Resisting Ryder(68)
“Do you know how confusing this is for me?” she asked him. “I was falling so hard for you, and in the blink of an eye I realized it wasn’t fair to Jett, and I couldn’t be put in that kind of danger ever again. Jett never put me in any kind of danger.”
“You did know me, Stormy,” he said. “I never would have jeopardized your safety. That night with Zander was perfectly planned out. I knew the guys were right outside the door the entire time. Zander’s too much of a pussy to do anything to you in front of me anyway. I had you. I was right there.”
“You should go,” she said as she fought back tears as she remembered the trauma of that night. “I’m sorry, Ryder.”
He stood up slowly and rubbed his hands along his strong jawline as he tilted his head back and took a deep breath. He said nothing as he walked out.
She heard Ryder and Zander exchange a few words out in the living room and then she listened as the front door opened and closed. She peeked out her third floor window as she watched him walk to a rental car in the parking lot and drive off. He was gone. Just like that. And Stormy immediately regretted it.
She slammed her bedroom door and threw herself onto her bed, sobbing her heart out into a stack of pillows.
If she made the right decision, she wondered, why did it hurt so bad?
CHAPTER 25
Stormy had made up her mind. She was going to give Ryder another shot. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering what would have happened if she would have believed him.
He didn’t have to take care of her. He didn’t have to confess his love to her. He didn’t have to fly out to check on her or to beg for her forgiveness, but he did. He did all of those things not knowing how she would react, and she reacted in the worst way possible. He didn’t deserve that.
She still had his condo key on her keychain. She could easily fly out there and surprise him. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought of seeing the expression on his face when she would show up at his place. She imagined the big bear hug she would receive and the endless, tender Ryder kisses coming her way.
She packed her bags and found a flight for the following day. She wouldn’t land until late Monday, but that was okay. She was positive he’d be at home doing nothing on a Monday night anyway.
Stormy dolled herself up Monday afternoon. She air dried her thick, curly, brown hair and took her time applying makeup. She shaved her legs and spritzed on some perfume, even though it was going to be many, long hours before she’d see him again. She was obsessed about reuniting with him. She thought about nothing else.
As she traveled down the interstate towards the airport an hour later, she rolled her windows down and blasted her favorite mixed C.D. She couldn’t have wiped the smile off her face if she tried.
She checked in at the airport, made it through security, and found her gate. She boarded the plane with the other passengers and let several people go ahead of her simply because she was in an amazing mood that nothing on earth could shatter. She hadn’t felt so happy in weeks.
As the engines started up and the plane taxied to the runway, her heart felt warm and full. She knew she was headed in the right direction. She knew she was making the right choice. Every time she listened to her head, it pulled her way from love. Whenever she listened to her heart, it pointed her directly back towards it.
She tried to read some magazines during the flight, but her mind would only focus on Ryder. She imagined his lips, his hair, his eyes, his strong, tatted arms. She wanted him so bad, and she missed him so much it hurt. She checked her watch every ten or fifteen minutes as time seemed to stand still as they flew through the air.
They landed at LAX around ten that night, and she wasted no time hailing a cab and hightailing it to Ryder’s condo. The city lights and swaying palm trees seemed to envelope her, welcoming her back home. She missed the city more than she ever thought possible, but she wondered if it was more because Ryder felt like home to her than anything else.
She decided to trust and believe that he would leave Hellfire as soon as he could. She knew there were repercussions for leaving the club, and he had to be careful about it. She couldn’t expect him just to say he quit and walk away. She was naïve to think it worked that way in the first place.
She thought about what she wanted to tell him when she first saw him. She imagined jumping into his arms. She thought about smothering his gorgeous face with a million kisses and telling him, for the very first time, that she loved him.
The taxi dropped her off in front of Ryder’s building and pulled her luggage from the trunk. She thanked him and paid as she grabbed her keys and made her way inside. Her heart was beating a million beats a minute. She wanted to run as fast as she could, but she didn’t want to be all out of breath or disheveled for their sweet reunion . She walked as fast as her little feet would take her as her suitcase with the loose wheel clicked rhythmically behind her.