Page 224 of His Virgin Romance Series

CHAPTER27

Ryder

“Hello, Ryderary,”Miriam said, sliding into the seat opposite me. “Where’s your beauty you brought here the last time?”

I smiled. “She’s at home.”

“At home, you say?” Miriam asked. “I didn’t realize you were living together.”

“We’re not,” I said, realizing how it sounded.

“Oh… just visiting then?”

I had to nod. “Yes, I suppose she is.”

“I like her,” Miriam said voluntarily. “She seems the right sort of girl for you.”

I frowned. “How do you figure that?”

“She’s beautiful, and she has this delicate nature about her… but you can tell she’s strong too. And that’s what you need: a strong woman.”

I nodded. Then, I realized I was painting the wrong picture of Abby and me. “We’re not together,” I said, but it felt like a lie on my tongue.

“You’re not?” Miriam asked, with raised eyebrows. She clearly thought I was lying.

“No,” I said. “We’re just… friends.”

“Hmm… ok.”

“I’m not telling you a lie, Miriam.”

“Then you’re an idiot,” she said, without missing a beat. “She’s a great girl. You shouldn’t let her get away.”

I sat back in my seat. “I’m really just waiting for my food.”

“It’ll get here,” Miriam replied impatiently. “Take it easy.”

I sighed. “I thought this place was supposed to be fast.”

“We’re not fast food,” Miriam said pointedly. “We’re gourmet. And you can wait ten more minutes. You know something tells me that this is more serious than I thought, which is why you’re getting so uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” I denied quickly.

“Please… why would you be in such a hurry to run out of here then?”

“Because the boys are waiting for me back home.”

“The boys?” Miriam asked. “Or your girl?”

“She’s not my girl,” I corrected.

“Why is that?” Miriam asked seriously.

I opened my mouth to say something snippy, but then I really thought about her question. I had been battling with it the last couple of days too. My relationship with Abby had found a happy place of comfort. We trained together regularly, we fucked almost every day, and afterward we would stay up and talk, sometimes for hours. It looked like a relationship, and it felt like one. We were both just refusing to call it one. Perhaps because we both knew that at the end of this thing, Abby would leave for another state and it would be that much harder to get over.

I thought about Walter Black, and I realized that my interest in him had faded fast in the last two weeks. I was starting to believe that maybe he didn’t really exist. Maybe he was just a random guy who disappeared right after because he was scared of retaliation. Maybe he had nothing to do with the Knights, and I had constructed that narrative because I had been so consumed by revenge.

Now I actually hoped that the narrative I had built was wrong. That way, I could forget about Walter Black and I could concentrate on Abby. But what would I do in that case? Ask her to stay with me? That was a huge step, and it was a declaration of my feelings for her. There were moments, however, when we were lying in bed together that I felt as though she wanted the same thing.

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