Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Time had passed slowly and I was getting better even though occasionally the pain would come and hit me like a train. Leon suspected that something was wrong but I made sure to steer away the conversation from it every time. Since he was super busy trying to find out who Avyanna was working for, it made it much easier for me to hide it from him.

Other than that, I was pretty good. Emrys had suggested to go on another date to make up for the last time he left me there and I, obviously, agreed even though I was spending the day at Ryker’s house. I was surprised when he actually agreed to let me visit him and even sent me his address. I saw that as a big step.

What I didn’t expect, though, was to get there and see him with Amara outside the gate of his house. So, I did what ever normal human would do. No, I didn’t walk up to them and say “hi” like you’re thinking. Instead, I parked my car far away from them and snuck into the bushes to eavesdrop with my super ninja roll.

That might have been an exaggeration since it wasn’t even a proper roll and I literally hit my head on the fence. Since the bush wouldn’t hide my figure as well as I imagined, I had to twist myself into some awkward position that had my abdomen paining me again then I hit the fence again. Imagine how much pain I was in when I said, “ow”.

“Did you hear something?” Amara asked looking at the bushes I was hiding in and I almost thought my cover was blown.

“It must be the rabbits,” he said with a casual shrug and she believed him causing me to sigh in relief. “Well, it was nice that you came over and all, but I keep telling you that you don’t have to. Linn is fine on her own.”

“I’m not doing it for her and you know that,” Amara said and he just placed his hands in his pockets, looking anywhere but at her. “Why can’t you just let me in?”

“The last thing I want is for us to start this argument again just when I’m beginning to tolerate you,” he said and I could imagine him rolling his eyes even though his back was turned to me.

“I love you,” she confessed and it sounded like she put a lot of emotion in that statement to maybe win Ryker over.

He sighed, took out his right hand from his pocket, and stroked her chin with his index finger. “Don’t do that to yourself my dear. It’s much too risky.”

“Isn’t that for me to decide?” she asked, her voice slightly breaking but Ryker didn’t answer. “I’m not giving up on you. Don’t you forget that.”

He didn’t say anything again and she gave him a little kiss on his cheek before getting into her car and driving away. She wasn’t even gone for too long when Ryker said, “I know you’re hiding there, Paris. Come out before you get rashes or something.”

I sheepishly chuckled and got out like he said. “How did you know I was there?”

“You mean other than the fact that yours legs were sticking out and you made a hell of a noise,” he asked and started walking in. “It’s a surprise Amara didn’t notice you since she was facing you.”

“She was more interested in you, obviously,” I said slightly rolling my eyes.

“I’ll take it you heard more than you should have,” Ryker said with a sigh and I eagerly nodded, matching his pace. “We’re not going to talk about it.”

I crossed my arms. “Why? You obviously need help in the love department and I’m here so why not take advantage of it.”

“The last person I’ll take advice from, in this life and the next, is you,” he said as he opened the door wide enough for both of use to walk in. “Honestly, I’d much rather die than do that.”

I glared at him but I was more occupied with taking in the house that screamed wealth. His parents must have been rich at some point. Like very rich. I stared at the house and walked into the living room with a smile on my face when I saw a girl that looked like a mini him and seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen. Eighteen was the oldest she could have been.

“Hello, you must be Linn,” I said with a bright smile on her face.

She looked at me and raised a brow. “It’s Linnaea to people who aren’t my friends. Who are you and where is Amara?”

Ryker glared at her. “This is my friend and you should be nice to her.”

“Is she the reason you won’t date Amara? Well, I’m not talking her if that’s the case. I don’t even know what you see in her. She looks like a freaking mess,” his sister said then gave me a glare that seemed to be in their family and stormed off to only God knows where.

I turned to Ryker and grinned. “Well, that went well.”

“Pay no attention to her. She just has it stuck in her head that Amara and I are perfect for each other and all that crap. She reads way too many books,” he said, rolling his eyes as we sat down on the couch. “What would you like to eat?”

“Nothing, really. I ate on my way here but when I’m hungry, I’ll order you around,” I said with a grin and he rolled his eyes. “Let’s talk about you and Amara. That sounds much more interesting.”

He placed his head in his hands and groaned. “Sometimes, I wish you were a little less like my sister.”

I laughed. “I’ll have you know there’s compliment in there and I’ll find it for sure.” “You piece of shit!”

“Ah, there it is.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not talking to you, idiot. My phone’s been acting up since yesterday.”

“Maybe it’s a sign that we should talk about your relationship with Amara,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes again and I suddenly felt worried for his eyes. They must have been so stressed having to do that every now and then. “There is nothing going on between me and her.”

“There could be if you let it,” I said with a shrug and he rolled his eyes for the third time in less than five minutes. “You really should stop rolling your eyes. It’s not healthy.”

He rolled his eyes again and I glared at him. “Fine, mother.” “I’ll make a great mother, won’t I?”

“I highly doubt that.”

I glared at him. “Can you just let me help you figure out how to fix your relationship with Amara so it’s perfect?” He didn’t say anything so I took it as an affirmation to continue. “Okay, what don’t you like about her?” He shrugged. “What do you like about her?” he shrugged again. “Come on, give me something to work with.”

“There is nothing to work with!”

