Do Me Right (De Toi à Moi #1)

Twenty Two

Ryder wasn't next to me when I woke up. I had the bed all to myself and since I still felt a little tired, I spread my arms and legs out wide, falling back asleep in the seastar position. His bed was a lot more comfortable than mine. The mattress was soft and squishy, the pillows thick and filled with feathers. His sheets were the softest cotton I'd ever felt on my bare skin. I wanted to sleep in here forever.

I had no idea for how long I'd gone to sleep again, but I woke for the second time and found Ryder sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxer shorts, his hair still wet from a shower. He held a big bowl of freshly cut fruit in his hand, scooping some of the contents up with a spoon and stuffing them into his mouth.

"You showered without me?" I asked groggily, rolling over onto my back.

"I went for a run already. Dana picked up my drycleaning," he gave me a look, "but I sent her home for the day."

"I keep forgetting I have to pick up your drycleaning on Saturday morning." I sighed and sat up straight, the sheets falling to my waist. Ryder's gaze immediately fell from my face. I knew immediately what he was looking at, but just because I was curious to know if it looked better, i stared down at my bruise as well. It hurt less than last night and it looked a lot less red, but it still looked bad.

"Why did you send her home?" I asked when he set the bowl of fruit on the bedside table. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the tube of creme and squeezed some onto his hands again. I pushed the sheets further down my thighs so he wouldn't spill any of the ointment on them.

"Because today is just you and me, Belle," he said softly, applying light pressure to my bruise when he spread the subtance over it. "Sorry," he said when I winced lightly. "Are you sure you don't wanna see a doctor?"

"It's just a bruise, Ryder, it'll heal."

"Your hipbone might be fractured." He finished applying the ointment and looked up at me.

"What about you? Are you sure your jaw is okay?" I stared at his face. His bottom lip was still lightly swollen but it looked a lot better than last night. His left cheek and jaw looked a little blue. "Do you need some crème too?" I reached for the tube, but he was quick to swat my hands away. "Ryder-"

"I'll live, Belle. It wasn't my first fight." He rose from the bed, heading into the small bathroom adjoined to his room. I heard him turn on the faucet to wash his hands. "You shouldn't have tried to intervene," he called out through the opened door.

"And you shouldn't have punched him," I retorted.

"He deserved it." He flicked off the light in the bathroom and reclaimed his spot in the bed.

"He did," I agreed, placing a hand on his shoulder, "but you should've thought twice about it."

Ryder sighed as he reached for the bowl of fruit again. He ran the spoon through it, mixing it up before holding up in front of me. "Open," he said with a smile.

I returned the smile and opened my mouth. Slowly, he brought the spoon full of fruit up to my mouth. I closed my lips around it and ripped the pieces off with my teeth. "That's good," I sighed, licking the taste off my lips after swallowing the fruit. "Is there... vanilla in it?"

He nodded, picking up some more fruit for himself. "Family tradition," he shrugged.

"It's good. It's really good."

"Want some more?" He held up the bowl invitingly, looking at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes please." I crawled closer to him so my chest was pressed to his side.