Page 95 of The Downside of Love
Chad is gone.
Now, we’re on to Kyle.
Kyle with the perfectly coiffed hair and bodybuilder abs. She met him at a bar, couldn’t resist giving him her number, and has been infatuated ever since. At least that’s what she’s telling me, but I can see in her eyes that it’s not the case.
She’s not happy, just as I’m not happy. But unlike Ryan, I don’t tend to mask it with something else. I’m straight up ornery right now.
“Did you hear me? I said he can lift me above his head with one arm.”
“Like a cheerleader?” I ask, pushing my salad toward the middle of the table, uninterested in nutrition.
“Yeah, lifted me up right by the butt and spun me around, only to toss me into the bed and do me from behind.”
Christ.
“Don’t need to know all the details, Ryan.” I hold up my hand, envisioning some guy with no neck and quads so big he can only wear spandex shorts tossing my friend around. It’s not what I want to be thinking about right now.
I want to focus on Stryder and the way he’s been so incredibly off lately.
Ever since the ball.
Ever since he ran into his father.
“What’s wrong? You’ve been moody ever since we got here. I told you we could have gone to Uncle Sam’s for some pancakes but you insisted on coming to Adam’s Mountain Café for a salad.”
Because they have the best salad with pears in it. Although it’s doing nothing for my sour mood right now.
“I know.” I push my unused spoon around on the table. “I’m sorry, I’m just . . . worried.”
“Worried? Why? Did something happen with Stryder?”
“Sort of.” I sigh and lean back in my chair, the wood digging into my spine. I welcome the pain. “Remember how we went to the ball a few days ago?”
“Yes, and you wore that killer red dress he bought for you. I remember you saying his mouth hit the floor when he saw you.”
It’s true, it did. He had the most perfect reaction I could have ever conjured up in my head when he saw me in the dress he picked out. If I didn’t already know he loved me, I would have known in that moment, because the way his eyes sparkled when he looked me up and down, and the way he smiled from ear to ear, a smile only I’m privy to, it was so beyond perfect. It set the mood to ultra-romantic for the rest of the night.
Until his dad showed up . . .
“It was such a good night, up until a point.”
“Uh oh, what happened?” Ryan takes a sip of her iced tea and leans forward, stirring her straw around.
“His dad was there.”
“Oh shit, really?”
“Yup.” I shake my head recalling the moment I felt Stryder turn into someone else. “He was such an asshole, Ryan. Cutting Stryder down every chance he got, and his mom was no help whatsoever. She just stood there, looking around the room, taking sips of her wine.”
“What did his dad say to him?”
I fidget with the spoon in front of me. “Made a jab at him for not being in flight school, and when I introduced myself, he recognized me from when I used to hang out with Colby in their pool house.”
“Oh hell, I’m sure that didn’t go over well.”
“Not in the slightest. Of course his dad used that against him. I’m not sure exactly what his dad said to him because he spoke quietly into his ear, but when he was done, Stryder was completely different. It reminded me of the Stryder we saw drunk off his ass at the bar. A shield over his eyes, protecting his soul from anyone who comes near it, and he’s . . . he’s been drinking more again.”
“No, really?”
