Page 155 of What are the Risks
Only one way to find out.
After dry swallowing two pills, I quickly gathered my things and headed inside.
The instant I opened the front door, a squeal had me dropping everything. Nancy was on the other side, bouncing on the spot with excitement, as if she’d been waiting for me.
“Ruby, honey, get in here. It’s been too long.”
The last thing I needed was a hug from Nancy, because it felt far too familiar to her son’s.
Ryker had worn me down over the past few months, enough that I couldn’t deny it anymore – I officially didn’t despise affection. Not his, anyway.
I liked when he rested a hand on my thigh while he was driving, and how he lazily stroked his fingers across my back during a movie, and I’d even begun to look forward to the post-sex snuggling... just in time for me to mess it all up.
Nancy led me into the kitchen, where Mum was seated at the table, a half-done jigsaw puzzle in front of her and two steaming mugs.
“Is, ugh, Ryker here?” I checked, attempting to sound nonchalant.
Nancy shook her head. “He left this morning.”
“Left? Like on a run?”
“No, honey. He got a call late last night that they needed him earlier for pre-draft press, or something like that. Charles went with him. They flew out first thing.”
“Oh.” I slumped into the seat opposite Mum. “He didn’t tell me that.”
“He said he’ll be tied up with commitments over the next few days, so it doesn’t make sense for us to fly out so soon. Your mum and I have changed everyone’s flights to Thursday instead.”
Thursday? That was a full three days away. The plan had always been to make the trip together, so that we could spend as much time as possible with Ryker before his life changed.
“Are you okay, darling?” Mum asked, reaching across the table to brush my arm.
“Just tired,” I lied.
“How about I put the kettle back on,” she suggested, sliding her seat back. “A warm tea will help.”
Reaching for my phone, I checked whether I had any missed calls or texts from Ryker, explaining the change of plans.
Nothing.
He always kept me in the loop, so being left in the dark about this felt as good as being shut out – almost like he didn’t want me there.
Maybe he didn’t.
We can’t be friends after this either, Ruby. Now, it’s all or nothing for me.
If this was the start of nothing, it fucking sucked.
*
The next morning, I took an everything shower since I had nothing else to do. I shampooed my hair twice, left in a hair treatment, shaved and exfoliated my legs, and even applied an in-shower face mask. It was only once my fingertips started to wrinkle that I rinsed everything off and shut off the water.
As I stepped back into my bedroom, my towel tied around my chest, I felt strangely out of place. Ryker had been right – this room no longer feeling like mine. It belonged to a version of me I hadn’t been for a while.
The comforter had a floral pattern I wouldn’t choose nowadays, framed photos of friends I barely spoke to covered the dresser – along with way too many of Noah – and random trinkets were pinned to the corkboard of memories I barely remembered.
It was time for a change.
After drying off my hair and getting dressed, I ran downstairs and grabbed a trash bag.
