AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I promise you guys, I'm fine and there's nothing to worry about. I might not be able to talk to you guys still in the coming week because of some business I need to finish up, but I'll try," she lied. She would be busy figuring out her new position in the Cantil, but it wouldn't be enough to keep her from contacting them. She just needed some distance to re-evaluate her priorities.
"Alright," he said, nodding. "Will we see you at Pearl's this week?"
"I didn't realize you'd be coming again," she stated.
He shrugged, but she could see that there was a light pink dusting on his cheeks. "We decided it was a good place to go out together. It certainly helps that you work there. Besides, it might be the only way to see you right now, with the way you're talking. You're a Cantil Girl; they shouldn't be working you so hard, even if some guy left."
There it was again. Why did she ever let them be convinced that she was a Cantil Girl? Maybe if she had told them all the truth from the beginning, things wouldn't be so complicated now.
Caspar must have hit him because the phone was jostled slightly, and he turned his head to glare at someone off-screen. She was glad that they were sort of starting to get along. After talking to Caspar about her feelings, she suspected that them working on their friendship or acquaintanceship would be a priority for him. They didn't have to be the best of friends, but if the relationship she imagined with them was going to happen, they needed to be able to respect each other.
"I don't want you going there unless you know I'll be there, alright?" she insisted. "It's not exactly the safest place to go right now."
"It can't be too bad," Corbus butted in. "You wouldn't be a Cantil Girl if they were all that bad of guys."
"Promise me you won't go there unless I'm there," she repeated in a harder, stricter tone. "Something serious happened to make that guy leave. I don't want there to be any potential trouble, and I not be there to speak for you guys."
"We promise, Mykie," Caspar said. She could tell that he knew what she wasn't saying. That something was wrong. She also knew that he realized he couldn't do anything about it except follow her lead.
She saw out of the corner of her eye that Ryker was gesturing to her, but she couldn't tell what he wanted.
"I need to get stuff ready for work Monday, so I'll let you guys go now that you know I'm fine," she said, trying her hardest to end the phone call. She wanted to talk to them longer, but she resisted the urge.
She just had to remind herself that distance was better for all of them for the time being. It would be safer for all of them, in the long end, if she didn't let herself get attached.
The boys said their goodbyes, but she could tell that they didn't like it, either. Caspar looked the most disappointed, and she felt the heaviness in her heart. She promised herself then that she would call him soon and fill him in. He deserved to know the mess that she and, as a consequence, he were looking at. She hung up the phone before the boys could possibly question her more.
She closed her eyes and sighed. Renly and she were supposed to go shopping together eventually to replace the dress that he had thrown out. She wasn't sure if that was still the plan after what happened, but she suspected that it would be the best time to talk to him and explain everything. She just hoped he would give her a chance to explain.
She felt a hand on her uninjured shoulder, and she opened her eyes. Ryker had stood up and crossed the room without her knowing, coming into her personal space. She found that she didn't mind much, even though half of her told her she should push him away since she was only partially covered. This was dangerous territory for the both of them.
“They’ll understand, once you’re ready to tell them,” he said, running his hand down her arm.
The other half of her told her to throw caution to the wind and take the comfort that was being offered. She didn't think of the consequences as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. He seemed to resist at first, but she pressed onward, attempting to show him that she didn't want to be rational. She just wanted to feel.
His hand caressed her upper arm as his other wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. He couldn't trap her against a wall again, so he did the next best thing. He pushed them backward until her butt hit the edge of the table. He lifted her slightly so she could sit on the edge of the table.
She kissed along his jaw, ignoring the scratching blonde stubble in favor of making him feel just as warm as she felt around him. He pushed her back on the table until she was leaning back on her forearms. She was suddenly reminded of the first day with Renly, but it was in reverse. This time she was on the receiving end, waiting for Ryker to swoop down and claim her lips again just like she wanted to claim Ren—
She shook her head. No. She was with Ryker at the moment, not him.
Ryker was there for her while the others couldn't be. In a way that they never could be. He said it before. They would be the only people who would understand each other in the darkest way.
He seemed to sense the inner turmoil in her head as he hovered over her. He didn't lean down, but he didn't back away either.
"We shouldn't be doing this. Not like this," he murmured lowly. "It should mean something."
"You didn't seem to think that back at your father's work," she muttered. "You seemed to care a lot more about what you could do with me than any feelings."
"That was before I realized I could think about you as more than the Valkyrie." He paused. "You're the first person that can potentially understand me. I've had time to think since I last saw you and I want to be your partner, not someone you're kissing in a broom closet, like a secret."
"You aren't exactly known for your public presence or relationships, Ryker," she surmised. "What are you trying to suggest?"
"That as much as I want to ravish you," he said, running his hand down the side of her robe slowly, "I don't want to be someone you're distracting yourself with when you can't have someone else. I want you to want me and be thinking about me the whole time."
"I wasn't—"
He wrapped his arm around the back of her waist and pulled her up into a sitting position. She expected them to clunk heads by the way he pulled her, so she put her hand on his chest to stop her momentum.
