“Hey, Saw and Jake are coming around. You comin’ down?”
“Um, sure,” I mumbled, feeling anxious about seeing them. Sawyer and Jake, and technically Matt too, were Ryder’s friends. They would always have his back and rightly so. I couldn’t expect them to choose my side over his, not that I even understood why there would be a need for ‘sides’ in the first place. Standing up from the bed, I couldn’t help thinking what a giant mess this situation was, and I had no idea why. “I’ll be down in five.”
After changing into a clean top, I gave myself a quick glance over in the mirror, running my fingers through my hair before I went downstairs. I could hear voices on my approach and when I reached the bottom step I noticed Jake standing by the kitchen island.
“Hey,” I greeted, making my way over to where he stood.
“Hi. Wasn’t expecting to see you here. How’ve you been?”
“Good thanks,” I lied with a weak smile. “Where’re Sawyer and Matt?”
“Bringing beers in from the car.” As if by magic, they both appeared in that very second with their arms weighed down with crates.
“Oh,” Sawyer said, looking at me with a perplexed expression as he lowered his crate onto the walnut island. “You’re here.”
“Um, yeah,” I stuttered nervously past the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. Shouldn’t I be here? Has Ryder told him something? Was he pissed with me?
“Elle can’t get hold of Ry. She assumed he was with you.”
“Sorry, not seen him since last night.” Unless you count the moment our eyes briefly met while I was shooting with Gio earlier.
“You guys okay?”
I was about to lie yet again when Matt interrupted me. “They’ve had a lovers’ quarrel,” Matt said, smiling with a hint of amusement.
“Shut the fuck up, twat,” Sawyer scolded before looking right at me. He raised an eyebrow just slightly, as if silently asking me if I was okay. I nodded, feeling a little confused by his concern.
“Hey, you firing up the barbecue?” Sawyer asked Matt, thankfully forcing a subject change.
“Fuck no. I don’t cook. Told Alex to bring Chinese food with him. He’ll be here in an hour.”
“You don’t cook ever?” I cut in.
“Why cook when you can pay someone to do it for you?”
“Because homemade tastes better. It’s relaxing too. Therapeutic even.”
“Hey, I don’t need a fucking therapist.”
“That’s not what…never mind,” I trailed off, smiling and shaking my head.
“Jake, pop some of those beers in the cooler. I’m gonna take a shower before Alex gets here.”
“Nice to know you don’t mind stinking for us, dude,” Sawyer joked.
Matt flipped him the bird and turned towards the stairs, leaving the three of us alone. I made my way over to the L-shaped, white leather couch and sat back with my feet up, crossing my ankles. When Sawyer and Jake joined me a minute or so later, we discussed the studio for a while. With their old careers behind them they’d really thrown themselves into the business. They worked great with Ivan and the place had such a positive atmosphere under their influence, despite the fact they were brand new to the industry.
Around fifteen minutes later, Jake’s cell rang and after telling Sawyer it was someone called Roger, he excused himself and left the room to answer.
“That’s the guy in charge of my rebuild back in the UK,” Sawyer explained. “Jake kinda took over being in charge,” he added with slight humor in his voice. “He does that a lot.”
I remembered seeing photos of Sawyer’s burning house spread across celebrity magazines the day after it happened. It felt bizarre that I was now talking to him, the Sawyer Knight, about it face to face. “And how’s it going?”
“Almost complete. Took longer than I expected but it’s not too much of a big deal because we’ve only been back to England once since it happened.”
“Do you miss it? Being back home I mean.”
I wonder if Ryder does…
“Nah. Life is about people not places. Everyone I care about is out here with me. I’ve nobody to miss back home. So you wanna tell me what’s happened between you and Ry?”
Dammit. The conversation was going so well until he mentioned Ryder’s name. For a moment I almost felt relaxed. “I honestly don’t know,” I admitted. “I’d think it was because I told him I liked him, but really he’s been weird with me for a few weeks now.”
“I’d try not to take it too personally. I sometimes think, despite being a fun and confident looking guy, Ryder’s scared of something. Of getting close to someone.”
“Yeah. I get that feeling too.”
“Sometimes you just need to give people time. He’ll be ready when he’s ready. You can’t rush or force people to do something.”
“I’d never do that. But he’s not even giving me the chance to wait. He wants nothing to do with me.”