How To Kill Ryder Blake (COMPLETED)

{Ten} On The Road We Will Go

My stepfather was the only person home when I woke up the next morning. My mom and sister had gone Grocery shopping, leaving me to have to explain my weekend adventure with Ryder to the one person who would probably actually disapprove of the entire thing.

       Unfortunately, before I even had a chance to bring it up, he brought up the events of last night as soon as I sat at the kitchen table to eat a bowl of cereal.

       "Are you alright, Zoe?" He asked, voice soft, as if he were afraid of an outburst.

    I eyed him weirdly. "I'm fine? Why do you ask?"

       "Well, you were yelling and Max left looking really upset. Do I need to go find my old bat and beat him down?" He joked.

      It was enough to get a small smile out of me. "I'm okay, Collin, really. Just. . . just an argument, nothing happened."

     "You know I'm here for you, right?" He reached over and rested his hand on top of mine. "I know I'll never actually be your father, but know that I'm extraordinarily proud of the woman you've grown into and love you just as much as Katheryn."

       "Thank you, Collin." I swallowed, looking away.

   As always, my emotions tried to deceive me, and I'd learned the day my father had hit me that emotions were a weakness and would end up hurting me. I wasn't going to let anyone, not even my parents, see me feeling anything but happiness.

     I waited until we had both finished eating to nod in the direction of the Blake's next door. "I kind of got sucked into something with the Blake's. Can you let Mom and Kat know I'll be back either tomorrow night or Sunday morning?"

        "Wow wow, wait." He grabbed my hand before I could head back to my room to grab my stuff. "What now?"

       "I'm going on a little road trip to Nevada with Ryan and Ryder today." I scratched at my arm anxiously. "I promise I'll be fine. Mom would be okay with me going, she knows them."

       He rubbed his goatee, lips pursed and eyebrows drawn. "Okay. Please be safe and if you need anything, even if it's your mother or me to come get you, please call, alright?"

       I gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Yes, of course."

*

            To my surprise, neither of Blake's said a word about last night when they found me out on the swing set, my duffel bag at my feet. Ryan was muttering incoherently under his breath and unlocking his car, Ryder lingering a few steps behind, looking back over at me.

          "Come on, Zoey." He grinned. "No cold feet."

       I huffed out a dramatically long sigh and dragged myself after him, nearly throwing a fit when I realized there was no step-side on the truck.

       "How am I supposed to get in?" I asked Ryder, but Ryan was the one that answered.

     "You see those grab handles up there?" He pointed. "You grab it and hoist yourself up."

       I glared. "You're lucky you're way over there so I can't slap you. In case you guys were too caught up in yourselves, I wasn't the one on the cheer squad, that was Gabby. I legit have the upper body strength of a baby."

       Ryder laughed behind me and tried to step forward to help me, but Ryan shot him a dark look. "Don't even think about it. You are just as weak as she is."

      If given the choice, I probably would have rather had Ryder help me into the car. The bits and pieces of the scared boy I'd seen the last few days made me feel a little more at ease in his presence opposed to his older brother's. Ryan was still a giant mystery and façade of the boy I'd spent years just believing the rumors about.