Chasing Mr. Wrong

The first step to holding this all together? He needed to get a grip. For real this time. Because Whitney would never be tied down, and Ryder couldn’t keep chasing her while his own future went up in flames from the fire she left behind.

Chapter Thirteen

“What is this for?” Whitney asked, opening the envelope Pe

“It’s a bonus,” Pe

“Incentive?”

“I’m catering the event at the Davenport Hall,” Pe

Whitney glanced at the envelope in her hand. It wasn’t about the money. She’d help Pe

“Of course I’ll help.”

Pe

“I wasn’t invited,” Whitney said. “So I’m happy to be on food detail.”

Pe

“It’s cool.” She shrugged it off but didn’t feel any lighter. It didn’t fit into their arrangement, going to the reopening together. But still… “What I have with Ryder isn’t a public thing.”

“Do you want it to be?” Pe

That single question stopped her breath short. Did she? Sure, she’d gotten weird feelings seeing him interact with Clara. She also saw how the town respected him, and while he was never fake, he never allowed himself to be real, either. The real kind of man she knew behind closed doors, at least.

“I don’t know if he would really want that,” Whitney said. From day one, Ryder had tried putting her into a box, like he did with everyone else. Did she want him? Yes. In public? Yes. But if that meant she’d have to take him as the closed off guy he presented to everyone else, she wasn’t interested.

“Don’t you think you should leave that up to him?” Pe

“Staying longer?” Whitney asked.

Pe

“Like…” Whitney prompted, even though she could tell Pe

“Like a tall guy with impeccable ma

“Oh that!” Whitney said, and tapped her jaw. “I thought you were talking about me staying for all the awesome food you make.”

“Well, that too, naturally.”

Whitney laughed, then did one thing she hadn’t done in a long time. She reached out for a hug. Pe

Pe

“Thank you,” Whitney said and finally released Pe

But Pe

Whitney smiled. “Well, last I saw him, I left him sleeping in my bed the other day. I haven’t heard from him since. I didn’t think anything of it.” Even though she had. “I know he needs his space.” Even though she’d wished he would call her. Or come by the BBQ. Or…anything.

“Please.” Pe

The truth hit Whitney hard. “Him,” she said.

She was excited about the idea of staying in Diamond. Of getting to spend her nights with a specific Diamond, and maybe even her days with the same one. They were family. And that made Whitney feel like she just might belong here. She’d spent the year after Kacey’s death on the run, and this was the first place that felt like home.

But Ryder’s admission from the other night still plagued her thoughts.

“Ryder told me about his past, and the woman he eloped with.”

Pe

Whitney lowered her voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. I’m surprised he told you. No one knows except our closest friends. He was heartbroken. That woman crushed a part of him.”

Wow. Ryder hadn’t gone into those kinds of details, like how he’d felt crushed. He had told her more about how he regretted dragging his family into the mess.

“She really hurt him?”

“Yeah. He’d left everything and everyone and followed her to the city. He plays it off that he was young, which he was. But he was lost to her. Once the knot was tied, the ink wasn’t dry on the license before she left him and wanted a settlement. It broke something in him. Ever since, he hasn’t really let go of his control.” Pe

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing, if he’s worried about it.”

“He doesn’t know how to deal with that kind of passion. For a while, I didn’t, either. But eventually I let it take me down, and it’s a hell of a ride.” Pe

Like coffee dates and ma

“I’m not after anything of his, or your family’s,” Whitney said.

“Oh, I know that!” Pe

Difficult. Yep, that was what she was doing. He’d been honest, and Whitney now knew what he was fighting. She didn’t want to make it harder for him. She just wanted him. Ryder had tried to date her, to keep his boundaries in place, to even be her friend, and now it was Whitney’s turn to step up and compromise.

“I’m officially taking sex off the table,” she said, and Pe

“Ah…I think you lost me.”

“I mean, it’s not just about sex anymore. I want…” She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “More.”

“Oh, honey! We can definitely work with more! I’m all about getting that!”

Pe

“Oh, fuckin’ A!” Whitney whispered and ran a hand along her forehead, where an instant phantom headache hit.

“What? Are you okay?” Pe

She looked at her and shook her head. “I don’t know. I think it’s…side effects or something. Oh God…oh God…” She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Side effects? Are you on medication? Should I call Lily?”