“Oh thank God. You are the best, Sloane. The absolute best. Now if anything happens or you feel unsafe at all, I want you to call the police, okay? If he gets arrested, he gets arrested. I don’t want you compromising your safety. I’ll also give you his therapist’s number and an emergency number. I think that’s it.” There was some sound, as if the phone was being passed over.

“Sloane? I really want to thank you for doing this,” Lucah said. “It’s not ideal, but hopefully we won’t be gone more than a day. We’ll keep you posted.”

“Okay,” I said, starting to feel numb. I really didn't want to do this, but there wasn’t much choice. It was happening.

“I have to babysit him this weekend,” I told Inari when I got back from lunch.

“What do you mean?” Yeah, it was a confusing situation if you didn’t know the players.

I gave her the down low on the situation.

Inari raised her eyebrows. “So, um, what will you do if he does something wrong? It’s not like you can put him in timeout,” she said, laughing.

“Call the cops? I’ve also got his therapist’s number.”

“I guess that works. Are you sure you’re ready for this? What if he gets violent?” Ryder wasn’t destructive toward anyone but himself.

“I’ve got a gun in my bedroom. I’ll bring it with me and hide it in my purse.” I’d also taken self-defense classes in college. I was never going to let anyone mess with me.

“Okay, but if you need anything, I want you to call me. My husband knows Krav Maga.”

“Good to know. You’ll be my backup plan.” I smiled, but she didn’t smile back.

“But seriously. I want you to call me.”

“Okay, I will. Would you also like me to send you periodic text messages letting you know that I’m still breathing?” She was being a little overprotective. Ryder wouldn’t hurt me, at least not physically. My heart, on the other hand . . .

Ugh. I needed to get over that. Like yesterday.

“This is serious. I know you think you know him, but he’s in trouble and he’s unpredictable. Anything could happen.” Wow, she was really worried about me.

“I’m going to be fine. Promise.” She didn’t look convinced. Only worried.

~*~*~

I didn’t go to Rory and Lucah’s apartment when I got home. They’d called to say that April was doing really poorly. Lucah was with Tate and Rory was with the girls at the house. Rory didn’t give me details, but it sounded like she was losing the baby. My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine going through that.

They hadn’t given me parameters for checking on Ryder, but I figured I should at least see if he wanted dinner. I could make him something and leave it outside the door.

The door was partially open, but I knocked anyway.

“Come in,” he said. I pushed the door open and stuck my head in, not ready to fully commit to going in all the way.

“Hey,” I said. He turned his head and got up from the couch where he’d been sitting.

“Wow, you look like shit,” I couldn’t help saying. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “Whatever.”

“I, um, like the beard.”

“I didn’t grow it for you,” he said, going to the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water. His attire was even shabbier than I was used to. Haggard was the only word I could use to describe his overall appearance. His scars seemed to stand out even more on his skin.

“I didn’t say you did.” He leaned his back against the counter and glared at me. Ouch.

“I know why you’re here. I don’t need a fucking babysitter. So you can just go down the hall and tell my jailers that you watched me and I was a good little boy.” All of the fear and anger from the night he’d ended up in the hospital came to the surface, as if it had been lying dormant, waiting until I saw him again.

“Look, this is a shitty situation for all of us, so let’s just make the best of it. Do you want dinner?”

Tags: Chelsea M. Cameron Erotic
Source: readsnovelonline.net