“What’s wrong?” I asked as I wiped her tears away.
“I’m starving, I have a terrible hangover and . . . and . . . I don’t know where you put my pain medicine.”
Reaching down, I lifted her up into my arms. Ryn wrapped her arms around me and buried her face. “I feel like such a baby.”
“No, you’ve had a lot happen in the last twelve hours, sweetheart.” Sitting her down, I covered her up with the blanket I used last night. “Let me go get your pain meds and some ice.”
Walking into the master bedroom, I grabbed the pills that I had set on the side table last night. Ryn must have forgotten I told her they were there. When I walked back into the living room, Ryn had the blanket up to her nose, inhaling its smell. Smiling, I felt a bit of hope that Ryn had missed me as much as I missed her. I found myself smelling her shirt last night as I held it and watched her sleep.
I started walking back into the living room. “I had them next to the bed.”
Ryn quickly dropped the blanket and looked at me. Her smile about dropped me to the floor. Reaching out she took the pills from me. “Let me go get you some water.”
Turning, I attempted to calm my heartbeat and get my breathing settled. Knowing that Ryn was in pain was tearing me apart. I’d give anything to take her pain away. Anything.
Grabbing a towel, I opened the freezer and took out some ice. Wrapping it in the towel, I took a bottled water out of the refrigerator. I assessed what food I had. Biscuits, jelly, some fruit.
Shit. I needed to get her some real food. Setting the towel and water down, I rubbed my hands up and down my face. Reaching for the phone, I hit speed dial one as I grabbed the towel and water and walked back toward the living room.
The pain on Ryn’s face made my heart hurt. Handing her the bottled water, I sat on the coffee table.
“Hi, I’d like to place a to go order for delivery. Yes. Two egg, bacon, cheese, and potato breakfast tacos. Can you make sure the bacon is in strips and not cut up? Great.”
Ryn looked at me and smiled. Giving her my panty-melting smile back, I winked. Her mouth opened slightly and she quickly licked her lips before looking away.
“Then we’ll take two carne asada tacos, a Dr. Pepper and a root beer. Oh, and make sure you send green sauce with that please.”
After giving the girl over the phone my address, I hung up and set the phone next to me. “I have some peaches. Do you want me to cut one up for you?”
Ryn began chewing on her lower lip. “Tristan, you don’t have to be doing this.”
Pulling my head back in surprise, I looked at her. “Doing what?”
Her eyes looked away from me. “Taking care of me. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few days. I’m just glad I didn’t break my ankle.”
Smiling, I reached for her hand. It wasn’t lost on me how her whole body shuddered. “Ryn, I want to take care of you.” Grinning, I squeezed her hand. She gave me a shy grin back. We sat there and stared at each other until the sound of her cell phone snapped us out of the trance.
“Where’s my purse?”
Standing, I walked over to the dining room table and grabbed her purse. Handing it back to her, she quickly dug around and pulled out her phone.
Clearing her throat she said, “Hello?”
I motioned that I was going to take a shower and then turned and headed to the stairs.
Halfway up, I heard her say, “Hey, Dodge, no everything is fine. I’m sorry I didn’t get back in touch yesterday.”
Knowing she was talking to that fucker had me balling up my fists. I’d like to pound his face into the ground. I slowly made my way up the stairs but stopped at the top. Ryn had lowered her voice some.
“Honestly, I’m perfectly fine. I just need some time like I said. I have a lot to . . . think about it. Yes. No! No, I don’t think you should try and come back down here. I may actually leave earlier.”
I smiled hearing her tell him not to come back down, but then that smile quickly vanished when she said she might be leaving early. Fuck. How can I convince her to stay and how do I convince her to stay here with me?
“Take care of the club, Dodge. I’ll be fine. I’ve got some work I need to catch up on so I’m going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and catch up on some emails and things.”
I started to turn to head to my room. Ryn laughed, but still kept her voice down. “No, I’m going to just enjoy sitting on the deck, maybe go for a run.”
A run? How in the hell does she think she is going to run with a . . .
