By the Playbook

By the Playbook (10)

It's incredible how much of an effect a dream can have on you. A good dream, you wake up in a blissful haze, nothing but a good night's sleep affecting you the next day. No worries, no memories of pain, no nothing.

How I wish I'd had a good dream.

I could feel the old pain in my leg again, a dull burn, dulling to an ache and starting up again when I thought it might be gone. The doctors had called it ghost pain - memories of the agony I had been through, of the infection that had nearly killed me, were accompanied with memories of the crash.

Where there was the crash, there was pain. And oh God, my leg hurt bad.

Ryder wrapped his arm around me, holding me to his side. He leaned down, pressing his lips to my hair before touching under my chin so I would look at him. "It'll be fun," he promised. And I knew he was only trying to help me, so I nodded, even though all I really wanted to be doing was sitting at home, maybe watching some kind of dumb comedy or a musical and eating ice cream to try and distract me.

Not here.

Here, was not only with Ryder, but with Gavin, Kale, and Cassie. It would have been easier had Gavin not been staring at me every three seconds like he thought I was going to start fitting in the middle of the road like a guest star in Girl, Interrupted. I kept my eyes down, my fingers tracing along the edge of my scar nervously as it throbbed with every beat of my heart.

I wasn't hungry, as I had already told Ryder multiple times, but considering the fact he was playing the part of the concerned boyfriend like his life depended on it, I found myself staring at a plate of fries and a sweet tea all the same twenty minutes later.

Ryder nudged me, eyes soft. "Try and eat something," he murmured in my ear. "It's not healthy to starve yourself."

I hardly thought skipping a meal was starving myself, but whatever. I picked up the smallest fry I could see and managed a small, forced smile as I placed it in my mouth, every part of me focusing on not throwing it straight back up with the way my stomach was still rolling with nerves.

The only reason I didn't get up and run straight back home was because Satan was sitting in the corner booth, eyes fixed straight on me. And I would not show weakness.

I leaned my head on Ryder's shoulder, forcing myself back into the mask. Everything was fine, I reminded myself, trying my best to ignore the pain in my leg. Everything was absolutely perfect.

And so I reached for another fry. Ryder pressed his lips to my hairline. "You good?"

I smiled at him. "Perfect."

Cassie looked at me curiously, then discreetly looked behind her as she shifted to face Gavin. When she turned back around, her smile had been replaced by a scowl, eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Whoa," Ryder said, raising his eyebrows at his sister. "You're beautiful."

"Shut up," she said, then glanced pointedly to her right, signaling for him to look over her shoulder.

He didn't get it.

"You're so pretty," I sighed, rubbing my thumb along his jaw as I leaned to his ear. "Skye's over there."

"Oh, gag," he said, then blinked. "Oh, God, Kasey's rubbing off on me."

Cassie giggled, quickly explaining to Gavin what was going on. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as Ryder ran his hand along my hip, silently reassuring me that it was the two of us.

"Why's she so obsessed with you, anyways?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder. He entwined our fingers, resting them on my thigh, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles as he shrugged slightly. "I don't know. She 'accidently' banged some d¡ck for almost three months then flipped out when I broke up with her."