AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glare at him. “No, I’m not. Make sure you roll your shoulders back and stretch back until you rest the top of your head onto the mat.”
“Now what?”
When I glance over at him, he’s barely got himself lifted up and he looks bored. I shake my head and frown. “You want to push your chest out a little more than that.” He does as I say, and I nod. “Not perfect, but definitely better. The more we do poses, the easier it will become to form them.”
“Okay, what’s next?”
“We’re going to hold the pose for a minute while taking deep breaths.”
I keep an eye on the time and him, making sure he’s taking deep breaths, then clear my throat when a minute passes. “What do you feel?”
“Frustrated,” he mumbles.
“Do another minute, try to center yourself and focus on clearing your mind.”
Another minute passes and he grumbles, dropping the pose like he’s a sack of potatoes. “This isn’t working, I’m done.” He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before he walks away and disappears back into the house.
Seems like a common theme with him, but at least he attempted the pose today – even if he tried fighting it at first.
When I finish my yoga routine and head back into the house, a soft sound fills the air, putting me on high alert.
He must be playing the guitar. It’s likely one of the things that helps with his stress, and it seems as though he needs the release.
I listen for a moment, letting the chords seep into my soul, and my eyebrows shoot up when I hear a soft voice echoing from down the hall – that’s what has me moving in the direction of it. The closer I get to the sound, the deeper and raspier the voice gets.
It’s mesmerizing, calling to me like a siren deep in the ocean.
There’s a large door that’s cracked open and I steal a quick peek inside. Ryker is sitting on a lone stool situated in the middle of the room, an acoustic guitar perched on his lap, and his eyes are closed as he hums along with the chords. After he’s done humming, he leans forward and opens his eyes briefly to scribble something down in a notebook that has me scrunching my eyebrows.
When he turns back to sit straight, I dart behind the wall so he can’t see me and listen as he croons into the empty room. His voice is soulful, full of emotion, and husky. It has me leaning against the wall, out of eyesight, as I listen to the words he’s trying to say.
And I’ll try not to let you down, even if the world is crumbling to the ground.
There’s so much hurt in his voice that it has my eyes blurring with tears, but I quickly shake them away. If he wanted me to hear him singing, he would’ve told me about this. As quietly, and inconspicuously, as possible I try to make my way back down the hall.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ryker snaps. When I keep walking and don’t answer him, a large hand comes down on my shoulder to spin me around. Just like I imagine that richest chocolate to look like, his eyes are blazing like an inferno that makes those dark swirls overlap the lightness in his gaze. “This isn't free for all.”
“I, uh, didn’t mean to interrupt.”
His top lip curls into a snarl, jaw clenching with the anger coursing through him, and he shakes his head. “I should’ve known I wouldn’t have my privacy with a damn shrink here, and this is why I didn’t want you here in the first place.”
“You’re right,” I whisper. “It wasn’t my business to eavesdrop.”
“You can go now,” he growls out.
Before he can get any more rude, I scurry down the hallway with his stare burning into my back.
I can hear him cursing down the hall, then the faint sound of something crashing, but I don’t pay it any mind as I head toward the sliding glass door that leads out to the pool.
Maybe I shouldn’t be here after all. It doesn’t seem like anyone will be able to get through to him, not even me.
7
Ryker
As soon as I saw the tears gathering in her eyes, I knew I’d made a mistake. What did I think was going to happen, that she wouldn’t hear me throughout the house or ignore it if she did? I shove the notebook with my lyrics onto the floor and run a hand through my hair in frustration.
Singing has always been a passion of mine, about as much as playing the guitar, which is why I make it a point to do it in my spare time. I’m not the lead singer of our band and that means I don’t get much of a spotlight on my voice. I’d always wondered if it’s because I don’t have what it takes to make something of myself with the voice, but that doesn’t stop me from singing when I’m alone.
