“Find my Friends!”
She started laughing through her tears. “Oh yeah!” And then she asked, “But…the girls? Are they…did you…?”
“Yeah. I got there in time. They are on their way to the hospital in Barstow.” I then wrapped my arms around her. “It’s over, Paige. You’re all safe.”
Forty-Four
Paige
“Really, don’t come down.” I was on the phone with my parents, who had me on speakerphone. Ryder and I were just leaving the hospital. “They’re keeping Bailey and Lily overnight for observation and then Ryder and I will bring them home in the morning. The doctors said they are perfectly fine.”
“I’d really rather come down, but I trust your judgment, Paige,” my dad said.
“I’m so glad you’re both safe, honey,” said my mom.
After he’d burst in just in the nick of time and prevented me from either being raped or worse, we’d called 911 and then headed out to the Barstow hospital. The girls were already in a joint room, watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and laughing about hospital food. We’d all been interviewed by the cops, who’d said they would want us to fill out a statement next week.
“Hawk, you need to make sure that no one else touches it. Only you. Got that?” Ryder was on the phone with Hawk, arranging to get his bike from Baker, since we’d taken the Audi to Barstow.
The engine roared to life as I pulled the car out of the hospital parking lot. I’d have rather Ryder driven, but my dad would kill me if I let someone he’d never met drive the car. We were just gonna have to change that, and make some introductions tomorrow.
But for now, we were going to stay overnight in Barstow. It was a sleepy town halfway or so between LA and Vegas, and because of that, it really only had the kinds of accommodations used by truckers and travelers. No fancy hotels or anything. Frankly, I didn’t care. All I wanted was a hot shower, some food, a bed to sleep on…and Ryder.
I was blown away at how he single handedly managed to save all three of us. It was like something out of an action hero movie, except it was real. This man, sitting next to me, really had risked his life to save me.
When I was in school, I’d read something about attraction between people in an emergency, and I was definitely feeling the spark. But, if I were being real, what was about to happen had been building for weeks.
As we made our way to the Ayres Suites, I stole glances at Ryder’s profile. He was quiet, deep in reflective contemplation. He’d been through a lot tonight, too. I could imagine the fear of losing a sister to sex traffickers, but not to what it would feel like to have it be your only family and at the hands of someone you’d considered a father figure.
Suddenly, it occurred to me. Maybe Ryder’s rescue of me was just part of who he was. Maybe it didn’t mean anything about feelings for me—he’d have done the same thing no matter who it was. My heart sunk a little as I realized that it was true. He was a man of character and strength. He didn’t do it because he loved me, he did it because it was the right thing to do.
“Okay, we’re here.” I said, pointlessly, as we pulled the car into a space right in the back of the very full parking lot. There must be a lot going on in the sleepy town of Barstow tonight.
We got out and went to the front desk, and a very old man slowly made his way over from the small chair he’d been sitting on. He appeared to be eating something chewy, because his mouth was full. “Can I help you folks?”
“Uh, yeah, we need…” I looked at Ryder for some clue but he was looking the other way. “We need two rooms.”
That got Ryder’s attention and he looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“I’m afraid we only got one room left. There’s a national bowling tournament in town and we’re almost sold out. It’s got a king sized bed, but there’s a pullout couch for ya.”
I slid the emergency credit card that Dad always keeps in the car to the guy. “Fine. We’ll take it.”
As the man sucked his teeth and droned on about the amenities of the motel, I could feel my body heat rising. One way or the other, Ryder and I were about to spend the night together. We finally got the paper envelope with our keys and made our way over to the elevators. Ryder still hadn’t said a word since we left the hospital.
Like an idiot, I felt the need to fill the silence with chatter. Finally, after we’d walked down the long hallway, we stopped at the door. “Looks like this is us,” I said.
His eyes were cloudy with some emotion I couldn’t discern.
“Ryder,” I said at the same time he spoke.
“Paige.”
We smiled and he said, “Ladies first.”
“I just want to say thank you for everything you did and to let you know that I know it doesn’t mean anything about me or that you feel anything for me and that the only reason we are here is because we have to get the girls from the hospital tomorrow and that we tried to get separate rooms but we couldn’t and it’s okay because I’ll take the foldout couch and you can have the bed.”
He was grinning. “Are you finished?”
