Page 47 of The Model

I’d asked myself the same thing. “We got carried away and didn’t use protection. Sometimes he’d pull out and sometimes he’d—”

“TMI,” Raine shouted. “I don’t need the specifics. I just thought—”

This time it was my turn to interrupt her. “What, that I was a responsible adult? Well, you’re wrong when it comes to Ryder.” I let my head fall back against my chair and stared up at the ceiling. It was still surreal that I was pregnant, but I knew I had to tell Raine when I nearly threw up at the smell of the breakfast burrito she brought in this morning. I couldn’t hide it any longer, and I wanted someone to know.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she asked. “How did he take the news?”

“I can’t have coffee anymore, so you’re going to have to drink yours in the car or at home because smelling it right now, I want to rip your cup out of your hand and suck down the entire thing.” I was lucky she rarely brought it in, or I would have had to say something sooner. The mornings were hard, without any caffeine.

“Oh, okay, I can do that.” She blinked at me as if she expected me to say something else, but I had no idea what. Finally, she huffed, crossing her arms over her pink t-shirt. “What did Ryder say?”

“Absolutely nothing because…wait for it…he changed his number.”

“No,” she drew out the word, her mouth forming a tiny ‘O.’ “What are the odds?”

“I don’t know, a million to point one.”

“Really?”

“No, how the hell would I know what the odds are? First, he sleeps with…with fucking Lana,” I gritted my teeth on her name, “and takes days to finally call me, and then he pulls this shit. I still can’t believe I was fooled by his nice guy act.”

“I really don’t think it was an act.” I shot Raine a death glare from my spot on the couch. “But what do I know? I was only around him a short period of time.” She tilted her head to the side. “Do you have a plan?”

“The first thing I did was go to Instagram and unblock him. I sent a message, but he hasn’t answered back. After a month, I need a new tactic. I looked through his profile and saw it had been quite a while since he last posted.” I was sure his agent wasn’t happy about that. I bit the inside of my cheek. “When we first got the Mathers project, I wanted Ryder as the male model, but I know he isn’t planning on working in December, so we need to make it enticing. See if you can get his contact information. Even if it’s just an email, I’ll take it. I want you to do whatever you can to get him to sign. Offer whatever you have to up to a certain point. I can’t wreck the campaign to get him.”

Her eyes lit up. “I like this idea.”

I was glad someone did because I was desperate for a way to contact Ryder.

In a flash, her mouth turned into a thin line. “I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me for a whole month.”

Me either, but it took me this long to work up the nerve after not being able to tell Ryder. I was tired of being alone in this.

“Do you want me to come to the doctor with you tomorrow?”

Did I? It would be kind of nice.

“I guess I can let you off work to go with me.”

Her grin grew. “Now that you know you want Ryder as the model, who else are you going to get?”

“I haven’t decided. No one has seemed right. The only thing I do know is it won’t be Lana. If by some off-chance Mathers demanded her, I would terminate my contract with them.”

“I don’t blame you. If we weren’t better people, we could spread rumors about her.” She tapped her foot and screwed up her face in concentration.

“They wouldn’t be rumors but truth. I can’t let her affect my life any more than she already has. I can tell by the look in your eyes you think Ryder and I are going to ride off into the sunset, but you need to slow your horses. We don’t know if he’s with Lana or not.”

“We don’t know why any of this happened. I really don’t think he’s with her. I check her IG regularly to see if she posts anything about them, and there’s been nothing.” Her grin said she thought all was right in the world, and everything would end in a happy ever after.

Raine didn’t know how wrong she was. I wasn’t sure if I could get over Ryder ever being with Lana once, let alone if they were in a relationship. But I would give him a chance to tell me what happened—or at least I thought I would. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when or if I saw him again. With the way my hormones were, I’d be lucky to hold it together.

“I can see you’re doubtful, and I understand why. I’m going to get on my task. This is important in more ways than one. Ryder Williams must join us in Vegas.”

I liked her spirit. “You do that and keep me updated. I’m going to get online and look at more headshots. I need to find someone who can stand alongside Ryder, and it’s not going to be an easy task.”

“This is going to be the best photo shoot ever. It’s going to blow everyone’s mind.” She clapped her hands. “I’m going to get rid of this coffee and get to work unless you have more you need to talk about.”

I was glad she had confidence in it. I’d been worried I couldn’t pull it all together when I couldn’t pick any models, but now I was starting to get hopeful again.

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