In the end I just remained still- absolutely still.
When the Bronco faced east on Farnam he removed his hand from across the seat to deal with the gearshift and I released the breath that had been bottled up inside me.
We were quiet on the way to Ryder’s house. Just the sounds of the radio, top forty surprisingly, and Ryder’s soft humming filled the car. I glanced over at him several times but his eyes were focused on the road and his jaw didn’t give anything away, except maybe he felt more relaxed than I did.
Ryder parked parallel from his building and then shut the car off. He stayed still for a few moments while the engine wound down and I didn’t dare move from the car before he did.
“Hungry?” he finally asked, tilting his cocky grin to face me.
“Do I have a choice?” I grunted, working up my best martyred victim expression.
“It’s going to be good, I promise. But before we go in, I wanted to warn you that my uncle and dad will be there,” his grin faltered, leaving behind some nervous embarrassment I didn’t quite understand.
“You kidnapped me to meet your family?” I bit out, suddenly furious. “Ryder, what the hell is Kenna going to say? What is your dad going to say? This is so weird. You should have asked me first.”
I counted the four coffees before we left the café, but so part of me held out hope they were just extras. And I had so blindsided by his desire to take me with him that I hadn’t really thought through what breakfast with his family meant.
“Probably I should have asked you first,” he shrugged off whatever embarrassment was there before and replaced his expression with a determination that sucked the breath from my lungs, “but you wouldn’t have come. And Kenna won’t care that you came for breakfast. Promise. We’re friends Ivy. Stop reading into everything I do. I just want to be your friend.”
I thought over everything he said and convinced myself he was right. Friends. We were friends. But then a thought flashed through my resolve and I blurted out, “Your dad and your uncle! I mean, I have this effect on…. uh, parents. Parents really love me. It’s just this talent I’ve always had. Actually with all adults. So um, if your dad seems to really like me, then you should know it’s just my natural charm.”
I wanted to smack my hand against my forehead and groan, but I smiled instead.
“Natural charm?” Ryder laughed. “Yeah, you’re really oozing with it.” He rolled his eyes but then shot me an encouraging smile. “There’s no need to be nervous, Ivy. My dad likes everybody.”
I grimaced. “I swear, I’m not nervous. I just want you to be….” I coughed, trying to get the ridiculous words out, “aware of my…. parental charm.”
“Sure, I’m aware,” Ryder chuckled and unclipped his seatbelt. “of your parental charm. Tanner gushes about it all the time.”
A laugh bubbled up in me before I could stop it by pretending to be offended. “Fine,” I sighed and unbuckled to. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
We met on the driver’s side of the car and walked across the street together. He led me around the building and punched in the code for his door. Holding it open, his hand landed on the small of my back when I walked past. A shiver rippled through me at his touch, but I ignored it.
At the top of the stairs, I waited for him to open the door again and then inhaled deeply at the heavy scent of bacon frying and bread baking. Deep, rumbling male laughter filled the air and paused at the sound of the door.
I walked in and turned to the kitchen to meet Ryder’s dad and uncle. There was at least twenty years between them, but the resemblance was obvious. Ryder’s dad, the older of the two, was very hip-professor with gelled hair, turned up into messy spikes and thick, black hipster glasses. He was classically handsome though too, with the same chiseled jaw line as Ryder and those silver-gray eyes that could be so unnerving. Ryder’s uncle Matt, seemed sandwiched between Ryder and his dad in the timeline of the Sutton Male Lifespan. I pictured the evolutionary timeline with Ryder representing the primitive ape and Ryder’s dad the full grown man. Matt fit somewhere in the middle of hunched over primate with less hair and elongated thumbs.
Matt slouched over the stove, hipped pressed against the counter, wooden spoon in long, slender fingers. He had extremely messy bed head hair, long to his chin and sticking out in every way. He was wearing glasses too, but they were thinner framed and did even less to conceal the flash of silver behind them. His face was covered in several day stubble and his worn white t-shirt and sweatpants revealed the same broad-shouldered, narrow-waist build Ryder carried.
“Ryder, is this your friend?” his dad asked from the kitchen. He smiled over at us and then took a sip of his orange juice while he waited for Ryder to respond.
“Yep,” Ryder nudged me forward and I found myself walking to the kitchen counter and setting the coffees down. “Dad, Matty, this is Ivy Pierce. Ivy, this is my uncle Matt, and my dad, Dr. Nathan Sutton.”
“Nate is just fine,” he laughed at his son and then extended his hand beyond his breakfast glass.
I took a few steps forward and accepted his hand shake. He had a strong but friendly grip and his eyes still twinkled from laughter. I sucked in a breath and met his gaze, but nothing except openness seemed to look back at me. No lust. No desire. No unwelcomed interest.
Whew. “Hi, Nate,” my voice trembled beneath nerves and I prayed no one else noticed.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, Ivy,” Matt called from next to the stove and I turned to meet his outstretched hand.
“Oh, no,” I groaned dramatically.
“All good things of course,” Matt was quick to reassure. I took his hand, and he shook it but his eyes were fixed behind me for a long moment before they flickered down to meet mine. He cleared his throat and something changed in his expression before he quickly added, “It’s always nice to meet one of Ryder’s friends.”
I stopped, but just barely, from rolling my eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I said politely.
Ryder clapped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me out of the kitchen a little bit. “Alright, let’s let Uncle Matt get back to breakfast before he burns everything.” Matt waved an annoyed spatula in the air, but winked at me before turning back to the stove. Ryder leaned in closer and spoke with a softer tone, “Grab your coffee.”
And then he reached around me so that his arm slid across my side and the weight of his chest pressed into my back. I froze. He plucked his coffee from the carrier all the while I counted the places our bodies connected and then he was gone, along with his warmth. I cleared my throat and focused harder on the three remaining cups trying to decipher which one was mine.
“Could this be it?” his dad reached forward and picked up one that had “macchiato” scrawled across the top.