Okay, fine, I’m lying. I hadn’t set an alarm. Because I hadn’t slept a wink. I had just stayed up all night replaying my kiss with Ryder. And the way he’d left so suddenly.What the hell had gone wrong?
In the moment, I’d thought he just changed his mind. That he no longer thought I was sexy. But that didn’t make any sense. How can you go from kissing someone one minute to being repulsed the next? I didn’t want to believe it was true. So it had to be something else.
Had I freaked him out by grabbing his junk? If we had been in middle school maybe that would have been a possibility. But he was a grown-ass man.
Or maybe he was worried I was going to #MeToo him and sue him for billions. He was, after all, kind of my boss. Or at least, I thought he was. I still wasn’t 100% sure that Ryder and Tanner were the same person. Maybe he ran from me because he realized I knew his true identity…
Gah!Thinking about all this made my brain hurt. I needed to see him again so I could get some answers. So it was a good thingwe were giving him our marketing presentation for his wine company today at 3 o’clock. I still needed to concoct a plan to get him alone afterward. I’d think of something. Worst case scenario I could always run into the wall and knock myself out.
I had just finished straightening my hair when a knock sounded on the door.
Who would be here this early?
Probably Chastity. I had sent her the world’s longest text last night all about my date, so I assumed she was showing up to get the full scoop. But it could also be the cops coming to ask about Joe’s stolen credit card. Or how I had gotten thirty-grand worth of designer clothing in exchange for a few photos. Or how I had raped Dr. Lyons. Although that case seemed to be closed now that we had a date planned.
I looked through the peephole and found that both of my guesses were wrong. Instead it was a FedEx man. I opened the door.
“Raven Black?” he asked.
“That’s me.”
“Sign here.”
I gave him my signature, and he gave me a package. I started to close the door, but he blocked it with his foot.
“Hold on. There’s more.” He disappeared into the hall.
More?All my amazon clothes had already arrived. Maybe Joe was sending me more of my stuff. Whatever. I didn’t have time to deal with his crap right now. I tossed the package aside and went back to the bathroom to add a few finishing touches to my makeup. When I emerged a minute later…
Holy hell!Five FedEx guys were unloading carts of packages, and based on the floor-to-ceiling boxes that now occupied about 600 of the 800 square feet of my apartment, it must have been at least their third trip. Then it hit me. The FedEx guy had called me Raven Black. Not Ashley Cooper. Which meant this delivery was from the Society.
“Who sent this?” I asked.
The FedEx guy shrugged. “No idea. Have a great day.”
I grabbed one of the packages and checked the label. No name was listed. The address was in NYC, but beyond that it didn’t ring any bells.What the hell is all this?I used my keys to cut the tape on the closest box. Inside was a white leather box wrapped in blue crepe paper.Odegaardwas scrawled on the side of the box.
Odegaards! Yes! They must be a gift from Ryder.Which meant he wasn’t mad at me or repulsed by me. I couldn’t contain the smile that spread across my face.
And then I remembered there were dozens more boxes. Were they all filled with Odegaards? No. They couldn’t be. That would be like… I tried to estimate how many boxes there were and then multiplied it by $3000.
I tore into a few more boxes before it was time to leave for work. Sure enough, they were all filled with Odegaards. Including the pair of weird elf-style heels Ryder had wanted me to wear last night. I considered wearing them to the office, but I wasn’t nearly confident enough to pull them off.
I can’t believe he sent me all these.I didn’t want to leave for work. I just wanted to keep opening box after box of Odegaards. You know how in first grade all your friends tell you Santa doesn’t exist? Well they’re full of shit. Because Santa does exist and his name is Ryder freaking Storm. I couldn’t wait to see him today for our big presentation. Another kiss was definitely in my future.
I allowed myself to open one more box before I left. It was the one that the FedEx guy had delivered first. And it had a little black envelope in it.Ah!My fingers were shaking with excitement as I opened it.
Raven,
I’m so sorry about last night.
-Ryder
I flipped it over.That’s all?Well, apology accepted. Really the note alone would have been sufficient, but the hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Odegaards was a nice addition. I hugged the note to my chest. Was this my first love letter? I thinkit was. The only time Joe had ever sent me a letter was when he served me with divorce papers. And some guy in middle school had passed me a letter that said, “Will you be my girlfriend? Circle YES or NO.” I had circled no because I was 100% sure he was gay, just like every other guy who had ever liked me in school. I was still trying to work out what that said about me.
Anyway…shoes. Tons of them. They were all mine. And so was Ryder. I bit back a squeal.
Before heading to work I triple-checked the lock on the door to make sure Homeless Rutherford wouldn’t break in and lick all my beautiful shoes.
