And now I felt defensive. "It's not an assumption if it's true."
He still looked unconvinced. "If you say so."
I stared for a long moment. "Is there something you want to say?"
"Ialwayshave something to say. The real question is, do you want to hear it?"
I settled deeper into the sofa and resisted the urge to cross my arms. "Sure, why not?"
"Alright. Just this. There's playing it safe. And then, there's playing ittoosafe."
"Yeah, but…" I paused. I'd been about to argue, but once again, Ryder was right.
Now that I understood Maisie better –andrealized that she'd been just as clueless as I was – I couldn't help but see that I'd wasted over a month being sly when I could've simply cut to the chase.
How many other times had I made such a mistake?
Softly, I said, "I guess old habits die hard."
"What habits are those?"
I hugged the pillow close to my chest as I searched for the words to explain. Thinking out loud, I said, "Growing up, I always felt like I had to be perfect, you know? My mom – she had super-high standards, and I could never quite measure up."
"In what way?"
"Everyway – appearance, grades, you name it."
He studied my face. "Is that why you won't quit?"
"You mean the coffee shop?" I shrugged. "Maybe a little. It's just hard to admit failure, you know? Plus, I reallydowant to keep an eye out for my sister."
His gaze warmed as he quietly asked, "But who's keeping an eye out for you?"
I smiled as I considered his recent rescue. "Apparently, you are."
He grinned. "Got that right. Speaking of which…you wanna grab something to eat?"
Now that I thought about it, I was absolutely starving. I glanced toward the balcony, where rain was still hammering theglass. With a reluctant wince, I said, "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
He glanced toward the balcony before looking back to me. "How about this? We'll order something up."
"So you have room service?" Vaguely, I recalled Maisie mentioning that most hotels didn't.
"No, but there's restaurants that deliver – even after hours if you know who to ask."
I almost snickered. "What about during a storm?"
"Lambchop," he said. "If you want it, I'll get it. It's not a big deal."
It felt like a big deal to me, and I gave a happy nod. "Actually, that'd be really great." I bit my lip. "But would you mind if I checked on the bike first? I reallydowant to take a better look at it."
"Tell ya what. We'll order first.Youwait for the food. AndI'llcheck on the bike."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I saw how diligent you were earlier."
"Iwasdiligent," he said. "Just with you, not the bike." He gave me a reassuring smile. "But I promise. I'll take a careful look now, alright?"
I couldn't argue with that, so I didn't. Instead, we browsed some menus, ordered more food than we'd probably ever eat, and nearly lost track of time before Ryder abruptly stood to say, "I almost forgot about the bike. Hang on. I'll be back in a few minutes."
