Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“You think I’m the coolest person you’ve ever met?” I teased.
Luke laughed, and Ryder playfully rolled his eyes. “That would be me, not you,” Ryder said.
“Lies.” I winked, then gave Luke my attention. “What is it?”
“Me and Ryder are gonna be buddies. He asked me today. Gabby is putting the paperwork aside for him. He’s also a mechanic, and he’s going to teach me stuff about working on cars. I love that kinda thing. My dad used to, but…” But his dad had passed away when Luke was young. From cancer. Like Layla’s mom, Luke’s didn’t have it easy, and it was only the two of them.
“That’s awesome,” I told him. “Ryder will be a great buddy. He’s almost as cool as me.”
My mechanic leaned closer to Luke and whisper-yelled, “We’ll just let him think he’s cool.”
The door opened then, and Crystal waved before putting her hands on Layla’s wheelchair again. I frowned. She must not be feeling great today if she was in the chair. I was surprised since she was home right now.
“Hey, if it isn’t my favorite person in the world.” I knelt down when Crystal pushed her over. “You okay?” I reached over and touched her forehead with the back of my hand.
“She’s okay. We think she had a reaction to one of her new medications, but Dr. Lu says she’s fine, and she signed off on her being here as long as the two of you take it easy.”
“We can do that,” I replied. “I was actually feeling like having a relaxed day myself. We haven’t painted in a while.”
Layla smiled. “Let’s do that.”
“I’m yours to command,” I teased, making her giggle.
“Thanks, Hutch,” Crystal said when I stood.
“This is always the highlight of my week.”
She squeezed my shoulder and walked out. When I turned around, Ryder was watching me, his gaze holding mine like he had some magic power over me. I cleared my throat, forced myself to look away, and said, “Beep, beep. Make room. We’re going to paint.”
“It’s just going to be the two of you today,” Gabby told us. “It’s a small group.”
“Can we hang out with you guys?” Luke asked, and damned if Layla didn’t blush. “I’m feeling a little under the weather too.”
“Uh-huh,” she replied.
“Is that okay with you, Ryder?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, man. Of course. It’ll be fun.”
We moved over to the table and started painting. After that was done, we got the beads out, and Layla taught us how to make bracelets. She was quicker than the rest of us and made one for each of us—mine was blue and black, Ryder’s blue and white, hers red and black, and Luke’s red and white.
I immediately put mine on and looked up to see Ryder again watching me. He gave me a small grin, one that made my stomach feel as if someone had set butterflies loose in there.
Luke was great with her, asking questions and engaging her in ways I didn’t typically see teenagers do with little kids. He also looked to Ryder a lot for approval. I could see how close they’d gotten, even though it had only been a few weeks since Ryder had started coming.
The session was almost over, Luke finishing one of his bracelets without looking at Ryder when he said, “If you’re my buddy, will we be able to hang out when I go home?”
“If it’s okay with your mom, yeah. I’d love that.”
“Awesome! She won’t mind. I already told her about you. She wants to meet you.”
“I can’t wait to meet her too,” Ryder said, and I could hear the sincerity in his voice. He didn’t just say things to say them. When he spoke, he meant it.
The four of us cleaned up together. Crystal came and picked Layla up, and Luke headed back to his room.
“Hutch and I are going downstairs for coffee,” Ryder told Gabby. “Is it okay if I bring the papers back up afterward? I want to get the process going.”
“Yeah, of course. And thank you. Luke’s had a rough go of it—his mom too, having lost her husband and now with Luke being sick. He took to you right away, and that’s not typical of him. He must have seen something special in you.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen Ryder blush, but Gabby was right. He had a way about him. He comforted people, set them at ease. He’d done that for me since we started talking on the app. There was really no other way to explain it.
“Thanks. He’s a good kid,” Ryder said, then turned to me. “You ready?”
We hadn’t talked about getting coffee again, but I wasn’t going to deny him. I didn’t fucking want to, and that worried me. “I didn’t know I’d get stuck hanging out with you again today,” I joked as we headed for the door.