Slowly, I lifted my head, but before our gazes could lock and I could read what he was thinking, I found myself once again on my feet and Ryan turning for the small convoy of vehicles waiting for us. “How was your flight?” he asked in a tight voice.

One of the guards started to open the door for him, but he growled something as I rushed to keep up, and he opened the door himself. Stepping back, he waited for me to get in first before following behind me.

“It was a smooth trip. Nothing exciting happened.” I put on my seat belt and then turned enough to face him. But his gaze wasn’t on me as it normally would have been. Usually, Ryan’s entire focus was directed at me, as if he were looking for every change that had occurred with me since the last time we’d seen each other in person. His head was turned so that he was looking out the side window, his jaw clenched so hard that I knew he was angry about something.

“What’s wrong?” I asked softly, wondering what I’d done to make him so upset.

He clenched and unclenched his hands into fists several times before he turned his head in my direction. Even with his sunglasses still on, I could tell he wasn’t looking directly at me, though. “I know I promised we would have the entire day together, but something came up at work. I hate that I’m going to disappoint you, Nova.”

“Oh,” I muttered, swallowing the lump that suddenly filled my throat. “It’s okay. I understand. You have a lot on your plate now that you’re working at the club and for your dad too. But we have all summer to hang out.”

Ryan was already nodding. “Absolutely.”

Hesitantly, I reached out and wrapped my fingers around his. He turned his hand over, interlocking his fingers with mine. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” he choked out. “I can’t wait for you to graduate so you can move here full time.”

My lips lifted into a happy smile. “Well, that might—”

“Sir,” Pietro, the guard who was the head of Ryan’s security detail, interrupted before I could tell him my news. “Do you want us to drop you off first, or take Miss Nova home?”

Ryan muttered something vicious under his breath before answering. “Me,” he surprised me by saying. “And then I want you to take her back to the compound yourself, Pietro.”

“Your mother won’t be pleased with that, sir,” he informed him.

“If I’m unable to protect myself in the time it will take you to take Nova home, then I don’t deserve my rank,” he snapped. “I will be fine until you return from ensuring that Nova makes it home safely.”

I wanted to argue that he had always been the one to ensure I got home safely, but I pressed my lips together to keep the words trapped inside. Whatever had come up must have been extremely important for him not to be able to take me home personally, and I didn’t want to add more stress to him when he already seemed completely unlike himself.