Page 87 of Hate To Love You
God, I hope Gwen isn’t here. I would have liked to see her, but not while my father is here. I don’t know how much he knows about her, if anything. I need to keep her away from him. I can’t risk him getting too close to her and figuring out what she means to me.
He’d try to get rid of her. He’d try to remove anything he sees as an obstacle or a distraction, and I cannot have that happen.
“I think we should let Ryker rest, everyone,” my mom suggests. I don’t want to rest. I want to leave this hospital and go find Gwen. I want to hunt down Davis and Walsh.
“Good idea, honey,” my father stands from his seat in the corner, placing his hand on the small of my mother’s back, ushering everyone toward the door. He hasn’t said one word this whole time, but of course he’s opening his mouth when it’s time to leave.
“We’ll be back tomorrow when you’re discharged, sweetie,” mom tells me. Great, I have to spend the night here?
Mom gives me a quick kiss on my temple before smiling softly and leaving the room with Logan.
“See ya at home, bro. Bring home some of those grippy socks. Those things are so cool,” Mason says with a grin, and Holland slaps him on the back of the head. “Shit, what the hell, Monroe?”
“You’re an idiot,” Holland tells him as they exit the room, leaving me alone with my father who for some reason is still standing at the end of my bed.
Suddenly, I want a nurse to come in and give me more meds to put me to sleep so I don’t have to deal with whatever is about to come out of my father’s mouth.
His brows are pulled together into a tight scowl as he looks down at me, no doubt thinking about what a terrible failure of a son I am.
“You’re distracted,” he says patently. “I’ve told you, you should be focusing on school and your grades, not some silly game,” he spits. My jaw tenses as I bite back my response. I don’t want to argue with him. I’m tired of having the same conversation over and over again.
“It’s that girl, isn’t it? That’s why you’re acting stupid and getting distracted at your games. You let some imbecile break your damn rib for some girl? Jesus, Ryker. When are you going to grow up?” his words sting, but I don’t show any reaction. I can’t let him know he’s getting to me.
“It has nothing to do with a girl, father. I’m not distracted,” I assure him, hoping he’ll believe me and drop it. God, hope is a fucking bitch.
“Look at you. Broken, lying in a hospital. It’s pathetic,” he scoffs, shaking his head and looking to the ground before letting out a heavy breath of air.
“You will quit rugby. You will focus on classes, and you will graduate. Then, you’ll take a job with the Steele Corporation and marry a woman of status. Not some little girl you’ve suddenly become infatuated with. Do you understand me?”
My blood boils and I’m surprised the beeping of the heart monitor hasn’t sped up at all, because I feel like it’s pounding as if I’d just run a marathon.
Gritting my teeth, I say the one thing I can to get him off my back about Gwen for the time being.
“There is no girl. There was a girl from my class that I used to help me pass an assignment, and now she’s gone. She’s no one. She’s nothing,” I lie, my heart constricting. Bile rises in my throat at the words I just uttered. I meant none of it, but my father seems to believe it.
“Good,” he takes a step back, tugging at the end of his suit jacket. “Speak with your coach tomorrow, or I will.”
He turns and walks out of the room without another word, leaving me alone with my rage and my thoughts.
How is this my life? Honestly, I know I’ve been a shitty person. I’ve treated people poorly due to my name and status, I’ve been cruel and unforgiving, but I blame it all on my father and my upbringing.
If I’d grown up with a father who actually cared about me, spent time with me, taught me how to be a decent man, maybe everything could have been different. My mother did her best, but a young boy needs a father, and mine was never around.
Okay, enough with the pity party.
I have to figure out what I’m going to do about Davis, and now Walsh.
Luckily, I have plenty of time to think while I’m stuck in this hospital.
Chapter 42
Guinevere
The past few days have been rough between going to class and Ryker being injured. I haven’t been able to see him yet because I’ve been so busy, and that’s killing me. I wanted to visit him in the hospital, but I decided it might be better if I let his family spend time with him.
Not to say I didn’t try. I showed up at the hospital, but I ran into Ryker’s brother Logan before I got to his room. Logan told me it was probably best if I wasn’t there while his father was visiting. I didn’t ask questions. I don’t know anything about his family or their dynamic, and I wasn’t about to make Logan explain.
I’ll talk to Ryker about it when he’s ready. Family can be a touchy subject, and if his reaction a few weeks ago to what I said about his life growing up was any indication as to how him and his family get along, there’s probably a long story there.