“I did,” he admitted. “I know you’d been a little depressed. And after I kissed you that night, I was worried I pushed you away.”
“No, you did nothing wrong,” she swore. “I’ve just been taking some time for myself. Trying to figure things out. Trying to move forward. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Well when someone ignores my calls, I tend to think it does have something to do with me,” Ryder said. He seemed annoyed, not to mention a little hurt. “What was I supposed to think, Stormy?”
She scratched her head as she tried to make sense of why he would be so hurt. They really barely knew each other. It’s not like they were best friends. They spent a few days together and everything was fine. She didn’t think ignoring his calls would drive him to fly all the way out to Coleville, Kansas to check on her.
“You want to come inside?” she said as she nodded towards the door.
She crossed her arms as she walked towards the house and Ryder followed her in. She kicked off her heels, which instantly lowered her by several inches, and stood in the entry way waiting for Ryder to say something or make some sort of move.
“So as you can see, everything’s fine here,” she said with a nervous laugh and then patted her belly. “I’m even eating again.”
Ryder smiled, but she could see something was not right behind those hazel eyes of his. She could tell he wasn’t himself.
“You okay?” she asked as she reached across and rubbed his arm. “You seem different tonight.”
He ran his fingers through his chocolate brown hair, messing it up, and sighed heavily.
“What the fuck am I doing here?” he muttered to himself.
“Excuse me?” Stormy asked.
“This was a bad idea,” he muttered again.
“What are you talking about? Why are you being so weird?” Stormy took a step back. “You’re really kind of freaking me out right now.”
She racked her mind trying to figure out what was behind Ryder’s bizarre behavior. She thought back to her days in nursing school during her psych rounds and decided she should calm him down. From the looks of it, he was about to have some sort of nervous breakdown. Maybe that was the reason Jett never told her about him? Maybe he wasn’t mentally stable? She found that a little hard to believe given how normal he’d seemed during their days together, but if she had learned anything in the recent months, it was that she knew nothing.
Stormy reached for his hand and led him into the living room where they sat side by side. Her couch was getting a lot of company lately.
“Talk to me,” she pleaded as she stared into his gorgeous eyes. She took his hand in hers and held it in her lap.
“I can’t get you out of my head,” he said as his eyes locked into hers. “Ever since I met you, you’re all I think about. When you came out to L.A., I couldn’t believe it. I shouldn’t have kissed you when I did, but I just had to. I’d been dying to kiss you that entire weekend.”
Stormy blushed and looked away, secretly happy that she wasn’t just imagining the magnetism between them that weekend.
“When you left and then I didn’t hear from you,” he said as he gulped. “And you didn’t return my calls or texts, it just made me even crazier.”
“I-I had no idea you felt this way about me,” she said, half lying. “I don’t know what to say.”
Ryder seemed crushed. “I’ve been struggling with these feelings towards you for weeks. You’re my dead brother’s widow. It just seems so fucked up. I tried to deny them. I tried to talk myself out of them.”
On the inside, Stormy wanted to tell him how she had felt the exact same way, but she said nothing.
“Damn it, Stormy,” he said. “You’re this broken little bird, and I just want to take care of you. And you’re so freaking beautiful.”
Stormy laughed and shook her head. “I wouldn’t say I’m beautiful. Broken maybe. Not beautiful.”
“But you are!” he said, almost shouting it. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
“Okay, now I know you’re lying. I’ve seen the women who live near you. I don’t even hold a flame to them,” Stormy said.
“No, you don’t understand. Those women are vapid and shallow. Their exterior beauty is all they have,” he explained. “They hear my title and they’re all over me. I don’t want that. You are the whole package. Inside and out. You’re the most normal girl I’ve ever met, and I mean that in the best way. You’re a breath of fresh air.”