Promise Me Darkness (3 page)

The silence stretched between us, becoming uncomfortable and awkward as we left the town behind. I clasped my hands tightly in my lap, wondering why I was so nervous.
It was only Ryder, for Pete’s sake!

For miles only the countryside surrounded us, dark and empty. Finally, we turned down a deserted dirt road. On either side of us were acres and acres of farmland and not much else. This is where I lived — in the middle of nowhere, Texas. Population — a few people, but plenty of cows and horses.

Within minutes, we were driving along my gravel driveway, leading to the only home in sight.

“Your dad’s not home?” Ryder asked when he saw the dark house.

“No. He’s in Dallas for business.”

I opened up the car door and was surprised when Ryder turned off the ignition and climbed out of the truck.

“I’ll walk you in.”

I couldn’t say why the butterflies took flight in my stomach or why my hands started to shake when I attempted to unlock the front door, but they did. I had been alone with Ryder plenty of times but tonight felt different.

In the kitchen, I flipped on the light and grimaced. His face looked awful, painful. To think those bruises were there because of me…hurt.

“Your face looks horrible. Have a seat. I’ll get something to doctor it.”

“Its fine. Don’t worry about it,” he said, taking a seat anyway. That put his eyes closer to my level, making my nervousness double and my heart pound.

“Doctoring you is the least I could do after you defended my honor,” I said, teasingly.

A smile slowly spread across his face. Stretching out his long legs, he watched me closely, studying my every move.

Ryder’s a friend. Only a friend.
The words kept replaying in my mind as I headed to the bathroom for the first–aid.
What was wrong with me that I needed to remind myself of our friendship all the time?

For some reason, I dropped the butterfly bandages twice before walking back to the kitchen.

When I rounded the corner and saw him, I almost stumbled. He had taken off his hat, leaving his hair messy and flattened. He looked innocent and sweet. Nothing like his true self. As I poured antiseptic on a cotton ball, he ran a hand through his hair, making it spike all over. Now he looked like the bad boy I knew him to be.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped toward him. He spread his knees so I could stand closer but I kept my distance. Even this close, I could smell his aftershave, something clean and manly, unlike the heavy cologne that Ben wore.

“You don’t have to do this, Maddie.”

“Sure, I do. Someone needs to be my guinea pig so I can practice my nursing skills. Might as well be you,” I teased.

He grinned and put a hand on my hip. “What’s your deal? I’m not going to bite,” he said, pulling me forward to stand between his legs. His hand lingered on my hip a second before dropping away.

I blushed as the skin on my hip burned beneath my dress. His eyes were now level with my breasts and his legs were mere centimeters away from my thighs. One more small step and I would be in his lap. Where I wanted to be.

What was wrong with me?

I avoided his eyes as I put the cotton ball on his cheekbone.

“Shit!” he hissed.

“So you get tattooed but you can’t handle a little burn. What’s wrong with this picture?” I asked, unable to hold back a grin.

He laughed lightly. His eyes dropped down to my chest and quickly back up again. My blush returned, turning my face a bright red. I quickly placed the butterfly bandage on the cut, needing to hurry and get away from him before I made that straddling wish a reality.

Wetting another cotton ball with antiseptic, I leaned closer, planning to put it on his lip. Instead, he took it from me and placed it on the cut himself. Hissing, he closed his eyes at the pain.

I was still standing between his legs when his blue eyes opened and looked at me, searing me with heat. I took a step back, putting a safe distance between us.

“You and your boyfriend still an item?” he asked, putting the hat back on his head.

“Yes, Ben and I are still together.”

“Is it serious?”

I shrugged indifferently. I was not going to tell Ryder that Ben had been pushing me to have sex. Ryder and I shared everything but our sex life (or in my case, lack of one) was not something we talked about. Thank goodness too. I hated his promiscuous behavior. Ryder was the ultimate player and seeing him with so many women hurt. A lot.

He stood up, towering over me. The kitchen suddenly felt small and crowded. Intimate, if kitchens could feel that way. Moving closer, he ran a finger underneath the spaghetti strap of my sundress. Shivers raced across my skin.

