He pressed his thumb gently under my eye to fix a place that I missed. “We’re going out. I want you to come with us.”

I shook my head. “No thank you. I don’t….”

“I know you don’t want to, Nina. You never want to do anything. But you need to,” he said, flattening the parts of my hair that were out of place. “Things suck right now. You’re miserable, we all see it, but maybe if he thinks you’re happy he’ll back off.”

I looked up at him. “What?”

“I just meant that he’s probably hanging around because he’s worried about you. You look so unhappy. If he thought you were okay without him…maybe he’d let you live your life.”

I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him tightly to me, and then scrambled across the room to pull on my jacket.

“Walk with me,” I said, holding the door open.

He raised an eyebrow and stood up reluctantly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m perfect, let’s go,” I said, hurrying him out the door.

I pulled him along by his hand, dragging him to the parking lot. When we got to my car, Ryan paused. “We’re going somewhere?”

“Just get in.”

He didn’t move. “You’re weirding me out, Nigh."

“Please?”

“Will you tell me where we’re going, first?”

“Some place we can talk. Just…trust me,” I said, aware that I seemed completely insane.

“Nina, I trust you. I just think you’re not yourself these days.”

“If you trusted me, you would be in the car by now.” I slid into the driver’s seat and waited. After a few moments, Ryan opened the door and sat beside me. I smiled at him and touched his hand. “Thank you.”

Ryan offered a half smile and squeezed my hand, holding it tightly the entire trip to my parents’ home. When we pulled into the drive, he let go.

“Whoa,” he said under his breath.

I turned off the ignition and searched each window for any sign of Cynthia, but the house was dark. Ryan followed me up the stairs to my father’s office, and I closed the door behind him. He looked around, clearly nervous.

“Can we talk, now?” he asked. When I nodded, he let out a loud, frustrated sigh. “What the hell’s going on with you, Nina? I’m serious…you’re starting to worry me. I wish you would let me help you.”

I closed my eyes in relief and whispered as quietly as I could. “There is something you can do.”

Ryan leaned in, keeping his voice low like mine, “Just name it.”