Tasting 188

188–In His Arms But Not Comforted

Nora:

I gently touched my lip and then the blood, nearly stumbling at the sight of it.

“Are you okay?” he asked, briskly taking a step toward me. But I raised my hand to stop him and

stepped back. I was so out of it that as I raised my head to continue arguing with him, my world

spun and I fell onto my butt.

“Nora! What’s happening to you?” he inquired, kneeling down before me and gently holding my arm

so I wouldn’t lie flat on the road.

“You and Cain—both of you can go to hell from now on—just tell your women to stay away from–” I

blinked hard because my vision had blurred.

I don’t even know when Ryker shifted from in front of me to behind, but I managed to rest my back

against his chest.

He placed his hand on my forehead and gently pushed my head back to rest against him, and I did.

“You’re fine. It’s just stress,” he comforted me in the softest tone.

“I hate you,” I whimpered, but couldn’t really cry because I was so dizzy. I don’t know how long we

stayed like that, but it must have been. hours. I even bet I took a nap for an hour.

His phone ringing was what woke me up again.

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I gently pushed him back and slid to the side, seeing him look at me with concern in his eyes.

“I’ve called the driver. You can’t ride the bike right now,” he said. giving me a guilty look.

“I can call a cab,” I insisted, but who was I kidding? I wasn’t in a condition to travel alone. My body

was aching so badly. And if it was truly because of stress, Ryker should be ashamed of himself as

he was part of the reason why I was so depressed now.

His phone had been ringing, and he had been avoiding it.

“Either attend to it or put it on silent. It’s giving me a headache.” I groaned, frustrated as I stayed

sitting on the road with my face in my hands. I still couldn’t get up, so waiting for the car was the

best option in this scenario.

He finally gave up and answered the call, which only worsened my mood when I realized who had

been blowing up his phone all this

time.

“No, I’m not home yet.” Ryker replied, trying to be discreet, but his phone’s volume was too loud

and I could hear April on the other end.

“But we were supposed to go for lunch,” she said, and I bet she was pouting. To think that I always

had to be secretive about my relationship with Ryker while he openly took her out on a date was

just

so sad.

“I don’t think we can go for lunch today. Maybe some other day,” Ryker replied, giving me a

sidelong glance.

“Why? Is everything alright? Is Nora with you?” she questioned, and my body stiffened.

188 in His Arma But Not Comforted

“Yeah, we had to stop because she wasn’t feeling well,” Ryker decided to be honest with her. Wow,

their relationship was definitely stronger than I had expected.

“Are you sure she’s not well? She tends to steal attention a lot. Look what she did in school today,”

she said, leaving my jaw hanging low and Ryker noticed it. Too late for him to turn down the volume

when I heard her badmouthing me.

“Not everyone is as deceitful as you,” I yelled, and Ryker almost dropped his phone in shock before

giving me a disapproving glance.

“I’ll talk to you later,” he insisted, “No! You won’t say anything. Just know I will call you later,” he

hung up after convincing her not to argue with me.

He then slid the phone into his pocket and stared at my face in disbelief.

“What? You seriously think I want attention? Why didn’t you tell her I’m not like that? Or maybe you

believe her words too,” I couldn’t shake off the feeling of him choosing her over me. It felt like I was

still in a constant competition, wanting to regain my mates‘ approval, but was I truly ready to accept

them back after everything that had happened?

“I just know I don’t want to be in this drama between you two,” he scoffed, still kneeling on one

knee.

“Huh! You don’t have the guts to face the truth. But I can. April had provoked me this morning–” my

naive self thought he would give me a chance to expose his toxic girlfriend to him.

But he wasn’t ready to hear a single bad thing about her.

“Nora, can we not talk about it? I don’t want you to talk about her

when she’s not here. Just let it go. Mistakes happen, and sometimes she acts recklessly. Didn’t you

befriend her even after knowing what her attitude was?” I hated how they constantly dragged me

into this, as if I knew she was incapable of changing.

“Good, thank you for letting me know where you stand. From now on, I don’t give a damn about

what you and Cain do with your girlfriends. Just reject me already so I can live peacefully with my

boyfriend,” the moment I mentioned rejection, he rolled his eyes and quipped, “You’ll have to spin

that ring on your finger for me to reject you. Are you ready to do that?” His taunt hit me on so many

levels.

It felt like they knew my secret and were using it against me. Yet, they didn’t even know the kind of

wolf I truly was. I couldn’t be sure how much more brutal they would be if they found out.

“No! You can’t do that. So shut up and let us live,” he hissed, standing up as he watched the car

arrive.

“Drop her home,” he didn’t even bother helping me up, waving hist hand at the driver to take care of

me.

The driver assisted me into the backseat of the car, and we drove off, leaving Ryker behind on his

bike.