by E. L. Todd
“That’s how I would like it if I were a dog,” Ryker said. “I’d want a buddy.”
I wasn’t sure how to get his phone from him. If he went to the bathroom, he’d probably keep his phone in his pocket. I’d have to get his phone on the table before he walked away. “What’s new with you?”
“Nothing really,” he answered. “I’m waiting for Austen to make up her mind. She’s still seeing Nathan…and I keep pretending to be okay with it.”
“There’s no way she can choose him over you.” She would be stupid to pick a cheating asshole over one of the most amazing men in the world.
He shrugged. “She’s been dating him for nearly three weeks now. She’s obviously seriously considering him.”
Not after I spoke to her. “Can I see her picture again?” It was a lame excuse, but Ryker might go for it.
“You forgot what she looks like?” he asked as he pulled his phone out.
“No. Just want to see her again, that’s all.” I tried to act normal even though that was difficult. If I had a trick up my sleeve, I wasn’t very good at hiding it.
Ryker pulled up a different picture and slid the phone toward me. “I took that when I made dinner the other night. I liked the way she looked in that dress.”
I gave Rex a meaningful look before I stared at the picture. It was a candid photo. She was standing in front of the window in the main room, and she just turned around to look at him. He caught her at the perfect moment, partially candid and partially staged. She was definitely beautiful.
Kayden discreetly swatted Rex’s hand on the table.
He set his beer down in a hurry, and spilled some across the table. “Dude, let’s hit the restroom. I’ve gotta take a leak.”
Ryker stared at him with a raised eyebrow, like he wasn’t sure if Rex was talking to him.
“Yeah, me too.” Zeke stood up too, probably trying to help in whatever way he could. “You coming, Ryker?”
Ryker glanced at both of them. “Uh, I’m good. Don’t need to pee. But thanks for the concern…” He turned back to his phone and changed the picture. “Here’s another one I got of her.”
Rex looked at Zeke and shrugged. Zeke rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out what to do.
Rex tried again. “Dude, you know it’s bad to hold your pee. Not good for the bladder and stuff.”
“What?” Ryker asked. “That’s not true.”
“Yeah, it is,” Zeke lied. “You’ve never heard that?”
Good thing Zeke was a doctor.
“But I’m not holding it,” Ryker said. “I just—”
“Just come to the bathroom with us,” Rex snapped. “This is New York City. I’m a little scared to move around alone, alright? Thanks for putting me on the spot.”
“Isn’t Zeke going with you?” Ryker asked.
“But he’s a doctor,” Rex said. “He might be able to save my life if I get in a bad fight. But he’s not good backup, you know?”
This was the stupidest conversation I’d ever heard.
Ryker finally gave up. “Fine, I’ll come with you.” Ryker left the table and walked away with the guys.
The second his back was turned, I snatched his phone.
“There’s no way Ryker believed any of that,” Kayden said. “Only an idiot would.”
“I could tell the only reason why Ryker left was to get them to shut up. But whatever, it worked.” I hit the home button, and the screen lit up.
But there was a passcode.
God fucking dammit. “Shit.”
“Maybe it’s his birthday?”
I typed it in the numbers, but that didn’t work. “I hate Ryker so much right now.”
“Maybe it’s something simple, like 1,2,3,4.”
That didn’t work either. “No…”
“Didn’t his dad pass away? Maybe it’s his birthday.”
“I have no idea when his dad’s birthday is.”
“Then we’re shit out of luck,” Kayden said.
I stared at the numbers on the screen and knew I would never break into his phone. But by a stroke of luck, Austen texted him.
You wanna get breakfast tomorrow?
“She texted him.”
Kayden leaned over and looked at the screen. “Perfect. Say you’ll meet her.”
“What?”
“Yeah. That way we can show up instead and talk to her.”
Actually, that was perfect. I texted her back. Yeah, when and where?
How about Cindy’s Diner?
That works for me. See you then, baby.
Baby?
“Shit, he must not call her that.”
“Think,” Kayden said. “Didn’t he call you sweetheart all the time?”
“That’s true.” I’ll see you in the morning, sweetheart.
K.
“Phew, that was close.” I used baby because that’s what Zeke called me all the time.
“Should you erase the messages?”
“I can’t erase them without erasing all of the messages. And that will be really obvious.”
“What if she texts him and cancels?”
“Then we’re screwed. Hopefully, she won’t.” I turned off the screen and returned the phone to where it was. “He knows she has plans tonight, so I doubt he’ll text her.”
“Let’s hope not. Otherwise our plan is totally ruined.”
“Maybe you should just go on your own,” Zeke said. “It’s a bit of a difficult conversation.”
“He might be right,” Kayden said. “She might feel bombarded with four people ganging up on her.”
“We aren’t ganging up on her,” I said. “We’re just talking. And I think if she sees me with Zeke, I’ll be less threatening to her. I’ve moved on, and I’m obviously happy. There’s no possibility of Ryker and I getting back together. And if we go as a group, she’ll see that we’re all friends. It might make her more comfortable.”
