The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,116

you,” I whispered against the biting wind. And meant it for so many more things than his promise.

The sun had dropped from its morning high point to the other side of the sky and I shivered against the temperature that had also dropped. Ryder pulled me closer and we sat in silence for a while until I pulled myself together. He helped me wipe my face clean of makeup and then stand to my feet.

“I need to get home,” I said through a throaty voice. “My mom is probably wondering where I am by now.”

“I don’t want to take you back there,” he growled in a primal, protective voice.

“It’s Ok, Ryder, I have to go at some point,” I tried to make my voice sound light and casual, but neither of us were convinced. “Besides, Nix is out of town right now. My mom is almost harmless when he’s not around.”

“Nix? The pimp-slash-conman?” Ryder snarled.

A laugh bubbled out before I could stop myself, “Yes, my pimp-slash-conman.”

“You’ll be alright?” he asked while he rubbed a hand up and down over my back.

“Mmm-hmmm, I’ll be alright.” And I would be.

“Then I agree to take you home,” he offered magnanimously. “But only if you text or call me the second you are not alright, Ok? For any reason, for anything. Real danger, or emotional or anything, Ivy. Promise me you’ll call.”

“I promise.” I closed my eyes and savored the moment before Ryder led me down from the roof and through the stairwell back to his car. I had never had anyone I could count on before. Even if I never used Ryder’s number as a distress call, his offer would mean more to me than he would ever know.

Finally, finally, he felt like the friend I kept convincing myself he was.

A real friend.

Chapter Thirty-One

I walked as quietly into the apartment as I could, trying not to make a single sound. But it was a wasted effort because she was waiting for me. Her posture was absolutely perfect, her arms crossed elegantly across her chest so that her freshly manicured nails lay undisturbed. Her brilliant red hair cascaded over her shoulders in loose waves and her slinky outfit clung to her like a glove. She was perfection except for the scowl twisting her face into sheer disappointment.

“Where have you been?” She hissed.

“Chase took me to breakfast this morning,” I mumbled. I needed to fess up about breaking it off with him, but not yet, not until I had anybody besides Ryder to use.

“You went to breakfast… looking like that?” She sneered openly at me. “You look like hell, Ivy! Have you been crying?”

“No, I, uh-“

“Spit it out,” she commanded in clipped tones. “And I swear, if this is about that Sam kid again, I

will call Nix this instant and make him come clean this up. I cannot handle this anymore.” Her voice was bordering on screeching and she was red in the face, this was so not behavior my rational thinking mother would condone.

“Mom, chill,” I broke in before she really got hysterical. “I broke up with Chase this morning. It’s not a big deal. I just felt bad. That’s all. This wasn’t about Sam.” Not entirely.

She paused at my interruption, sanity returned to her face and she visibly calmed down. “You broke up with him? I thought Nix gave you a timeline?”

“I had to, I didn’t want to drag things out and then….” I paused not wanting to use Sam as an excuse. It was on the tip of my tongue, the lie, the reason…. but it seriously made my stomach turn.

“Alright, Ivy, I get it,” she rolled her eyes at me. “We do not want a repeat of your meltdown.” She visibly shuddered, “Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be?”

“I can imagine,” I said on a bitter laugh.

“Enough of your sarcasm, Ivy. You need to get ready. We’re expected at Thalia’s in an hour and a half.” She started walking to the kitchen but paused to give me another once over. “Does that give you enough time to become presentable?”

“Yes,” I sighed. Thalia was Sloane’s mother and I was more than ready to spend some time with Sloane and Exie, especially after spilling my guts to Ryder. But an evening with the circle of women without Nix present, meant I had to be. This wasn’t a dinner party, this was a gossip session and my mother fully expected me to participate.

Bleh.

An hour later I was showered and beautified and ready to