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Chapter Twenty-Two

Then

“Baby!” Ryan yells as soon as he comes in the door Friday evening.

“In here,” I call from the bedroom and he stomps down the hallway. He busts through the door with a huge smile on his face. I raise a brow at him.

“Get dressed. We’re going out!” he exclaims and I scowl.

“Ryan, I have to go to work; I was just getting ready to leave,” I say and the smile immediately drops off his face.

“Baby, I made detective! We have to celebrate.”

“Oh my God! Ryan, I’m so proud of you,” I squeal and jump into his arms. He laughs and kisses me quickly before setting me back on my feet.

“Okay, so go get changed!”

“Babe, I still have to go to work but I’ll get someone to cover my shift tomorrow and we can go celebrate,” I say, hoping to reason with him.

“What the hell, Emma?”

“I’m sorry. My shift starts in fifteen minutes. I can’t call in now. We’ll celebrate tomorrow.”

He stares at me with hard eyes for what feels like forever before he turns and stalks out of the bedroom. I tilt my head back and close my eyes, taking deep breaths. After I feel mentally prepared to face him, I go out in the living room. I find Ryan sitting on the couch staring at the TV.

“I have to go.” He just sits there in silence, not even sparing me a glance. “Please don’t be mad, baby. I am so proud of you and I promise we are going to celebrate tomorrow.”

Silence.

“I love you,” I say and still get nothing. He sits like a statue, not moving, not looking at me and completely silent. I sigh, fighting back tears over him being so difficult about this.

“Ryan, please talk to me. I’m sorry that I have to work tonight.” My apology is met with more silence as he throws himself onto the couch. “Goddamn it, Ryan. I’m tired of this shit.”

“Yeah, well, I’m tired of you never being able to do anything because you won’t quit working at that damn bar.”

I roll my eyes. I’m not having this fight with him again.

“Will you let me make it up to you?”

His eyes narrow in my direction. “How?”

“Let’s do something fun tomorrow. Anything you want.” He watches me closely for a moment.

“You’ll spend the whole day with me?” I nod and finally, he nods in return. “Okay.”

* * * *

Ryan and I spent the whole day together, just like I promised. He borrowed a boat from one of his friends and we spent the day relaxing on the water. It was actually really nice. Now, I’m getting ready for dinner. I was glad that I was able to find someone to cover my shift tonight. I didn’t want to have another fight with Ryan.

I finish getting ready and do a little spin in front of the mirror to inspect myself. The pale green maxi dress really plays up the color of my eyes and my peep-toe wedges give me a couple more inches. Running my finger under my eye, I fix a little bit of smudged liner before exiting the bathroom.

Not paying attention to where I’m going as I walk into the hallway, I slam right into Ryan. His arms immediately wrap around me, preventing me from falling to my ass.

“Oh, hey, I was just coming to find you,” he says. “My brothers called and wanted to take me out to celebrate my promotion.”

My eyes widen as I look up at him.

Is he serious?