Zeke exchanged a look with Rex then shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. But I’d be pretty freaked out if a group of four strangers sat at my table and talked to me like they knew me when we’ve never met.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” From the way Ryker described her, she seemed like a tough cookie. It would take a lot more than the four of us to scare her.
“I hope this works,” Zeke said. “Otherwise, you might just make things worse for Ryker.”
That was something I hadn’t anticipated.
Zeke watched me with his typical handsome gaze, waiting for me to think this through.
“But I know if I do nothing, I’m definitely not helping him. I have to at least try.”
Zeke knew I’d made my decision, so he didn’t try to talk me out of it anymore. “Alright, let’s do this thing.”
We met Rex and Kayden in the hallway. They were bickering back and forth.
“We don’t have time to do both,” Kayden said. “Pick one. Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.”
“We can totally do both,” Rex argued.
“We’re leaving tomorrow.”
“We’ll stop by before we head to the airport,” he said.
“It’s gonna be a zoo,” Kayden argued. “It’s not like swinging by the grocery store and picking up a few things.”
“So we flew all the way here and didn’t get to see anything?” Rex asked incredulously.
“We got to see Ryker,” Kayden reminded him.
He gave her a stoic stare before he rolled his eyes. “Yeah…that made it all worthwhile.”
If I didn’t interrupt them, this was going to go on forever. “Guys, we’re meeting Austen for breakfast. We all need to be on our best behavior.” Kayden and Zeke were fine. I was only referring to one person without singling him out.
“Best behavior?” Rex asked. “Are we children?”
I stared him down. “Some of us are.”
“Oh, that’s how it is?” he challenged. “I come all the way here to help you and you—”
“You
came here for a free vacation,” I countered. “The sooner we talk to Austen, the sooner we’re free to do whatever we want.”
“Don’t you think Ryker is gonna be angry about this?” Zeke asked.
“Not if we get them together,” I said. “He’ll thank us on his hands and knees. So, are we ready to do this?”
“I’m in,” Zeke said. “Operation Cupid.” He put his hand in the center of the circle.
Rex did the same thing and rested his hand on Zeke’s. “Operation Cupid.”
Kayden crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the two men. “It looks like you guys are holding hands. It’s cute.”
“Eww.” Rex quickly yanked his hand away. “We were doing a team huddle. We weren’t holding hands.”
“It looked like you were holding hands,” Kayden said. “And it looked like you liked it too.”
Zeke shrugged. “You caught me. I’m only dating Rae to get closer to him.”
Rex officially had enough. “Okay, this is starting to freak me out. Let’s get this shit taken care of so we can get home.”
“No more Statue of Liberty?” Kayden asked with a laugh.
Rex kept walking. “Let’s just stop by Mega Shake, and I’ll be happy.”
The four of us walked into the diner and looked around.
“Where is she?” Rex asked.
I looked to the left side of the restaurant but didn’t spot her anywhere. “Maybe she’s not here yet.”
Zeke looked to the right. “I think she’s over there. Dark hair, right?”
She was sitting near the back of the restaurant with dark hair that was in loose curls. She was looking down at her phone with a steaming mug of coffee next to her. “Yeah, that’s her.”
“Hopefully, she’s not texting Ryker,” Rex said. “That would be bad for all of us.”
I led the charge and walked to her table, knowing she was going to be alarmed when I first sat down. She kept looking at her phone as she drank her coffee, oblivious to the ambush coming her way.
I slid into the opposite side of the booth and felt her eyes shift to my face. The rest of the gang scooted in beside me, squeezing into the cramped space.
Austen looked at all of us, her eyebrows raised and her fingers still wrapped around the handle of her coffee mug. “Uh…do I know you?”
“No,” Rex said. “But everything will make sense in just a few seconds. Rae?” He turned to me, giving me the stage to make my case.
Her eyes turned back to me. “Rae? As in…Ryker’s Rae?”
I hoped that reference wouldn’t piss off Zeke. His jealousy had vanished, but it wouldn’t take much to stir it up again. “Yeah, I guess.” Now that I was face to face with her, I was nervous. All I wanted was for Ryker to have what I had. I wanted him to be happy, to get married and have lots of kids with a special woman. I wanted him to have what I had with Zeke, a partner that would always look after him. “Ryker doesn’t know I’m here. I took his phone last night and texted you.”
“Oh…” Her gaze shifted to everyone else before she turned back to me. “Okay…I still don’t understand.”
“Well, let me begin by introducing Zeke.” I pointed to him right beside me. “He’s my boyfriend. We’ve been together for a while, and we’re really happy together.” I pointed at Rex. “That’s my brother, Rex.”
Rex waved. “Yes, it’s true. We’re somehow related.”
I pointed to Kayden. “And that’s Rex’s girlfriend, Kayden. She’s also my friend.”
“Uh, hi.” Austen gave an awkward wave. “I guess you all know who I am. So, why did you want to meet me?”
“To talk about Ryker.” She must have figured that out despite the fact she asked the question. “He talks about you pretty often.”
“He does?” she whispered.
“Yeah. You’re all he ever talks about, actually,” I said with a chuckle. “He’s pretty head-over-heels for you.”
“He doesn’t wear heels,” Rex corrected. “So let’s just say he’s crazy about you.”
