The Four of Us | On Hiatus

Chapter 57

Guess what! The new SNEAK PEAK of TFOU's Rewrite is going to be up sometime this week (hopefully tomorrow) so feel free to check it out! It will have the same verbal premise of this book, but a lot of the plot will change as the relationships between some characters. It's going to be a better, newer, more thought-out version with little to no holes and gaps in the story. So, keep an eye on my message board for an update I'll post saying the sneak peak is up and ready to go. Enjoy!

F I F T Y—S E V E N

MY MIND KEPT flashing back to the kiss and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered the raw emotion I saw on Ryder's face just moments after we broke apart. There were a mix of feelings I couldn't decipher in that stare, but one of them I was sure of.

Fear. Ryder looked absolutely petrified at what he'd done the moment it was over.

I wanted to talk to him about it. I wanted to know if he meant to do it, or if it was just a heat-of-the-moment type of kiss. Like the kind you see in movies, when two people are in a life or death situation and kiss in case they never get the chance. Did he regret kissing me? Except, this wasn't a life or death situation, and he kissed me, not the other way around. Still, I couldn't bring myself to bring it up, especially since we hadn't made eye contact once since it happened.

"Are you okay?"

I jumped at the sudden intrusion to my thoughts. Cyrus was leaning towards me with a cautious look on his face, like he was worried he might spook a wild predator. "What?"

"Are you okay?" he repeated quietly. "You look a little shook up."

I spared a glance at Ryder. He watched the TV while Jay and Tyler played a competitive zombie game, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention. It looked more like he was staring through the TV and into his own thoughts. Much like I had been a few seconds ago. I turned back towards Cyrus. "I don't know."

His lip quirked to the side, an action that reminded me a lot of Jay. "So, how was it?"

I swallowed. There was no point in lying to Cyrus. He wouldn't have brought the kiss up if he wasn't sure it had happened. "Amazing."

"So, what's the problem? You two haven't interacted once since you walked through that door and it's been over three hours."

Don't remind me. I resisted the urge to look at Ryder again. "I think he regrets it, or it scared him."

"Who made the move?"

"Surprisingly, him."

Cyrus shook his head. "He doesn't regret it. Just talk to him about it."

Yeah, right. Just walk up to Ryder and confront him about the only time I've ever seen him look genuinely terrified? "That sounds like a terrible idea."

"You can either spend the rest of your life avoiding him," Cyrus said, "or ask him how he felt about the kiss. The worst that can happen is he says he regrets it, in which case you can continue avoiding him." This time I did look at Ryder, only to catch him quickly looking away from me. Heat filled my cheeks. "He's never done this before, so take it easy on him."

I spun back around to face Cyrus in disbelief. "What?"

He nodded. "We met Selena before girls ever even crossed Ryder's mind. It was always her until he met you. He's never had a relationship before, and he's never been around anyone but the three of us to see what one is like."

In a way, the idea of Ryder being inexperienced with girls helped calm my nerves.

•••••

Sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to go ahead and post one for you guys since the other half isn't complete yet. It will be up soon, I just haven't had much time to write it.