Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“I like being around you guys,” Delilah replied. “I wish…”
My eyebrows rose slightly as I waited for her to finish her sentence, hoping that she said the words that I desperately wanted her to say.
Delilah then sighed and drew away from me when her phone buzzed in the back pocket of her black jeans. She pulled it out and looked down at the screen, frowning in confusion.
“Ryder wants to talk to me. Can you drop me off at the ranch house? Sorry to cut our adventure down memory lane short,” she said with an apologetic look on her face.
I wondered what Ryder wanted to talk to her about. Then again, there were only so many things that he would talk about with her in private, and I had a good feeling one of those was about his feelings for her. Maybe the others couldn’t tell all that well, but I had been around Ryder and Delilah ever since we were younger. I knew what crushing teenagers looked like. I was one myself.
As much as I wanted Delilah to stay with me, if Ryder was going to finally tell her how he felt, I wasn’t going to get in the way. All of the guys had her best interests at heart, and that was the only thing that mattered.
“Of course. Another time,” I proposed before offering my arm to her.
Delilah wrapped her fingers around my bicep and followed me back to the car.
I held her hand as I drove back to the ranch, my eyes shifting over to her every once in a while. She seemed deep in thought, and I wished that I could read her mind. When she thought about her future, did she see us in it? Did she see me?
Or maybe, we were just a sentence in the midst of her story.
Chapter 20
Delilah
The moment I stepped out of Amos’s car, my stomach churned with nervousness. I didn’t know what Ryder wanted to talk about, but it had to be serious. What if he wanted me to leave? What if he didn’t want to keep working on music together?
“Hey, Delilah.”
I looked up to see Ryder walking off the porch toward me, making my heart rate kick up. I swallowed hard and steadied myself as I forced a smile onto my face.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I asked him.
Ryder stayed silent for a moment before jerking his head toward the woods.
“Let’s take a walk. Get some fresh air,” he said, before leading me down the walking path that winded through all of the trees and green growth.
I caught up to his side, my mind racing. Tension hung in the air, and I wondered what were the words that he was about to tell me. We came out here to talk. I knew that.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I was about to have my heart broken again. Things had been so good with the band. Then again, I thought things were great years ago. I remembered how elated I felt after we slept together and so intimately bonded. It felt like I was on top of the world before it all came crumbling down because he made a choice without me.
So, what choice had he made now?
We walked for at least three minutes before he actually said anything to break the silence.
“I’m sorry things have been… tense between us,” Ryder told me.
I glanced over at him.
“It’s not your fault,” I replied, knowing that half of the tension came from me.
Ryder shook his head.
“It is. I just want to be honest with you. About everything,” he said. “I owe you that and more.”
What was the truth that he was hiding? My heart hammered heavily as our eyes met.
“What’s going on, Ryder? This isn’t exactly helping my anxiety,” I replied, needing him to rip this off like a Band-Aid. The anticipation nearly made me sick to my stomach.
“I broke up with Kerrie,” Ryder blurted out, silence trailing his words.
White noise filled my ears as I stared at him, trying to process his shocking words. He seemed happy with Kerrie, so why did they break up?
“What happened? Are you okay?” I asked. He seemed upset, but he also seemed nervous and uneasy.
Ryder scratched at the back of his neck as his eyes trailed around, avoiding mine.
“I think so,” he replied. “It’s complicated.”
“What does that mean, Ryder?” I asked as I tilted my head in confusion. He was holding something back.
Ryder breathed in before speaking.
“I had to break up with her,” he told me before stepping closer. A look of confliction gleamed in his eyes as they rested on mine. “I broke up with her because she’s not the woman I want to be with.”
I drew in a shaky breath through my nose, anticipation hanging in the air.
Ryder took another step closer and placed his hand on my cheek.