“Very crazy about you,” Zeke added.
Austen listened to both of them before she turned back to me.
“I know you’re dating Nathan too while you try to decide who you should be with…but I think it would be a mistake not to pick Ryker.” I was giving a complete stranger love advice, but she might take it. “He’s an incredible man. You can’t go wrong with him. He’s honest, caring, sweet, sexy…he’s everything.” I knew Zeke wouldn’t be happy about that last comment, but hopefully he’d let it slide.
Austen didn’t show a hint of jealousy. “I know he’s perfect. He’s only been in my life for four months, but I feel like I’ve known him forever.”
“Then don’t waste your time with Nathan, not after what he did to you.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
“It’s not complicated at all.” I needed to tone it down, but I couldn’t help myself. “I don’t know Nathan and I don’t know what your relationship is like, but I can guarantee this guy has nothing on Ryker. He’s the better guy.”
“He probably is the better guy. But there’s a huge problem in the mix.”
“What?” I asked.
She gave me a firm look. “You know exactly what the problem is. And now that I know what you look like, I can’t blame him for still being in love with you. You’re even prettier than I feared.”
The compliment meant nothing to me in that moment. “He was in love with me, but he’s not anymore.”
“That’s not what he told me.”
“He just thinks he’s in love with me. But I can guarantee you he’s not.”
“And how would you know?” she asked. “You know him better than he knows himself?”
“Pretty much,” I answered. “All he ever talks about is you. He shows me pictures of you on his phone, ones where you’re sleeping or not paying attention. When he describes you…you can tell.”
Rex nodded. “I noticed it too. He’s totally into you.”
“And he doesn’t look at Rae the way he used to,” Zeke said. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And I’m pretty jealous when it comes to the guy, so you know I’m being honest.”
I watched Austen soak everything in, listening to us argue on Ryker’s behalf. “He doesn’t want you to be with Nathan. You dating both of them is killing him. Every time you’re with Nathan, he can’t sleep because he can’t stand the thought of that guy touching you. He regrets letting it get this far. He wishes he’d snatched you when he had a chance. Believe me, he’s not thinking about me anymore.”
She grabbed the handle of her mug but didn’t take a drink. She stared at us with indecision in her eyes. The steam continued to rise to the ceiling because she hadn’t cooled it down with creamer. “You came all the way to New York just to tell me this?”
I nodded. “Ryker is family to us. We want him to be happy.”
“Wow, that’s really sweet,” she said. “All my friends love him too.”
“I understand what it’s like to want to go back to your ex.” I was thinking of Ryker, and everyone at the table knew I was. “I wanted to have what we used to have too once. But, I found someone else that made me happy, and I knew it was right. Sometimes we want to go back in time and feel those emotions again, but we just can’t. When it’s over, it’s over. We have to move on. I don’t know Nathan, but I don’t need to know him. He’s not the right guy. Ryker is.”
Austen listened to everything I said with soft eyes. “I’ve always known it wouldn’t work with Nathan. Sometimes I pretend to myself that it could…sometimes I try to give myself closure after what happened. Ryker is the one I’m always thinking about. He’s the one that makes me laugh, makes me happy. I guess I’ve always kept my distance because…of you.”
I wished I could rewrite history to make Ryker’s life easier. I wished we’d never had our time together so he could have found Austen sooner. I didn’t regret our relati
onship, but I wished everything was simpler. “I’m not a problem anymore. He’s over me, Austen. It may be hard to believe, but I know he is.”
“How?” she pressed.
“When I saw him last night, he didn’t hug me the way he used to. It was quick and simple, just how he hugged Kayden. His eyes didn’t linger on my face. He didn’t pay any special attention to me. Every time he looked away, sadness filled his eyes because he was thinking about you. That’s how I know.”
Austen finally took a drink of her coffee, giving herself an instant to compose herself.
“Forget about Nathan,” I said. “Pick Ryker. I promise you’ll regret it if you don’t.”
She set her mug down and finally nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Did that mean I succeeded? “So…you’re going to talk to him?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I think so.”
“Really?” I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips. “You’re gonna call it off with Nathan?”
She nodded again. “Every time I’m with Nathan, I think about Ryker. But when I’m with Ryker, I never think about Nathan. That’s how I know he’s the right one. I guess I’ve just been scared to be the lesser choice in his eyes…but after meeting you and talking to you, I think everything will be okay.”
I wanted to throw my fist into the air to celebrate. “That’s so great.”
“Awesome,” Rex said. “He’s a hottie, so you made the right choice.”
Austen stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“He’s totally straight,” Kayden said. “I can vouch for that.”
“Of course I’m straight,” Rex argued. “I’m just stating the obvious. He’s a good-looking guy.”
“Well, I don’t think he’s good-looking,” Zeke said. “He’s just a dude to me.”
“So, when are you going to talk to him?” I asked.
“Well, I should probably talk to Nathan first,” she said. “That would be the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, probably.” I wanted her to skip that conversation and go straight to Ryker. The sooner he was happy, the sooner I would be happy.
“Can I tell him we talked?” she asked.
“Uh…I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure how he would feel about it.
