Reckless Play | ✓

35. Answers

a/n: I managed to make some time to update two new chapters for you guys!!

Hope you enjoy!

Here's a beautiful cover made by @RomansuNoKoibito love it, thank you so much!!

***

The only reason he ever noticed you on the first place is because you remind him of his ex girlfriend.

The words sounded on repeat inside my head. Somewhere along his explanation my eardrums blocked and his voice started to sound distant, like he was talking to me from inside a tunel.

"...I'm sorry..."

He had left soon after he dropped those words on me and I'd watched his retreating back on a trance.

This couldn't be. Ryan would never do something like that to me. I shook my head in denial. He wouldn't do that to me.

Then why did everything Reed said fit together like a puzzle?

My head swayed and I had to sit down on one of the benches before my legs gave up on me.

That's how my mother found me.

She got the scare of her life when she came out of the fitting room to find me pale as a ghost. She started to fuzz around me until I convinced her I felt dizzy for a moment but I was feeling much better. Then I escaped to the restroom to panic on my own.

I refreshed my face and leaned against the sink. The girl on the mirror stared back at me. There was something wrong about her appearance, her eyes were too big, her face pale, her hair messy.

I had to take several deep breaths to regain my composure.

It could not be true.

After all, what prove did I have that Reed was telling the truth?

It would be on his best interest to create a confrontation between Ryan and me. He could be laughing right at this moment thinking how easy it was to trick me. How gullible I was.

I wouldn't know the truth until after I talked with Ryan. He had promised to talk with me and explain. Maybe what he had to say would clear everything out.

There had to be a reason why he hated the Trafford brothers with all his might. That was one of the reasons I told myself in order to discard Reed words. I'd give Ryan the benefit of the doubt.

Taking one last deep breath I straightened myself, fixed my hair and pinched my cheeks for color before leaving the bathroom.

***

I had sent Ryan a text when we left the shopping mall and he might have been waiting for me because as soon as mum's Honda pulled to a stop in front of his house he came sauntering down the steps.

I had just gotten out of the car when he pulled me to his side and bent forward to greet my mother through the window. Mum had a smile on her face--even she couldn't resist his charms.

I had trouble concentrating on the words being exchanged. My mind was reeling with unanswered questions. I didn't know how to respond to Ryan's charming disposition after today's revelation. Though I did promise I'd give him a chance to explain himself and I was sure he would clear everything up. I stole a glance towards him and caught his confident stance and the ease with which he moved. I couldn't help but stare at him a little awed, he was so sure of himself.

Yeah, we'd be all right.

Once this was confirmed I relaxed in his hold and I tried to catch up with the conversation. He must have noticed the tightness was gone from my body because he gave me a light squeeze.

We watched as mum pulled away from the curb and stayed there until her car disappeared from sight.

I heard Ryan's sigh before he pulled me to his front and wrapped his arms around me. I reciprocated in kind, linking my hands behind his back underneath his jacket.

"Hi." I said, my voice muffled against his chest.

I felt him drop a kiss to the side of my head. "Hey beautiful."

We stayed wrapped like that for a few seconds until the chill in the air made me shiver. Ryan dropped his arms from around me to take hold of my hand and guide me inside.

"Mum went to the gym and Char just left for a sleep over at her best friend's house." He replied when I asked about his family's whereabouts. "Do you want something to drink?" He walked over to the kitchen and started opening drawers.

I watched him from my spot on a stool as he moved about, turning on the coffee machine and taking two cups from the cupboard above the sink. Then as the coffee was brewing he opened a packet of chocolate chip cookies, took one then offered me some.

I took one and started munching on it as I weighed wether he should bring the subject up or I should.

"Where's your dad?" I asked instead.

He wipped crumbs of cookie from his mouth before answering, "Working."

"He works a lot." It was an affirmation but it sounded like a question.

Ryan nodded. "Most of the time he is at the office. He's only home on Sundays but then he usually has some work to do from his notebook too so..." He shrugged.

"You don't get to spend much time with him, do you?"

"No. I don't have much problem with it though, not as Char does. He was a good Dad before he got his promotion. He spent time with us as a family, but he's been so focused on work this past years that he doesn't even know what's going on in our lives. That's why Char resents him."

I dropped my chin on my hand, "And you took it upon you to be Charlotte's manly figure."

It was an observation. So many things made sense now, his protective side, how he tried to warn her away from dangerous guys.

"That and other things too. She went through a difficult time. She had a..." He seemed to be batling with himself. I understood his hesitation. It was Charlotte's choice to tell me. "She was sick for a while and she had to stay at the hospital. The doctor said it was a miracle she was still breathing. She still has to go there for check ups." He leaned back against the counter, the pain of the memory evident in his expression. "I get this dreadful feeling in my gut every time she goes inside and it doesen't go away until we are on our way back home."

I got up from my stool and walked over to him, stopping between his legs. "You worry about her. That's reasonable."

He studied my face for a moment then reached up to frame it with his hands. "Do you understand now why I reacted that way when you brought up Dylan?"

I nodded.

I did get why he got mad when he heard Charlotte was seeing one of the brothers, but that still didn't explain the rivalry between them.

"What happened between you?"

He knew what I was asking.

He took a deep breath and let it out, fanning the hairs on top of my head. Then he blurted one word, "Football."