T W E N T Y—N I N E
I WAS STILL curled up on the counter after what felt like hours when Ryder came back. My eyes felt undeniably heavy, but somewhere inside me I knew it would be a bad idea to close them.
"Here, put these on," he said, slightly out of breath from rushing. I stared at the clothes blankly before taking them from his hands.
I stood from the counter, suddenly careless as to whether or not he was watching as I tugged off my shirt, leaving me in a pair of black underwear and a black and gray bra. Wordlessly, I tugged on the baggy, long sleeve shirt and sweatpants he'd handed me before turning around.
Ryder had his head turned to the side, cheeks flushed red from embarrassment and shock. He cleared his throat and turned back to me, letting out a deep breath before speaking. "There's a bath—you know what, never mind. Too late now," he sputtered out.
He let out a deep breath and tugged off his jacket, refusing to make eye contact with me as he stepped closer and hung it around my shoulders. He glanced up at my head as he tugged off his beanie and pulled it over my head and ears, letting his hands drop to my arms as he rubbed them for friction.
"We need to get you warmed up, okay?" I nodded and let him guide me to the fireplace, despite how hot I currently felt. He lightly pushed my shoulders down so that I was sitting on the floor when we got there. "Stay here and try to warm up; I'll be right back."
I did as he asked and focused on the fire in front of me, placing my hands just close enough for the heat to slightly sting my palms.
I heard the faucet running behind me a few seconds before Ryder came back. My eyes shifted to the glass of what horrifyingly looked like milk-water in his hand. "What's that?"
He glanced down at the glass, then back at me. "Sugar water," he said as he sat down beside me—pretty closely, if I might add. "I looked up what might help hypothermia when I was getting you some clothes. Sugar water was one thing, though it didn't say why."
I carefully took the glass from his hand. "Thanks."
He nodded, then sighed before wrapping an arm around me and tugging me closer. I didn't question it; I knew he was trying to warm me up, but I couldn't help the feeling of guilt in my chest as I sipped the warm cup of sugar and water.
Ryder was in love with Selena, and it didn't seem fair of me to be cuddled up next to him when he might finally get his chance with her, despite the fact that we didn't feel that way about each other. No matter the circumstances, he belonged to her, and I'd have to accept that, especially with him having never been mine in the first place.
"Skye?" he asked, glancing over at me with a curious expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I answered simply, setting down the empty glass and shivering. "I'm just freezing."
Ryder let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank god," he muttered, pulling me closer to him. "I thought you were done for."
I snacked his arm with a slight laugh, though I still felt like a walking ice cube. My hands were the only thing that weren't numb because of how close to the fire I'd had them, but it was nice to finally be fully aware of what's going on instead of stuck in a haze. "That's reassuring."
"Well, you're fine now, aren't you?" He said, grinning at his award winning jokes.
I'm kidding. They suck.
"I hope so," I said seriously.
Ryder sighed, the light mood gone and replaced with worry, surprisingly. I didn't think Ryder cared that much. After all, he'd barely known me more than a few weeks. "You're going to be okay, we just need to get you moving around to get your blood pumping."
I snorted. "You sound like a personal trainer."
"I'm a personal hypothermia reducer," he said as he stood up, offering me a hand in the process.
"I don't think that's how it works," I said, accepting his hand and standing up. After sitting down and relaxing for a while, my body felt impossibly weak when I tried to stand or move.
Ryder cursed under his breath when I stumbled, sliding both hands under my arms to pull me up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I breathed out, nodding to reassure myself more than him. "I think so."
"Maybe we should start you off just walking," he said unsurely, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You still look really pale, and you're most definitely not okay, yet." He seemed to contemplate for a moment after I nodded. "Let's go upstairs. I want you to try and use the bathroom—another thing that I read would help—and then get under the blankets for warmth."
I nodded again silently and followed his instructions. Using the bathroom burned like I'd just swam in a freezing pool, but it did help me afterwards with my internal body temperature and being able to relax.
Ryder took me back to his room when he was satisfied that I could sleep and still wake up in the morning. He helped me climb into bed, then surprised me by climbing in after me. We both laid on our sides, his head resting on his elbow and mine on my hand, simply staring at one another.
My eyes felt heavy, but every shiver shook my body back to consciousness.
"You can't sleep," Ryder whispered softly. He gently reached up to tuck the loose strand of hair falling in my face back behind my ear.
I nodded as his hand lingered, but still found myself asking, "Why not?"
"I'm afraid you won't wake up, Skye." His eyes veered from mine for the first time since we'd laid down with a sigh. "I need you to stay awake for me for a few. I'll let you know when I think you can sleep."
I nodded wordlessly, letting the comfortable silence drag on as I closed my eyes. The only sounds in the room came from my quick breaths from shivering.
We laid there for a while in silence, long enough for sleep to pull me half in before I felt a hand wrap around my waist. I was too tired to react or speak, so I simply let Ryder tug me closer to his body and tuck his face in his beanie, just above my forehead.
I shifted slightly to get more comfortable, then found myself asking a question I'd kept to myself for a while without realizing it. "Do you hate me?"
There were a few seconds of silence before the warm breath from Ryder's sigh brushed against my forehead. "No, Skye. I don't hate you."
I shivered. "You used to."
He tugged me closer to him. "No, I didn't. I hated that you were different, but I never hated you."
I opened my eyes and tilted my head up, to which Ryder leaned back a little to look at me. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean, no one has ever stood up to me, whether it was for themselves or someone else." He started to bite the inside of his cheek in thought, but stopped when he noticed me staring disapprovingly at it. "You sort of gave people the courage to stand up for themselves, which was a good and bad thing."
"How so?" I asked, tilting my head slightly in curiosity.
"For one," he started. "I'm a complete douche. They probably should stand up to me."
"I'm aware," I said with a quiet laugh, though it was quickly followed by a small shiver.
"Funny," he deadpanned. "The bad part . . . Let's just say, the fear from other people to stand up to me goes for both good and bad people. That slight fear people have of me keeps the bad ones in place."
"But, why be bad to the good? They don't deserve it."
"Really, you never know what people do and don't deserve," he said, letting out another sigh. "The nice kid with straight A's could grow up to be an Axe wielding maniac—"
"And the asshole everyone's afraid of could actually turn out to be a cuddly sweetheart," I finished with a grin.
Ryder glared at me, then shook his head with a chuckle. "Just get some sleep, Skye."
"Will do, teddy bear."
"I am not afraid to strangle you," he muttered, tightening his hold around me just slightly in a threatening way.
"Just after you saved my life?" I remarked. "I don't think so."
My statement was proven to be true when Ryder loosened his grip around me to a comfortable tightness. From there, it didn't take much to drift off into the suddenly pleasant darkness.