Lying Out Loud(59)

The minute his eyes met mine, I felt myself relax. His expression was so soft, so gentle, and it eased some of my worries.

Stop comparing yourself to Amy, I thought. He doesn’t want her, he wants you.

“Yeah,” I said. “Definitely.”

He smiled, then went back to kissing me.

And to trying to unhook my bra. Apparently, this is a very complicated act for boys, particularly to do one-handed, because it seemed to be taking him longer than I’d expected. But he’d almost managed it when —

Crunch!

The snowball smacked into the windshield, followed by a burst of retreating laughter from outside the car.

Ryder and I both groaned.

“Assholes,” I said.

“Why are we here again?” he asked.

“Lyndway Hill is the cool place to make out. At least, so I’ve been told.”

“Right, well, I would argue that my house is cooler.” He eased off me, allowing me to sit up. He smirked at me as I attempted to smooth down my hair. “Might I suggest that we continue this there?”

I just grinned.

*

Unfortunately, Ryder’s house was not as empty as we’d thought.

We burst through the door, laughing at the fresh snow that had fallen on us as we’d run up the front steps. He flicked snow from my hair, and I laughed, pushing him away. He caught my arms and moved me backward, so I was pressed against the front door as he leaned in to kiss me.

But our lips had barely met when we heard the loud “Ahem” and jumped apart.

“Mom,” Ryder said, spinning around to face the woman that neither of us had noticed standing in the living room. “I didn’t think you were home.”

“And I thought you were,” she said, her voice devoid of any humor. “Your car is in the garage.”

“Right. I was with Sonny.”

I raised a hand and gave a small wave. “Hi, Mrs. Cross.” Yeah. This was not how I’d planned on meeting his mom for the first time.

“It’s Ms. Tanner,” she corrected. “I no longer use my married name.”

“Right. Sorry.”


I’m not going to lie. I was already pretty scared of Ryder’s mother. She was so strict about how clean her house and even Ryder’s car were kept. And Ryder, despite seeming to think she was perfect, had described her as pretty strict and cold, things that had only gotten worse since the separation. Not traits that particularly meshed with my personality.

As if that wasn’t enough, in person, she was entirely intimidating. I’d known she was pretty from the photo I’d seen of Ryder and his family, with her smooth dark brown skin and dark eyes. But she was also quite tall. And had broad shoulders. And then there was the way she was dressed, in a crisp, neat, expensive navy-blue suit.

“Is that your car outside?” she asked, glancing out the window.

“Uh, yes, ma’am. It is.” And then I tried, perhaps foolishly, to make her laugh. “I named her Gert.”

But she didn’t laugh. “Hmm. Charming. I’m sure the neighbors will be very curious about what a car like that is doing in the driveway.”

Ouch.

I wanted to say something, to defend Gert, as silly as it sounds, but luckily Ryder spoke up first.

“It’s vintage,” he said, laughing. And the fact that he was obviously quoting me made me soften a bit.

“Indeed,” Ms. Tanner said. “I’m sorry. I missed your name. What was it again?”

“Oh. Sonny,” I said. But, because I thought it might be more impressive to her, I added, “Short for Sonya.”

“Sonny,” she repeated. “I must be behind on my son’s love life. Here I was thinking he was interested in a girl named … Amy?”

“Not anymore,” Ryder said. “Sonny and I have actually been seeing each other for about three weeks now.”

“Wow,” Ms. Tanner said. “You sure moved on fast. Must be that Cross DNA.”

Ryder flinched.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, “I brought some work home with me that needs to get done. Nice to meet you, Sonny.”

The feeling was not mutual.

When she’d left the room, I turned to Ryder. “That was … interesting.”

He was staring at his feet, his hands shoved deep into his coat pockets. Clearly, the interaction had been just as unpleasant for him. But I knew not to say anything else.

“Should I go?” I asked.

“You don’t have to,” he said.

But something told me that there would be no getting to second base today after all.

“It’s okay. I probably should. I have a lot of homework.”

Ryder was quiet as he walked me out. When we reached my car, I turned to him. “Hey,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Is everything okay?” I worried that maybe his mother’s obvious disapproval of me and my poor-person vehicle might be enough to scare him off.

“Yeah,” he said. “Everything’s fine.”

And even though there was no hesitation when he leaned in to kiss me good-bye, I knew something had changed. Something his mother had said was bothering Ryder, even if he wasn’t telling me what just yet.





“What are you thinking about?” I asked Ryder.