My Cowboy

On Hold

I woke up this morning with a killer headache. It's funny because I'm sure Ryder feels the same way. Once I was dressed, I somehow managed to make breakfast. I made pancakes and bacon. It wasn't awful.

"Wow. This is actually pretty good." My dad said. "You'll have to teach me how to do this."

I nodded and checked my phone. Ryder!  Without saying a word, I grabbed my phone and ran out the door. Emily opened the door when I arrived.

"He's been asking for you." She notified me.

I headed upstairs and into his room. There was an ice pack on his head like the old-fashioned ones you see on TV.

He sat up. "Jada! I missed you. Come here."

He sounds like a baby. I went over to him and sat beside him. Emily walked in and began explaining what he was mumbling about all morning. Apparently, he talked about me. Things like how much he misses me and how much he wants to be with me. He also talked about what he really wanted to do with me in the treehouse. She grew more and more upset as she went on.

"Listen, Emily, nothing happened. We kissed a few times, but nothing happened." I tried to calm her down.

She began to cry, for who knows what reason, and I did all I could. I hugged her.

"She's fine. She's just stressed. Come back over here." Ryder demanded.

She released me and I walked over to him. He took my hand and placed it on his chest.

"Do you feel that?" He asked.

Um...your heartbeat?  "Your heartbeat?" I answered.

"No. My heart skips a beat when you're around." He corrected me.

Oh. This is all happening way too quickly. I need him to stop. When I spoke with Kota and Rani yesterday I realized I'm not over Kota like I thought I was. We've only been broken up for a week or so.

"You're coming on a little too strong. Ryder, you're a great guy. From what I've learned so far, you really care about everything. You're sweet. Am I saying you're not hot? No. You're fucking sexy. I really care about you and I like you, but I just ended a relationship and I'm not quite over it yet."

My monologue seemed to last forever. I left both him and Emily speechless. She sauntered out of the room and left us alone. He looks like he's going to cry. Now I feel bad. Say something. Oh no. Please say something. Nothing. He said nothing. Minutes went by and he laid there pouting.

"I'm sorry," I added.

He sat up and removed the ice pack from his head. I sat on his bed crisscross applesauce facing him. He leaned towards me. He tried to kiss me but I backed away. What did I just say?

"Please leave." He requested as he laid down and turned away from me.

Oh, now you say something. And that's what you say.

"Is it because I wouldn't kiss you?" I questioned.

He angrily answered, "No, it's because you led me on. We literally almost had sex yesterday. Then today you're not over your last relationship. You conveniently ain't over it today, but you were macking on me less than 18 hours ago. Now please get out of my house."

Ouch. Fine, I'll leave. I walked out of his house and back over to mine. Without saying a word to my father, I headed upstairs and plopped onto my bed. It's not even lunchtime and I feel like going back to bed for another 12 hours.

I texted Ryder trying to apologize. He read the message but didn't reply. Ugh. Come on just answer me. I texted him, again and again, waiting for a reply. Tears appeared on my face. I didn't even know why I was crying. I just was.

I decided to take a nap. Staying up until 2:30 and waking up at 7 has left me exhausted. I wiped my tears and stripped down to my underwear and bra. I snuggled up under the covers and fell asleep.

I woke up to Ryder sitting in my chair by the bay window.

"What are you doing in my room?" I screamed covering myself.

"Well, it WAS quiet. I'm watching you sleep. It's so peaceful. Your dad let me in."

"Get out of my room!"

He held his ears and I realized that my screaming isn't helping his concussion. Without thinking, I hopped out of bed and over to him.

"That makes me feel soooo much better." He said smirking at me.

I glanced down. Shit. Luckily I'm wearing cute underwear and a matching bra.

"You're such a pervert," I stated and slapped his arm.

I walked backward so he didn't see my ass. Of course, I had to be wearing a thong. I put on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. I threw my hair up into a messy bun and put my glasses on.

"That's quite the fashion statement. I didn't know you wore glasses." Ryder announced after watching me dress.

"I'm tired. It's all your fault too. If you didn't hit your head off of the couch I wouldn't be so tired."

"Let's go." He demanded as he grabbed my hand.

I wiggled my hand out of his and asked, "Go where?"

"I don't know. I just want to go somewhere with you."

He smiled at me and I swear his teeth sparkled. I'll go anywhere with that boy. Damn.

"Fine, but I pick the place and you give me time to properly dress."

He sat down. "I got all day, Doll."

Again with this Doll crap. What the hell?

I shot him a dirty look and he just smirked. I picked out an outfit. Ryder came over to my closet and ripped it out of my hands.

"This outfit is far too beautiful to wear around here."

He hung it back up, chose a pair of jeans, and complained that I didn't have any flannels or John Deere shirts. What does that even mean?

"That settles it!" He exclaimed. "We are going to the mall."

"What? Isn't the mall like at least 45 minutes away?" I asked. "You aren't allowed to drive that much."

He looked at me with those pretty blue eyes. Is he seriously sporting the puppy dog face? Not gonna work buddy.

"No. I'm not driving. I'm lucky my dad doesn't really enforce his groundings." I said with air quotes around groundings. "There is no way either of us is driving to the mall."

He wouldn't stop with that cute look. I decided on my own outfit and I pulled my hoodie over my head and threw on a t-shirt. I could feel him intently staring at me, but I wasn't turning around to yell at him. I put on a pair of jeans and pulled the bun out of my hair. The curls were too far gone to repair, so I French braided my hair and put my contacts in.

He stood in the same spot. I stepped down from my raised platform in my room and tripped. Awesome. He managed to catch me even though he was on the raised part of my room as well. It was almost like an angel caught me and placed me on a cloud. My heart was racing and not just because I almost fell. The way the light hit him was heavenly. Now I see it. Ha! Just kidding. Gotcha.

Yeah, nope. Although he did actually catch me, he managed to fall as well. Luckily he didn't hit his head off of anything. We both laid on the floor laughing. I stood up and held out my hand to help him up. He took my hand.

"So, Texas Roadhouse?" I asked.

He nodded and we headed to his truck.