Broken Love (Broken 4)

I squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. “We are taking this one day at a time. All I know is Ryder makes me feel so special. So happy. I just want the chance to see where this goes, Mom. And you staying behind and trying to take care of my every need is not going to help things any. I’ll only stay until I feel up to traveling, and then I’ll fly back home with Ryder.”

My father swallowed hard as he wrapped his arm around my mother. “Our baby girl is growing up, and why in the hell she rushes into relationships I’ll never know.”

I let out a titter as I rolled my eyes at him. “Very funny.”

“I want you to know I’m not happy about this, but I understand. You’re my baby and I just want to take care of you.”

My heart felt torn. In a way, I wanted my mother to take care of me, but I also wanted to take this time and spend it with Ryder. We both threw out the I love you so quickly, I needed to make sure it wasn’t because of the amazing night we spent together. I’d been down this road before and not that long ago. I knew in my heart I’d never felt this way before; I just needed to be sure.

“Well, what better way to find out if Ryder and I belong together than to have him thrown into a situation where he is taking care of me.”

My mother grinned as my father moaned. “Oh hell. What am I going to do with you, Ava Grace Moore?”

With a shrug, I flashed him a smile. “There is one thing y’all can do.”

“What is it, darling?” my mother said as she held my hand in hers.

With a pained expression, I murmured, “Find out why Ryder is taking so long with that nurse. My leg and ankle are throbbing!”

MY HEART WAS pounding in my chest as Ryder pulled down the long driveway that led to his parents’ house.

When he turned off the main road, I glanced his way. “Where are you going?”

He smiled big and my stomach jumped when I saw the dimple pop out on the side of his face. Stealing a peek my way, he chuckled. “You didn’t really think I was going to have you stay in my parents’ house, did you?”

“Um … I thought that was the plan.”

Ryder reached for my hand and kissed the back of it softly. “The only good thing that came out of your fall was that we get to spend more time together … alone.”

My heart skipped a beat.

The old stone house.

“I’m staying in the old stone house?”

The jovial smile on his face said it all. “We’re staying in the old stone house, and I’m going to take care of you.”

Pressing my lips together tightly, I attempted to hide how happy I was. Clearing my throat, I tried to act like a grown woman who was not internally fist pumping at the idea of spending so much time with Ryder. “What about your job? You can’t just up and leave everything to stay here and babysit me. I really was only going to stay a few days to heal up and then I planned on heading home.”

Bringing the car to a stop, Ryder turned to face me. His eyes were soft, yet filled with something I found myself longing to see each and every day. Passion. Concern. Love.

“This whole weekend … hell, this whole last month has been a whirlwind. I’ve felt things for you I’ve never felt with any other girl.”

Chewing on my lip, I nodded and stated, “I feel the same way.”

“Would I love for you to have stayed with me without breaking your leg and ankle, yes. Most certainly, yes.”

My hand covered my mouth as I giggled.

“But, you’re here with me and I want to take this time to really get to know one another, Ava. I don’t want you to think I just threw it out there when I said I loved you. I really feel something so deep within my heart for you, and I want to explore that more.”

“So do I, Ryder. I rushed into my last relationship because I thought I was in love. With you it’s so different. It’s exciting, romantic, and scary all rolled up into these emotions I’m not familiar with.”

I looked down at my hands wringing together in my lap. “But … I don’t know how it’s going to go for us.”

Looking up through my eyelashes, I saw him nod his head. “The distance thing.”

“Yeah. The distance thing. I would never in a million years ask you to walk away from your dreams.”