DAWG

Eighteen

Eighteen

Ryan gently grazed her left arm with his fingertips as they came to a stop light. Promise shifted in her seat and began to sit up some. She peered over at him, silently wondering if he needed anything. His face held a warm smile as he began to chuckle lightly. "What's so funny?"She queried as she suddenly leaned over the seat to get a blanket from the backseat. Once finding one, she spread it out before pulling it up to her neck. "Those sunglasses, though? You don't even need those in here."He told her just before he pressed down on the gas.

She giggled and took them off, sliding them into her curly mane. She leaned back into the seat and focused her gaze back on the street,"Better?" It was then that her ears perked up on the music lowering. She glanced over at Ryan when she heard his deep sigh. "I've been trying to avoid asking you this, but I can't. I need to know."He conveyed, his blue eyes shifting between her face and the road.

She could sense where their conversation was heading, but she was hoping that it wouldn't go there instead."I know you've already told me that Zayne is your son's father, but why do I feel there's more to it than that?" She allowed a breath to slip out of her mouth as she turned back towards the window – trying to take in the palms trees they were whisking passed. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing would come out.

She could feel his eyes boring a hole into the side of her face. "I'm only asking because I've noticed how he looks at you. I've seen the way you look at him too," He said. She shut her eyes and leaned back into her seat. She really didn't want to address what was going on between them. She did know the day would come when they would have to discuss Zayne. She just wasn't prepared to talk about it so soon.

"Talk to me, because the fact that you're not even looking at me has my mind reeling," He uttered, his fingers creating a slow path up her arm. She frowned and forced herself to meet his questioning stare. He'd stopped the truck and pulled over to the side of the road. The impact of the zooming traffic caused the jeep to convulse. Promise scrapped her nails through her scalp while turning to sit cross-legged. Ryan was steadily watching her with his back pressed against the driver's side window. He reached for her, securing her hands in his and tracing her knuckles with his thumbs, "There's something you're not telling me, and I need you to tell me now so I don't get hurt if I fall deeper for you. You've gotta stop me now."

Her heart thudded in her chest as she squeezed his palms within hers. "I owe that much to you," She murmured. It dawned on her that whatever she thought she had going on with her son's father was about to stop her from having other relationships. That wasn't good, especially when it felt like he was playing games with her. He'd told her earlier that morning to live her life, but it didn't feel right.  Did he really mean that? She figured that he probably did because he'd never lied to her.

"Honestly, I have feelings for him, and I thought he was starting to feel the same. But, today, it ended because he told me to move on." Finally, she'd found her voice. Ryan nodded. She thought he'd be quick to break their entangled hands, but he didn't. He only pulled closer and nestled her face in his hands. He searched her eyes, clearly looking for something. He was trying to read her.

The silence was still apparent amongst them as they each remained staring at one another. He began caressing her cheek with his thumb, "Is that what you want?" She shrugged her reply. She really wasn't sure what she wanted at the moment. Her goal should have been to figure out what she needed instead. "I don't know,  but I need to get a grip on things. I need to let it go because I don't want us to stop what we're starting here Ry." He began to shake his head in disbelief.

"Don't contradict yourself, Promise. You're not being fair to me right now. You know what you want and it's not me..."

"How do you know that you're not what I want?"