Page 90 of Return to Me Always

"You okay?" he asked, glancing over at me.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. What was Tyler doing here? That sense of déjà vu messed with my head as I felt like we were traveling back in time to another night not too long ago.

As if reading my mind, Tyler said, "Seems like old times, right?"

Again, I could only nod.

"Only this time," he said, "I'll try not to be such an arse."

A smile formed on my face while I remembered our rocky start.

"There's a smile," he said, putting a hand on my knee. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"

The weight of it all suffocated me. I wanted to say so many things. I wanted to know what he was doing here. But most of all, I wanted to know if he could ever return my feelings because just being around him was torture.

If I couldn't have him, if we had no future, I needed to get away from him. His smile, his voice, hisnearnesstormented me. But how could I say any of that? I couldn't.

"Ryder?"

Despite the pain it caused, I looked at him, noticing actual concern in his eyes. "It's just been a long day," I finally said.

"Aye." His hand squeezed my knee. "How about some dinner?"

Tyler was asking me to dinner? God, I didn't know if I could sit and stare at him through a whole meal.

"Come on." He wiggled my leg. "I know you're always hungry."

"Okay," I managed to say, but Iwasn'thungry and didn't know if I could survive the agony of being near him any longer.

He glanced at me sideways. "I know a place nearby where we can be alone, away from the cameras."

Thank goodness for that because I didn't need my heartbreak documented for the world to see. It was painful enough living through it on my own.

Soon, he pulled up to an old brick building with a restaurant at the street level, soft lights glowing from the windows.

"I hope you're in the mood for Italian," he said.

I simply nodded, ignoring the funny look he once again gave me as we made our way to the entrance and he held the door open for me.

By his description, I had expected a quiet place with lots of privacy, but instead, the restaurant was packed with people and tables right up next to each other. He bypassed it all, to my surprise, and ushered me to one side of the room where there were some hidden stairs. Confused, I held onto the rail as I walked down the steps.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He flashed me that Tyler grin. "You'll see."

When I rounded the corner, my breath caught at the small, dimly lit dining room in front of me with plush, secluded booths and tables loaded with flickering candles. Not another soul was down here.

"What is this?" I asked, unable to hide the awe in my voice.

"Their private dining room."

"But—but how?"

He raised his shoulders in a shrug. "I'm friends with the owner."

As he led me to a table and we got rid of our coats, a flicker of hope rose in my chest. Why had Tyler gone to this much trouble? But the hope came crashing down when I had an awful realization. Did he bring all his girls here? Was this his big move?

Sighing, I slid into the booth in the back corner.

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