Page 19 of Beautiful Trauma
“I could tell you were zoning in and out, but I didn’t push you to talk. I’m pushing you now.”
“There’s this…”
“Guy?” Ryder supplied. “Wait! Don’t answer that yet. Come over and have lunch with me.”
“I thought you were in the middle of writing a hot sex scene between Jedi and Ricky.”
Ryder chuckled. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”
“I made you laugh, didn’t I?”
“Always,” Ryder agreed. “Yes, I was writing a steamy sex scene, but the guys don’t mind hanging out naked for an extra hour or two while I fix lunch for a friend. Be here in thirty minutes.” He disconnected the call without saying goodbye or giving me a chance to decline.
“It better be a good lunch,” I said to myself when I returned the phone to my pocket.
If I hadn’t already cheered up at the prospect of spending time with Ryder, seeing his disheveled appearance when he answered the door would’ve yanked me right out of my funk. “Holy fuck. You look like shit,” I said, taking in his blue plaid boxers and coffee-stained white tank top beneath a pale blue silk robe. Ryder wore flip-flops on his feet and a devil-may-care smile on his face. He looked like I felt.
Ryder ran one hand through his hair to tame his bed head and flipped me off with the other. “I guess I’ll eat the chicken pecan salad on croissants all by myself.”
My empty stomach growled. The only thing I’d managed to swallow after a night of restless sleep was too many cups of coffee, which had only sent nervous jitters through my normally calm system. Aiming my most charming smile at him, I said, “I take it back.”
“Okay then,” Ryder acquiesced, opening the door wider and stepping aside for me to enter. “Let’s eat out on the patio by the pool, and you can tell me all about the guy who has you rattled.”
“How do you know this is about a guy?”
One of Ryder’s blond brows shot up. “Isn’t it always?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
I followed Ryder through the lovely home he shared with his fiancé. Ryder veered off to the kitchen to retrieve our lunch, and I continued to the rear of the house. Duke and Duchess, their German Shepherds, were sunning themselves on the patio when I stepped out. The regal dogs rose to their feet and fondly greeted me but soon forgot my existence when Ryder walked out of the house holding two plates of food in his hands.
“Neither of these are for you,” he told his dogs. “If you’re good, you can have some of the shredded chicken I set aside for fajitas tonight.” Like they understood every word, the shepherds returned to their spots in the sun. “I give it five more minutes before they jump in the pool.”
“Seriously?”
“I never knew how much German Shepherds loved water until we brought these beasts home. We can’t keep them out of the pool, they come running every time one of us turns the water hose on, and Duchess actually jumped into the bathtub with me last night.”
“I don’t believe it,” I said, shaking my head.
“I know,” Ry agreed. “Most dogs avoid a bathtub at all costs.”
“Oh, I didn’t doubt Duchess’s love for baths; I found it hard to believe you bathed last night.”
Ryder snatched back the plate he’d just set in front of me. “More for me, I guess.”
“I’m kidding, but surely you’ve looked in a mirror today?”
“I did when I brushed my teeth, but I couldn’t care because an idea for my next chapter struck me right when I was gargling mouthwash.” Ryder shrugged. “I only meant to go to my office long enough to jot the idea down before I forgot, but the next thing I knew, I was writing the chapter instead of making notes.”
“I’m sure that happens often.”
Nodding, Ryder said, “Too often when Lucien isn’t home to remind me to act like a functioning adult.” Ryder slid my plate back in front of me. “What’s going on with you, Ez?”
I took a deep breath then spilled everything about the fateful night in December. He hadn’t known the first thing about Henry. I wasn’t in the practice of telling him about my conquests, but I told him how I’d felt propelled across the crowded club to ask him to dance. I confessed to taking Henry back to my place and keeping him there until almost noon the next day. “The guy never completely left my mind, Ry. That hasn’t happened in a very long time, and it left me reeling. I avoided going back to Vibe so I wouldn’t run into him again. I’ve managed to avoid him for six months then WHAM! Henry starts turning up everywhere.”
A frown creased Ryder’s brow. “Is he stalking you?”
“No! Nothing like that. Henry hasn’t orchestrated our encounters.”