“You do. Tell me.” He frowned and lowered his head, letting his arms dangle at his sides. I crossed the room to him and tilted his head up. His gray eyes connected with mine. “Tell me why you attempted to dismiss me earlier. I won’t accept the response of ‘I don’t know,’” I said gently.
“I don’t feel well, and I want tonight to be over with. I didn’t want to get caught up in long conversations, and I just want to be alone and fall asleep listening to some music.” His eyes were so sad and troubled.
I smiled at him and put my hands on his shoulders. I waited a moment before I spoke to see if he was going to try to walk away or if I noticed his body tense up at my touch. I was pleased that he hadn’t tried to move away from me and that he hadn’t tensed up. In fact, I believed I felt his shoulders relax under my hands.
“First, I’m proud of you for telling me why you tried to dismiss me. Second, obviously it didn’t work. And third, I’m here for you, Ryder. I’m concerned, and I want to help. Now, tonight can go one of two ways and the decision rests in your hands.”
“How is this fair?”
“You’re the one who’s making the decision.”
He smiled and gestured with his hand for me to get on with it and tell him what his choices were.
“Option one, I can have a doctor look you over. He’ll most likely tell me what you and I both know already—that he doesn’t see anything physically concerning and will recommend you for a series of tests tomorrow to be on the cautious side. The outcome of those tests will probably point to nothing.”
“I don’t like that option. What’s the other one?”
“Option two is that you talk to me. Tell me what happened tonight between the time you left the dinner table with Finn all the way up to when you returned.”
He groaned and started to look away, but I caught his jaw and prevented him from moving his head.
“Don’t worry about me finding out about the visit to the Apollo suite.” Ryder raised his eyebrows. “I know all about the existence of the suite and of the activities that can take place in there. It’s alright.”
“Atlas, I don’t want to talk about anything right now.”
“I have all the time in the world.” I took my coat off and draped it over the arm of the chair.
“What? You’re staying?” His tone didn’t sound as though he was upset or angry that I was adamant on staying. He had to learn that he could rely on and confide in me.
“I’m not leaving you alone. I can meet you in the middle and permit you time to sit quietly if that’s what you feel you need. But under no circumstances am I leaving you alone tonight.”
I took off my suit jacket and laid it on top of my coat before I loosened my tie. As I walked toward the coffee maker, I unbuttoned the cuffs of my shirt and rolled them up to just below my elbow. While Ryder slumped against the back of the chair behind me, I selected a coffee pod and dropped it into thetop portion of the coffee maker. I set a mug under the spigot, pressed the start button, and turned to face Ryder.
“You’re really staying?”
“I told you I’m not leaving you. Not like this.” I looked at him and studied his unsettled face as his eyes shifted from side to side. “Maybe you’d start to feel better after a warm shower. It was a long night, and maybe that will help ease some tension.”
Rather than speak, he nodded. As irritating as that was, I decided that I needed to pick my battles with him carefully. Especially right now. When he hadn’t made any move to head to his room, I walked toward him. Since he hadn’t shied away from when I placed my hands on his shoulders, I felt as though he was already starting to relax from the state that he was in back in the dining room. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and nudged him away from the chair.
“Come, let’s get you a bit more relaxed. You’ll start to feel better after a shower.” In the bedroom, I gestured toward the dresser and said, “Get your pajamas, and I’ll start the water.”
I left his side long enough to go into the bathroom and turn the water on. While I held my hand under the spray to feel its temperature, I looked at the bathroom counter. I frowned when I noticed all his toiletries were in a plastic bag from the drug store where they were purchased.Why hadn’t he stored them in the drawers?Once I thought the water was warm enough, I shook the water from my hand and wiped it on one of the hand towels as I walked out of the bathroom.
“The water is ready and warm,” I said to him.
“Okay, thank you.”
Ryder pushed himself away from the dresser and walked toward the bathroom with some clothes in his hand. Sitting on top of the dresser were all his clothes. I scanned the dresser top and did a quick visual inventory. It looked like everything I’d had delivered for him was sitting there.Why wasn’t he usingthe drawers or closet space? Since he was walking toward me, I tried to keep my face devoid of anything to let on that I was more than curious with his way of settling in. He’d been in this hotel room for a number of weeks.Why hadn’t I checked to see that he’d unpacked and put the clothes away?
“I’ll just be a few minutes,” he said as he stepped into the bathroom. As soon as he closed the bathroom door, I heard the lock click into place. For a moment, I stared at the door handle and understood he needed to feel secure when vulnerable. Eventually, he wouldn’t feel the need to hide behind a closed and locked door.
I leaned against the wall next to the door and gazed at the pile of clothes folded on top of the dresser. I smiled and shook my head as I pictured his clothes piled up like this on Will’s dresser.
“I can’t believe you’re staying,” he said through the door. I turned my head as he started to mumble, “Why am I talking to a door? Probably went back to the living room.”
“Why is it difficult for you to accept that I’m staying?” I imagined his face was turning a shade of red when he realized I was still here.
“Oh! You’re still out there?”
