“Agreed.” Ryder and I tucked my blankets back into the bed.
“Now what?” I said, sitting down on the bed.
“No fucking idea.”
Two
Ryder really wanted to change out of his suit, so he left and went back to his apartment, this time without incident. Figuring I should probably try and smooth things over, I headed down the hall to Rory and Lucah’s place. Normally I’d just barge right in, but this time I decided knocking was a good idea.
Rory opened the door and her face was grim. “Hi,” she whispered.
“Can I come in?” I asked.
She nodded and moved aside to let me in. Lucah was on the couch with his guitar in his lap, his facial expression stony. You’d think someone had died.
“This really isn’t as dire as you two are making it out to be. As far as we can tell, we didn’t have sex. Not that it’s any of your business anyway.” It seriously wasn’t. But Lucah and Rory were two peas in a pod. Control freaks. A match made in heaven.
“It is absolutely my business,” Lucah said. “You have no right messing this up. He’s been doing so well, and now . . .” He strummed an angry chord. Like he was musically yelling at me too.
Now what?
Rory jumped to my defense. “Lucah, it takes two to tango. This isn’t some situation where Sloane was a predator and took Ryder’s virtue. They both got drunk. They both fell into bed.”
I was glad she was sticking up for me, but I could fight my own battles.
“Thanks hun, but I got this. Look, I know your brother is a mess. That’s an established fact. And I’m not dancing with joy about this. But it’s over, it happened, and now Ryder and I are the ones who will have to deal with the consequences. So, I think we should drop it. What would you like for dinner?” Most nights I cooked since Rory was usually exhausted and wasn’t a big fan of the kitchen.
“Dinner?” Lucah said, as if he’d never heard the word before.
“Yes, dinner. The meal that comes after lunch. Or tea, if you’re all British,” I said.
“Um, whatever you feel like making. We’re flexible.” Ha, that was so not true, especially at that moment.
Lucah started to say something else, but Rory gave him a look.
“Fine. Sure.” That was as good an answer as I was going to get. Awesome.
“Okay then. I’m going to go back down the hall, and I’ll see you at the usual time.”
With that, I turned around and headed out the door. I didn’t want to hear any more criticism at the moment. My head was still throbbing.
~*~*~
I spent the rest of the day recovering from one of the most epic hangovers ever and trying to fix the tear in my dress. My beautiful, beautiful dress. I’d paid an arm and a leg for the rosy gold silk, and I’d painstakingly sewn it together. I wouldn’t even let my interns touch the fabric. I hadn’t trusted anyone to sew it but me. There was a split up the back, and I’d made the thing so tight that it fit like a second skin. Not very conducive to moving around a lot, but it looked fabulous.
Ryder called me just as I was trying to pick out what to make for dinner and playing Tristan Prettyman’s “Waves.” I turned the music down so I could hear him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better. I had a chat with Rory and Lucah. He’s still not impressed, so you might want to make yourself scarce for a few days.” It was a good thing he’d moved out, or else it might have come to blows.
“Good plan.” What followed was an awkward silence. I’d never had an awkward silence with Ryder before.
“So, I was thinking,” he started to say.
“You shouldn’t do that. Thinking can be hazardous to your heath,” I said.
He chuckled a little but continued. “I was thinking that we . . . probably shouldn’t hang out anymore. Alone, I mean. I’ll still come over for dinner and everything so Lucah can make sure I’m on track and going to therapy and everything, but I just don’t think we can be friends outside of that time.” I had a feeling this was coming. When we danced at the ball he shot me down again when I asked if he needed any help moving in.