I can hear the bite in his tone, but I don’t know if it’s directed at me or Aaron. “Sur—”
“Nah. Sorry, man. She’s busyallweekend.” He drags out the word “all,” and without saying anything else he’s sunk a heavy amount of innuendo into that one sentence.
I turn to him with a confused expression, but he doesn’t seem to be paying me any attention. His eyes are narrowed and there’s a triumphant look on his face as he and Emilio glower at one another. Like he’s won something. Like he’s won me.
I’m not some prize in these guys' pissing contest. Whatever issue they have with one another, I don’t want any part of it.
As unassuming as I can, I shrug out from under Aaron’s arm and stand up. “I’m going to explore a bit. I’ll catch up with you later.” He scowls but nods, and I turn to head in the opposite direction from him and Emilio.
I make it twenty feet when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I’m surprised I even have cell reception out here. I check the screen and release an audible groan when I see who the message is from.
Ryker: Come on, A. I miss you. Stop icing me out over something stupid.
Anger bubblesup inside of me and before I can talk myself out of it, I message him back.
Me: You broke up with me the day my mom died!
Those three littledots appear and I stare at them as I wait for his response. But instead of another text, my phone rings in my hand.
Ryker.
“Chingada madre!”
Do I really want to talk to deal with him right now? As I stare at the illuminated screen trying to decide, the ringing stops, saving me from having to make a decision. But then it starts right back up again. I must be a glutton for punishment because on the fourth ring, I answer.
“What do you want, Ry?” I ask.
I walk toward the back of Aaron’s cabin and step onto the back patio. Thankfully, no one else is out here so I claim a spot on a wooden bench and lean back, waiting for Ryker to respond.
He’s quiet for a second and it’s as if I can hear the gears turning in his head. Ryker was always good at that. Finding the right words to say to calm me down. Looking back, I can think of at least a dozen instances when he manipulated me into forgiving him for one thing or another. He was never a good boyfriend. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize that.
I finish the beer in my hand and since Ryker still hasn’t said anything, I dip inside the cabin through the rear entrance in search of something stronger. I’m going to need it for the conversation I’m about to have.
“Baby,” he breathes out, longing in his voice. I roll my eyes and spot a stray bottle of tequila. I swipe it and pour a shot into a red cup before adding in some Sprite as a mixer.
“Don’t ‘baby’ me,” I tell him, taking a healthy swallow of my new drink. “I can’t believe what you did, Ry. I can’t…” I choke on my words, unable to force them out as the tequila burns down my esophagus, making me cough. I probably should have taken a smaller sip. I give myself a few seconds, take another drink because, yes, I am a glutton for punishment. “You hurt me.” I don’t know why I’m saying this. Maybe a part of me wants him to understand just what he did to me. Maybe then he’ll finally leave me the heck alone. “You hurt me when I was already hurting.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “I know, baby. I know. I’m sorry. Okay? I fucked up. I was drinking and I wasn’t thinking straight.Fuck.”
I can hear him pacing on the other end as I step back outside and reclaim my spot on the bench.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth. For once in your life, Ry. Can you just be honest with me?” I still don’t know the full story. I know he cheated on me with Adriana but I don’t know any of the details and I don’t know why he broke things off between us the way he did. Ryker was an asshole, but until then, he’d never been cruel.
Another curse. “Baby, it’s not that simple. Adriana, she came on to me and at first I thought she was you.” His words are rushed. “You’ve got to believe that. I would never—”
“You expect me to believe that?” Is he kidding? Does he really think I’mthatstupid? I seethe. “Ry, I’m not an idiot.”
He groans. “I know. I know. But it’s the truth. I was wasted, babe. And I didn’t mean to break up with you.”
I snort. “Oh really? Then what did you mean when you texted me—the same day my mom died I might add—saying, ‘I think we should see other people’. Huh? How is that anything other than breaking up with me?”
There’s a loud bang on the other end of the line like maybe he hit something.
“Look, I’m not proud of this, okay. And I didn’t know your mom had died when I sent it. Adriana told me you found out about us. That you were going to dump me. I just”—he sighs—“I was stupid and I wanted to break things off with you first before you turned around and ended things with me.”
Wow. Just wow.
