Don't Fall for Me

Part 23: Feathered Tattoo

I whipped back around so I was faced towards Ryker and sat up.

"You can't make me do that. Plus, we aren't even dating. Why are you still here, anyway? You have to go to school in the morning," I said.

Ryker tipped the chair back on two legs. He ran his tongue over the annoying lip piercing and said, "I'm not leaving you."

"That's creepy. Leave," I demanded, narrowing my eyebrows.

"Angel..." He growled.

"What!" I yelled, slamming my hand on the table next to me. I involuntarily cried out in pain from hitting my injured arm on the table. Tears pricked my eyes as I cradled my arm to my chest. I was so stupid.

Ryker was up in a flash. He gently removed my arm from my chest and stretched it out as far as it would straighten, which wasn't much since my elbow was also in the cast. Then he bent my arm back to my chest. I stared at him the entire time.

Then he put his hands under my armpits, lifting me off the bed.

"What are you-"

In one fluid motion, Ryker was sitting where I just was and I was in his lap. His long legs stretched out on either side of mine.

I tried to get away from him. I squirmed and scooted away, but he just dragged me back. His strong arms wrapped around my shoulders, making me lean back on his chest. He rested his chin on top of my head.

"I-"

"Shh. Go to sleep," Ryker whispered in my ear.

Goosebumps ran up and down my arms when he did that. Holy crap, what if someone saw us like this? I had to get away.

I wiggled more and Ryker tightened his grip. His lips tickled my ear as he asked, "Why do you fight it?"

I stopped moving.

"Fight what?" I asked a little breathlessly.

Ryker pulled me back against his chest, laying my head in the crook of his neck and shoulder.

"Me."

I turned my head to look at him. His electric blue eyes had a fire lit behind them. I couldn't hold his intense stare, so I dropped my gaze to the tattoos on his neck. Before I realized what I was doing, I was tracing one of the tattoos with my non injured hand. I gently outlined the beautiful tattoo of a feather that ran up the side of his neck. Ryker sucked in a breath and I tore my finger away as if it were on fire.

"Why do you have a tattoo of a feather?" I blurted.

His eyes darkened. Oops, touchy subject. I needed to change the direction of this conversation.

"Go to sleep," Ryker said, planting his hand on the back of my head and laying my face back down.

"I can't." Not like this.

Not when my heart was beating so fast. Not while I was in Ryker's arms. Not while my emotions were all over the place.

And the only person who could make me feel this way was Ryker.

I lifted my head back up to look at him.

"Ryker..." Something in my eyes must have given me away.

Ryker's lips slammed against mine and I gasped. He smiled against my lips and kissed me harder. I squeezed my eyes shut as I kissed him back. The ring piercing his lip felt cold as I ran my tongue over it. Ryker moved his hands to my hair and tangled them in my knotted waves. I clutched his muscular biceps.

"That's why I have a feather tattoo," he said against my mouth.

My eyes flew open. I pulled back and asked, "What?"

"Angel," he whispered. He pressed my head against his chest and stroked my hair. I didn't dare speak. He massaged my back, rubbing his hand in circles. I curled up against his side and shut my eyes.

What was I doing? I liked Finn, not Ryker. Ryker was a jerk to me. I didn't like him. So why was I with Ryker like this right now?

"Ryker, I-"

He stopped moving.

"I know," he said.

Ryker wrapped an arm around my back and under my legs as he lifted me off of him. Then he laid me back down on the bed and stood up. He tucked the sheets around me and turned towards the door so his back was to me.

"Angel, have you fallen for me?"

I gasped, gawking at his back.

"N-No!" I stuttered.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes! Why would I-"

He whipped back around and said, "Then don't kiss me like that again."

"You're the one who kissed me!" I yelled, throwing my good arm in the air.

"It doesn't matter. You kissed me back. You can claim you hate me and that you like Finn," he said, glaring at me, "But we both know how you really feel."

I continued to gawk at him.

"What are you saying, Ryker?" I asked.

He responded, "I'm saying that you've broken the number one rule between us."

"Which is?" I prompted.

"You can't fall for me."

I slammed my mouth shut. Now I was pissed.

"How can you say that? I won't ever fall for you, so you don't have to worry about that, but I sure as hell am not in love with you by any means. I'm probably on lots of meds right now, so I'm not thinking straight. You caught me off guard. I didn't want to kiss you," I said, angrily.

He laid his hand on the tattoo of the feather.

"Glad we got that straightened out. For a second there, I thought you had fallen for me," he said, turning back away.

Then a thought occurred to me.

"Wait a second. Why do you always tell me not to fall for you? Not that I ever will fall in love with you, but what's wrong about it? You've had many girlfriends before, so what's wrong with me?" I asked.

He didn't turn around as he said, "You're different than all of them."

Then he walked out of the door before I could say anything to stop him.

That didn't make any sense though. On his iPod, he wrote a song for a girl he supposedly fell in love with. He wouldn't tell me that, but I had guessed it and he seemed uncomfortable when I had said that.

So who was that song written for?

He was obviously hiding something.

Oh, he was in love with a girl. It was so clear now.

He loved a girl and didn't want anyone to fall in love with him because she was the only one he truly cared about. Maybe he really did love Hannah. It made a lot of sense. He wasn't telling her not to fall in love with him like he did to me.

But then why had he said I was different than all of them?

Ryker left me so confused that I gave up on trying to figure him out. Instead, I went to sleep.

~*~*~*~

Sorry for the super short chapter. What do you think of Ryker and Eve?