“This dress is dangerous,” he whispered.

“It’s just a dress, Ryder.”

“It’s more than just a dress, Maddie. It makes you look so innocent and sweet. Ripe for the taking. You don’t know what that does to guys. Your boyfriend would kill you for wearing it to a bar.”

“He doesn’t tell me what to wear.”

“If I was your boyfriend, I wouldn’t want you to wear that unless it was to bed and then I would just rip it off of you. With pleasure.”

My breath caught in my throat as his eyes burned into mine and his finger continued to run across my skin.

Seconds ticked by on the kitchen clock.

He finally removed his finger and broke the silence, ending the moment between us. Whatever it was.

“I’m teasing, Maddie." he said with a smile, the heat leaving his eyes. "I like to see you blush."

I frowned and felt a tiny bit of hurt. Teasing like that wasn’t funny.

He stepped away from me, putting a safe distance between us.

"So I wanted to talk to you about something. Guess this is as good a time as any." He took a deep breath and let it out in a tumble of words. "I’m enlisting in the Army.”

I stared at him in shock, not expecting those words. His strong jaw flexed as he waited for me to say something. Words escaped me. I lost my voice.
What do I say to that?

“I wanted you to be the first to know. I can get in as an officer since I have a college degree.” He leaned back against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve got to get out of this town and decided the Army was the best way to do it.”

Words stuck in my throat.
He wanted to leave?
I guess I took it for granted that Ryder would always be here. To me, he was a constant and I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

“You can’t enlist,” I said.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin. “Leave it to you, Maddie, to tell me I can’t do something.” His eyes locked onto mine with intensity and his grin faded. “But before I sign up, there is one thing that I want to do.”

My heart went crazy as my imagination went wild.

“I have an appointment in a week at the military entrance processing station. They’ll do my medical evaluation and other tests to make sure I qualify. The place is right by your campus so I thought maybe I could go back with you. We could hang out for a few days, raise some hell just like old times.”

Ryder in my apartment? For days? Sleeping and showering? I could handle it. Well, maybe.

“I never raised hell, Ryder. You did it enough for the both of us,” I said with a nervous laugh. “But having you around sounds great. Who knows, maybe you will meet the love of your life and decide not to enlist.”

Ryder shook his head and scoffed. “When hell freezes over, Maddie. You know I’ll never marry. Too many women out there I haven’t met yet.”

I rolled my eyes. He thought it was all fun and games but I couldn’t stand to see him with so many women. He deserved better.

I decided the comment wasn’t worth fighting over. Now him enlisting, that was worth fighting over. Maybe while he was with me, I could talk him out of it.

“We’re leaving in two days,” I warned.

“Works for me.”

I followed him to the front door, trying not to notice the way his shirt outlined the muscles of his arms or the way his jeans hugged his butt. I wanted to smack myself for looking.

He was almost out the door when he turned around. I winced at the sight of his battered face under the porch light.

“Lock the door behind me and call if you need anything,” he said, sternly.

I nodded. “Night, Ryder.”

With one more glance at me, he jogged down the porch steps and across the dark yard. Closing the door, I looked around the hallway, not seeing the childhood pictures of me on the wall or noticing the quietness of the house. My mind was only on Ryder.

“Ramen noodles?”

I looked over at my dad. He was holding up God’s gift to the broke, starving college student.

“Yeah, we’ll eat that,” I answered, searching my purse for my always–disappearing phone charger.

Every time I left, my dad sent bags of groceries back with me. Secretly, I was glad he did because Eva and I usually survived on coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches.

“So Ryder is going with you?”

“Yep,” I answered, searching under some farm and ranch magazines. “Do you know where I put my charger?”

When he didn’t answer, I glanced at him and was surprised to see a worried expression on his face.

“Is he staying with you?”

The question caught me off guard. Never before had my dad questioned what I did with Ryder. He lectured me about Ben all the time. ‘Don’t get too serious,’ ’Don’t do anything you will regret later.’ But the time I spent with Ryder never concerned him.
So why all the questions?

