House of Cards

Chapter 8

"Are you drunk?" Maise asked, slapping Ryan's hand away. When she turned around and found herself trapped between the door and him, Maise touched Ryan's shoulder with her fingertips and pushed him back. Only then, her heart settled back into its rhythmic pattern and the muscles around her mouth relaxed.

Ryan's mouth twisted in a grimace as he rolled his eyes skywards. "I wouldn't be driving if I was."

Maise held her left hand up. Even in the pressing dark, the diamond glistened like the ever-cold ice. The three platinum strands were curved to weave the perfect blend of elegance and love. Surely, he couldn't have missed it all this time. "Then are you blind?"

"Can't ignore it even if I tried." He scoffed, glaring out of the windshield. His hand disappeared around the steering wheel in the dark. "But did you have to marry him?"

Maise crossed her arms over her chest and sank back into the leather seat. "Don't let it bother you." It wasn't like if Ryan asked the questions a certain amount of time, Maise was going to answer him.

As the engine revved to life, Ryan whispered under his breath. "If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have felt this way." The sudden street lights replaced the shadows of the trees. In the dappled glow, his haughty stare sent a shudder down Maise's spine.

"What?" she asked, fidgeting to put on the seatbelt. "And where are we going?"

Ryan glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "Are you going to walk home?"

She jolted upright, her eyes wide and every muscle in her body clenching rhythmically. Ryan's car outside her home was a bad idea. Even if Wayne wasn't home. "You can't drop me home–"

"Your home," Ryan replied, glaring at Maise through his hardened eyes. "Not his home." Though he looked away a fraction of a second later, Maise found herself plastered to the seat.

In the renewed silence, Maise tried to look straight ahead. But knowing Ryan was watching her every chance he got made it unnerving. He looked the same and yet like a stranger. Like he had crawled into some invisible shell and become unreachable. Predicting him was hard. Though Maise already knew all the answers to her questions. And she clenched her fists tighter, as her heart began pounding again. He loved her. And she liked that.

She crossed her ankles in front of her and scooted closer to Ryan. "What did you tell Wayne about us?"

There was a pleased look in his eyes, like a flicker of warmth. And it latched onto his features, pulling his lips up. "Are you scared I've spilled something you don't want him to know?"

Maise's jaw hardened. "I doubt you'd be walking if you had."

"Ever since you left me, I've kept my lips sealed," Ryan replied, his features dropping like the question held too much weight. Even his shoulder sagged and he let out a sigh. "Because I know you wouldn't want anyone to know about us."

"Then what did you tell him?"

"I think he suspected me behind that phone call," Ryan said, shaking his head. "I told him, I didn't even know who is his wife. Of course, I knew you, because we studied together, but that's all we did. Study in the same class. You had your own posse. I had my friends. I think somewhere, he understood we never belonged to the same crowd."

Before she could stop her, the words tumbled out of her mouth. "I never left you." All this while, she knew that's what he thought. And half her heart wanted him to suffer from the lie. The other half longed to say it out loud for him to hear. At least once. The weight lifted off her chest, made her voice grow softer. "And the only reason I don't want people to find out about us is because of what will happen as a result." She picked at her nails, gazing at them.