the world. Never mind that he made her feel like a million bucks. Forget that he made her smile. It didn’t matter that he made her laugh, even though Hayden could do none of those things.

Hayden was safe and familiar. Ryder was new and exciting, and in Stormy’s book that equaled scary. Hayden was the easy choice for her. When the time was right and she was ready to move on, she imagined she’d move on with him.

Brooklyn called her around noon that day to sing her an awful rendition of “Happy Birthday” that sounded more like a bunch of feral cats fighting in an alley. She also reminded her that they had plans to go out that night for a couple drinks to celebrate her birthday. Stormy wasn’t in the mood to go out, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. Brooklyn would show up at her door and drag her kicking and screaming all the way to O’Malley’s if she had to.

For the first time in a long time, O’Malley’s was dead. The music that boomed from the speakers played to a dead audience. There were maybe five people in the entire bar, not counting Stormy and Brooklyn.