Ryder climbed into the back seat with Anastasia since Renée was sitting on the passenger seat with Sawyer driving. His glance went towards Anastasia as she scooted to the far end if the car, eager to put some distance between them. Ryder was nevertheless excited. The way she prevented him from going to the ledge only proved that she cared more than she showed. It made his heart beat with more excitement. So why shouldn’t he pursue her? It wasn’t like he was the only one who wants to be with her!
Despite the earlier daring stunt, Anastasia was exceptionally quiet. She had no idea what made her stop Ryder and talk to him when his own family was unable to make him see sense. She was stunned by her own behavior but more than that she was stunned by Ryder’s behavior as well. Why did he listen to her and not his own sister? She was dying of curiosity but with him sitting next to her, taking up all the space there, she just couldn’t ask him. She felt Renée’s curious glance upon her. She knew that Renée had heard her stopping her brother. She groaned internally knowing that she would surely ask her something later.
“Are you happy now that I listened to you?” asked Ryder, leaning in towards her to whisper in her ears. Anastasia’s eyes flew up to his and then towards Renée. She nodded quietly.
“Are you nervous?” whispered Ryder holding her gaze, challenging her to reply.
“No,” she whispered back.
“Then why aren’t you talking to me? I might conclude that you’re nervous around me,” he said with a wink.
“You’re wrong. Why should I be nervous around you?” she retorted, the sass back in her tone. Ryder grinned. He liked it this way!
“Why did you stop me from going to the ledge?” he whispered, curiosity getting the better of him.
“I don’t like to see people committing suicide right in front of my eyes,” she told him with a glare. She would rather die than accept that she didn’t want him to get hurt. Why? She herself had no idea. Ryder’s smirk widened.
“Oh right! Well, I almost thought that you’re whipped with me. I’m the hottest guy around after all!” said Ryder making Anastasia scoff and scoot further away from him till she was literally sticking to the door.
“I’m no less so why should I be whipped with you?” she asked with a horrified expression on her face. She looked out of the window to make him realize that she was done talking to him. Of course he was the most virile, sinfully gorgeous and the typical alpha male in Fordsville that every girl would love to be with but not her. She preferred the caring types, the dedicated ones, the serious types who would be true to her, not some Casanova playboy!
“So are we back to this? Even after we talked so much?” grumbled Ryder feeling pissed off. If Renée wasn’t present he would have closed the distance between them and pulled the sassy little creature onto his lap and compelled her to talk to him. Why was she ignoring him now? Ryder smirked at his thoughts. Would he only talk to her if she sat in his lap? He was sure his romantic organ would force him to do other things as well. His glance fell on her plump pink lips. They looked dewy and soft as she constantly bit into it out of nervousness.
“Can you look elsewhere?” she whispered, making Ryder smirk. So she was watching hi, discreetly.
“No why should I? I like what I see,” said Ryder with a wide grin.
“Of course you would. You must have said that line to every girl you met,” she retorted with an eye roll. Ryder’s smile vanished.
“How did you know that?” he asked, loving the look on her face. He noticed that her face was indeed very expressive and he didn’t need words to tell him how she felt. He could read her so well! It took them an hour to reach the Clark Canyon Reservoir where they would camp for lunch and rest a little. Clark Canyon Reservoir, located south of Dillon, is the headwaters of the Beaverhead River and the terminus of the Red Rock River. They all climbed out of their vehicles and gazed at the 5000-acre lake with awe.
“Choose a spot where we can set up the camp,” said Rex as he drove up beside their vehicle.
Anastasia twisted her ankle while climbing out of the car and sat down on the ground unable to get up. She wasn’t used to traveling so much, having spent all her life either at her boarding school or at her grandparents house. Rex, who had been a star football player in his high school and college days, helped her with the first aid. It seemed as if he was always prepared.
They all selected a spot and Sawyer and the boys unloaded their camping gears. Rhett too drove in and helped with the setting up of a huge camp that would allow everyone to relax their tired muscles for a while.
“This place is famous for delicious rainbow trouts. Let’s get ourselves three motor boats and go exploring,” said Rhett. He was very knowledgeable as he had visited each and every place around during his college days with his group of close friends.
“I’m afraid that I cannot go. I’ll stay back at the camp and guard our stuff,” offered Anastasia.
“We can’t leave you all alone here. Someone will abduct you along with our stuff,” said Rihanna.
“I can stay back with her,” offered Ryder, making Renée choke on her spit. She gaped at her playboy brother. What was wrong with him? Why was he behaving so stupid around her bestie? She wasn’t available for his flings.
“Ryde, I need to talk to you,” said Renée, catching hold of his hand and pulling him away from everyone.
“Hey! What are you up to? I don’t need your lecture, Ren,” he scolded his sister, knowing fully well what she would say to him.
“Don’t flirt with Ana, I beg of you. She’s too innocent for your games, Ryde. Her life is very complicated. Don’t add to her woes. I’m sure there are plenty of other girls for you to mess around with,” warned Renée, walking away without listening to his answer. Ryder watched her walk away with that little bomb that she threw at him. His interest was piqued. What did she mean? Why was Anastasia’s life so complicated? Why was she unhappy? He walked back slowly to the camping site with his head full of questions. He saw the others walk away as he approached the campsite.
“Hope you haven’t changed your mind, Ryde!” yelled Rihanna with a grin. Ryder shook his head. Why would he change his mind? He was more interested now to know more about Anastasia.
“I haven’t. Enjoy!” he yelled back. Renée gave him a warning glare which he ignored and turned his attention to an embarrassed Anastasia. He sat down beside her on the blanket inside the camp, watching her flushed cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes with awe. Surely Renée was mistaken. Anastasia didn’t look unhappy or disturbed at all.
“You didn’t need to stay back for me, Blue,” she said softly.
“I wanted to,” he told her, still gazing at her. He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. “What if someone abducted you?” he said with a wink. Anastasia rolled her eyes at his words.
“Why would someone want to abduct me out of all the people in the world?” she said looking surprised.
“I would if I hadn’t known you,” said Ryder with a smirk. Anastasia turned her head and looked into his blue eyes with disbelief. Just what Ryder had been waiting for. He held her gaze, his intense gaze trying to read her soul, to get the answers he was looking for.
“Do you wish to abduct every girl you see? Should I be alarmed?” asked Anastasia,
“No, only you. Nothing to be alarmed since you turned out to be Renée’s best friend. I can’t enrage her!” said Ryder with a chuckle. Anastasia also smiled.
“I wish my brother would also be half as nice as you,” said Anastasia.
“Hey, I’m not your brother, okay? And I’m not nice at all,” said Ryder, looking wide-eyed. Did she consider him to be her brother? Heaven forbid! Anastasia laughed, her face lighting up with mirth.
“Of course you aren’t my brother. You’re Renée’s brother. I’m talking about my own brother, Anthony. Well, not my own actually,” she said rambling on and on. Ryder gazed at the myriad expressions that her face portrayed. He could read it all.
“What do you mean? Is he your own brother or not?” asked Ryder looking confused.
“Umm, I’m actually the adopted one,” she told him. Ryder was taken aback by what she had just told him. Was it the reason why Renée said that her life was very complicated?
“Still they’re your family. They do love you,” said Ryder a little hesitantly.
“They’re my family, yes. Love? No, they don’t love me. I was adopted for a purpose, for sacrifice. You won’t understand, Blue,” she said, sighing. Ryder was bursting with curiosity. What purpose was she talking about? Everything seemed like a puzzle to him. Anastasia seemed like a mystery, a puzzle and he was curious to find his answers.