“You’re making this hard for me. Just give me one valid reason why you are being stubborn when it comes to Amara. I don’t get it, honestly. The two of you have this connection and you’re just willing to let it go.”

He looked like he was contemplating replying me or not, then he sighed and said, “Would you believe me if I tell you I’m scared?”

“Definitely but it’s a good thing to be scared. You don’t grow when you remain in your comfort zone. Obviously, you’re scared of getting your heart broken, right?” He nodded. “That shouldn’t stop you from loving if your heart gets broken. I think that’s the idea of love and what makes it so special. You could be so happy with someone and then lose them either because they fell out of love or they died but the heart would still find a way to be happy with someone else.”

“Why do you have to go through the pain?”

“It makes you stronger, I guess. I never really thought about it but love takes a lot of courage that many people don’t have. The hardest thing in life is to love despite everything.”

“It doesn’t make me any less scared.”

“Don’t let the fear of what could happen let nothing happen. The beautiful thing about fear is that when you run to it, it runs away.”

He was quiet for a while and after hanging around him, I realized he was only quiet when he agreed with you or wasn’t going to argue anymore. “Why are you doing that?”

I raised a brow. “Doing what?” “Treating me like a person.”

“Isn’t that what you are?” I asked, my brows furrowing in confusion.

“I have always thought that the world isn’t a good place and you’re the second person to make me question if I was wrong about that.”

I assumed the first person was Amara. “There is nothing wrong with the world. Something is just completely wrong with people.”

“I have to agree,” he said with a small grin.

“Well since you agree, why not be happy and make friends?”

He looked up and shook his head. “It’s not necessary. I have everything I need.” “Don’t you feel lonely living in your own little world?” I asked with a sigh.

He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Don’t you feel powerless living in other people’s worlds?”

With those words, he stood up and left me there mulling over his words. I noticed he always did that with me. He would say something I didn’t understand and walk away expecting me to figure it out on my own. Ryker was a puzzle I couldn’t fix and I could only hope that one day, I would be able to put the pieces together.

“He’s a special one, isn’t he?” someone asked and I turned to see that it was Linn who was there. “I didn’t mean to be eavesdrop but I came to get something and heard you guys talking. I was interested so I didn’t leave.”

“How long?’

“I was there since the beginning.” I nodded. “I’m sorry I spoke to you like that. It’s just he always acted so cold towards Amara, well colder than usual, and I thought the only reason why he would not like her was because he was with someone else. I’m not usually that rude and all that.”

I chuckled. “It’s fine. I kind of got that when I saw you. It’s normal to react that way. I would do same if my ship wasn’t sailing and it looked like someone was trying to crash it.” She laughed. “Has he always been like that, though?”

“I believe he was a different person when our parents were alive but I wasn’t born then to tell the difference.”

“How did your mother die?”

She gave me a smile that spoke volumes even before she said, “She died giving birth to me and my father died a couple of months after my birth.”

I nodded and I would have apologized but I had always thought that saying you were sorry was like pouring salt into one’s wounds. “Did you ever feel like it was your fault?”

“I would have but Ryker never let me. He was always telling me that it was bound to happen some day and it was a gift I came into his life before it did,” she said, her smile extending.

“He must have been through a lot raising you at such a young age.”

She nodded. “He was eleven when it happened and he made sure we never got taken to foster homes because it would mean separating us. His teacher stayed with us until he was done with high school and he focused on raising me himself.”

“That’s very sweet of him,” I said and I looked in the direction he had left knowing that if I were him, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. “You know, I used to have siblings and well, they died. I thought my world was going to come to an end but I know that if I didn’t have my parents, it would have been something else entirely. Ryker is a very strong person to be able to handle all that on his own.”

She smiled. “He is, isn’t he?” I nodded. “I just want everything to be good for him and Paris, you’ve been so good to us. You have helped him more than he would like to admit.”

I laughed and ruffled her hair. “I didn’t do much.”

“That’s you being modest now,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I have to go. My friends and I are meeting up for a party, and Ryker told me not to go but I believe I’m going through this rebellious phase so, I’m going.”

I chuckled loudly. “I can drop you off if you’ll like.”

“She is not going anywhere,” Ryker’s voice came through and I looked to see him staring at us with crossed. “Linn, you’re grounded. Go to your room.”

“I’ll sneak out the window,” she whispered in my ear then winked at me before running off.

“She’s planning on sneaking out, isn’t she?” he asked with a slight roll of his eyes and I grinned. “She forgets I was once a teenager.”

I stood up and smiled. “It doesn’t stop a girl from dreaming. How old is she?”

“She just turned sixteen a couple of weeks back,” he replied. “Are you going already?”

“Well, I’ll come back to visit and definitely stay longer because Linn provides a much better company than you,” he rolled his eyes at that, “but for now, I think I have to go get ready for my date with Emrys.”

He sighed as we walked towards the door. “Well, goodbye.” I pulled him into a hug, which he didn’t return, and walked out. “I hope the scales fall from your eyes.”

He did it again. He said something I didn’t understand and shut the door leaving me to my thoughts hoping to figure out what he meant. He was so cryptic, I found it both annoying and exciting. Well, there was a date that called my name and needed to be answered so I didn’t dwell too much on it.