“I’m sure he’ll stay with us,” I answered, finally finding my charger under an old phone book.

He still looked worried.

“You feeling okay?” I asked. Consistent worry for him was a way of life for me. My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when I was eight and died the same year. Since then it had only been my dad and me. When he developed a heart problem last year, I pleaded with him to move closer to town so he could be near a hospital but he refused. No matter how much I argued with him, he insisted he was fine by himself.

“I’m feeling great, sweetie. I just worry but I know Ryder will keep you safe.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but I didn’t get a chance to ask.

“Hello!” Eva called out, slamming the front door shut behind her.

“I’m ready!” I shouted, walking out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

Eva met me halfway. “I’m so ready to get back to the apartment. My parents are driving me nuts with all the questions! ’Where are you going?’ ‘When will you be home?’ It’s so frustrating!” She flung an arm around my shoulders as we headed into my bedroom. “Tomorrow night we’re going out and dancing our asses off!”

I couldn’t help but smile. Eva’s answer for everything was a good club and a lot of dancing. For once, I agreed with her. With Ryder around, I could use the distraction.

~~~~

It was a hot, blistering summer day, typical for Texas. Merely walking outside was torturous. Eva and I slipped on our sunglasses and crossed our fingers that the truck’s air conditioning worked today.

Our first stop was to pick up Ryder.

He lived on a thousand–acre ranch belonging to his parents. A few miles separated his property from my dad’s but the land was adjacent to each other. South of his parent’s house was a small home that Ryder built for himself after graduating from college. He once told me he needed the privacy for his late night visitors. I didn’t think it was very funny.

Besides Ryder, his parents also had another son, Gavin, who was three years older and worked in Dallas as an EMT. Ryder and his brother were like night and day but Ryder had always been my favorite Delaney son.

We took the gravel road leading to the old white ranch house a little too fast. A few feet from the porch, Eva slammed on the brakes, bringing the pickup to a sudden stop in a cloud of dust and gravel. I jumped out, glad to be out of that deathtrap.

Ryder’s mom, Janice, met me at the front door. She was tall and lithe with brown hair and blue eyes just like Ryder. A kind and caring woman, Janice was the mother I never had and always wanted, giving motherly advice when I needed it most.

“Maddie!” she squealed, throwing her arms around me. “We’ve missed you around here! How is school?”

“Great! Keeping me busy,” I answered. My decision to go to nursing school was thanks to her. She was an ER nurse at the local county hospital and had more experience than most of the doctors there, combined.

Just then Ryder caught my eye. Standing behind his mom, he looked good in his jeans and faded t–shirt. Too good. More like gorgeous. By his side, he held a large green duffle bag, ready to go.

“Mom, we’ve got to go. It’s a long drive,” he said, setting the bag down to give her a quick hug.

"Be good, Ryder," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

After letting go of her, he picked up his bag and stepped around me, heading for the truck. I watched as he threw his duffle bag into the back, making his biceps flex with the movement.

“Keep him in line, Maddie,” Janice said.

“I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“If anyone can make him behave, it’s you,” she said with a gentle smile.

That was true. For some reason, Ryder seemed to listen to me more than anyone. I liked to think it was because he appreciated my opinion, but I knew it was just because I would bug the snot out of him until he did what I wanted. It worked when I was a little kid and it still worked today.

Promising to do my best, I gave Janice a hug goodbye and headed to the truck.

Somehow, Ryder had talked Eva into letting him drive her precious piece of crap. She could deny it all she wanted; like most women, she couldn’t resist him either.

I moved to the middle of the bench seat, wedged between both of them.
Six long hours with them. Should be interesting.

“You promise to show me a good time, Maddie?” Ryder asked with a wicked grin as he shifted the truck into drive.

“Yes,” I answered, hoarsely. A vivd picture of a good time with Ryder popped into my mind and it wasn’t PG–rated. It was more the unrated version, involving a sundress and a certain ripping of it.