- Are you all right? - I ask, seeing his disturbed expression.
Ryder shakes his head in negative.
- Can we go somewhere else? - he says in an angry voice. - Do you mind?
- Sure! - I smile as I settle down. - Can we talk to Mel first, say goodbye?
Ryder makes a face.
- My mother will understand. - he says.
- It's okay! It's okay! - I mean settling down, but weirding out his attitude. - Where are we going?
- Anywhere! - he answers. - I just don't want to stay here anymore.
Ryder extends his arm and smiles when he leads us out. We went through a lot of people in a hurry. It was like he was running from the devil. A gentle hand touches Ryder's other arm when we're already at the MET entrance. He turns to the mysterious brunette and his expression is disturbed. He pulls his arm like he's getting a shock and he walks away from her.
- Ryder, can I talk to you?
She was a beautiful, young-looking woman in our age group. His long black hair went up to his waist. She wore a long black with a generous V-neck and a slit on one side of her skirt.
- I have nothing to talk to you about, Leila! Ryder says it harshly. - In fact, you shouldn't be here! I know my mother would never invite her, knowing I was coming.
- Ryder! Please, please, please, please, please, please! - Leila asks in an almost suppliant tone.
I frown, because now she looks very different from the girl who threatened me in the bathroom. Ryder closed his eyes by taking a deep breath. When he opened them, he locked his own in the girl's brown eyes and spoke impatiently.
- Leave me alone! - Ryder says taking my hand and walking again, but Leila holds his arm again.
- Ryder, I still love you! - she shoots, making me choke. - Can you forgive me? If you give me one more chance, I can prove I'm better than that blonde in the box. We can still work.
I choke on her observation.
- What did you say? - I mean roughly. - So far I wasn't intruding into anything that concerned Ryder, because he might as well take care of himself. But you deliberately offend me without knowing me, it's already an abuse.
Leila opens her mouth to talk, but I signal her to keep quiet.
- First you threaten me in the bathroom, now you say my hair is fake. - I say in an angry voice. - You can bet my hair is truer than those breasts you have inside that ridiculous neckline.
Ryder lets out a laugh. Not only him, but the people around us who watch everything, also laugh, making her snitch.
- How dare you, you...
Leila steps forward, but Ryder keeps her from getting close to me.
- Are you kidding, you cold, selfish cow? - Ryder says in a debauched way with his cold voice. He laughs out loud and looks around. - You cheated on me with my father while we were engaged and then you married him. Now you want a second chance? Even if my life depended on it! Do you know why?
Leila's breathing accelerates and she frowned against her forehead. Ryder laughs at her.
- I am very happy with the girl I have beside me, who, by the way, is much more than you will ever be in your entire existence. - he says, making me arch my eyebrow from side to side. - Brooke's all a man can want. He's kind and sensitive and very intelligent.
I had no idea why Ryder was talking about me like that, but I was happy to hear his opinion about me.
- That's bullshit! - she says in a cold tone. - You hate blonde!
- You want to bet?
Without giving me time for some reaction, Ryder ties my waist and takes my lips in a sweeping kiss. At first, I try to protest and get away, but for some reason that I don't know, I return the kiss with the same intensity. When we split up, I breathe out of breath and stare at each other for a few seconds. He smiled at me as he walked away and, while staring at me, he addressed the words to Leila.
- Like I said, the most perfect girl a guy can dream of having on his side. - he pauses, then looks in the direction of Leila, who is stunned by a humiliated expression on her face. - Now, if you'll excuse us, we have more to do and that doesn't include you or anyone else.
Turning his back on her, Ryder holds my waist and we head out of the MET. It's only when we get to the car that he sighs.
- I'm so sorry! - he says. - Leila still gets me serious.
- I've never seen you act like this with a girl before. - I mean with a confusing air. - Who was she?
- My ex-fiancée!
- That explains why she threatened me in the bathroom.
Ryder frown.
- Did she threaten you?
- She wanted
