Page 97 of Shy Girls Can't Date Rockstars
He laughs. “I’m good at watching food being made, that’s about it.” He takes a bite. “Mmm. Alice, this beats those breakfast sandwiches hands down.”
I take a bite too and really taste the freshness of the food.
It doesn’t make me want to hurl.
I relax into the seat and smile at him. “I actually taste it.”
“And it’s okay?”
I nod and stab at another cherry tomato. “Mm-hmm. It’s good.”
We eat in silence, although I feel Ryder’s eyes on me. I bet he’s skeptical about me continuing to eat. To be honest, I feel the same way about myself. Like, any second now, my body’s gonna freak out and I’ll toss the freshly prepared omelet across the room.
Thankfully, my composure wins, and I almost finish the entire plate.
Ryder taps the side of the plate. “Maybe you should cook your own meals now. You did better than any of Mrs. Gallagher’s meals.”
“It’s one meal. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Ryder shifts on his stool. “It’s just good to see you eating something besides junk.”
I purse my lips as something sour leaps onto my tongue. I press my hand against my sloshing stomach and hold my breath tight.
Ryder flinches. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I close my eyes, swallow hard, and my back goes rigid. Inside me, my brain, heart, and stomach are at war.
“Alice?”
I groan and suck in a much-needed breath. I slip off the stool and stomp along the side of the island. “Can you stop?”
He lifts his hands in surrender. “What did I do?”
“Just stop.” My hands cover my puffy eyes and exhaustion curves my back. “Don’t commentate on me. Don’t tell me I’m doing good.”
“I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong.”
I lower my hands. “Why would you? That’s my point. Stop acting like you know me.”
Ryder’s expression stiffens, and his frame looms taller and broader. “Is it really like that? You want to push me away? If so, fine. I’ll be so far away from you, you may as well be onAntarctica. But…” He pauses, taking a measured breath. “But since yesterday, I didn’t think we were hating each other.”
I sniff back my tears and hug my middle. My chin wobbles as I manage a quiet, “I don’t hate you.”
He steps off the stool but doesn’t step toward me. “And can you acknowledge we’re stillgettingto know each other?”
“Ryder.” It wavers out of me, and I stare at the floor tiles, scared of the words about to come out of my mouth. “Ryder, this is hard. I’m scared. I’m alone. And you weren’t nice to me when I arrived here.”
“I know.” He takes a step closer. “I’d grown so fed up with the rich kids at school, I couldn’t stand the thought of one living under the same roof.”
The sentence is so surprising, it jolts me out of my sadness. “Wh-what was that?”
He shakes his head, turning his body away. “I said I wasn’t going to get involved in this, but you know Miranda told me about your family before you got here.”
My head pulses with confusion. “And she told you I was rich? Ashworth Academy-level rich?”
“Well, the hefty loan kinda sold it.”
“Loan? What loan?”
