"Guys?" I ask as Ryder looks up at me. He has a calm demeanor and walks towards me abruptly.
"How did it go?" Ryder asks, running his hand down the back of my head. "Maddison give you a clean bill of health?"
I half smile at him, trying to swallow down the bile creeping up my throat at the sound of her name. "Yeah, and she left. Did you tell her I was in an accident? Because of her?"
"Y-yes," Ryder says, shifting uncomfortably. He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I told Maddison you were in a car accident leaving the mall. She blurted out the truth. She kept apologizing. I told her she would have been on my list if you were severely hurt or killed. She knew exactly what that meant," he smirks. "She was my past. You are my present and future. No one comes before that."