Page 59 of My Bully's Crush: Vol1

Even at night, when he retired to his bedroom, which was clear across the house from mine, they were standing like sentinels or somewhere lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce as soon as I got too close.I tried bringing it up to Ryder once, but all he’d said was to deal with it and carry on with his day.

Now my dad was yelling at me with fear in his voice, and his fear made me feel even more afraid than I had, waiting for the other shoe to drop.I live in constant fear of what she’d post next, what new bit of information she’d expose to the public that made them look at me like some kind of monster who’d trapped Ryder, who’d taken him from his one true love.

Things that had been put to bed in that first year after our wedding were now up for review again, and people were going through our entire history with a fine-tooth comb.

This was my biggest fear come to pass, something I thought we were long past and were in the clear of ever facing again.Every interview I’d ever done was being brought up again and held up to the light, and I was not looking good.Now, the masses were turning against me and acting as if I were holding Ryder, hostage.They were treating me like the other woman, me, his wife, and it was driving me crazy.

I hate reading the stupid comments that put the two of them together, the ones that paint Elena as some kind of saint who’d been done wrong by the wicked witch.I could’ve dealt with it all if Ryder was by my side, but I’m afraid that now that he was no longer under the influence, something else I had failed at and had to hear about from Scott and Mary, I was losing there as well.

I’d tried getting the drugs into him any way I knew how but to no avail.Those two men have been watching everything he puts in his mouth as if expecting me to poison him or something.They claim he’s on a strict diet because of the part he’d been hired to play, and I guess that’s true, but they won’t even allow him to drink the coffee I try to bring him in the morning.

“Dad, I have enough to deal with here alone.Okay, I don’t need you yelling at me on top of it.”That’s another thing.Ryder had forbidden entrance to anyone to the house, including Nicole and Noel, who were the only ones I trusted to help me get to him.

I even thought that with their skills, they might’ve been able to get those two men away from Ryder, but they’ve proven to be immune to female flattery because they barely even look at me long enough to know I exist, and I’ve tried.

It’s the first time I haven’t been able to get my way when it comes to the male sex.It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to use my wiles on one of Ryder’s men to get what I wanted, but these two didn’t seem even a little bit interested.

“Don’t tell me about your problems.I did everything to get you where you are; now you get me what I want or else.”

“Or else what, Dad?”Are you going to tell the world what you did?I didn’t voice that last part out loud, but I’m sure he got the message.

I hung up in his ear for the first time and got a great sense of satisfaction doing it.So much so that it led me to think that maybe it was time I stood up for myself.Maybe it was time I started fighting for what I wanted, and what I want more than anything else in this world is to be Mrs.Ryder Sumner.No one, not Mary Hudson, Scott, Matt, or some little bitch hiding behind the scenes, was going to take that away from me.

It’s high time I let someone else know that as well.High time that Ryder started acknowledging the fact that I am his wife, not her.And if he doesn’t start acting like it, maybe I’ll just have to do something about it.

Chapter 36

*Ryder*

Well, this is interesting.No wonder they allowed Mary into the house today.They must’ve known what was coming and were planning some scheme to put her visit to good use.Both Tyler and Zak seemed too laid back and unbothered while the rest of the world was about to crash and burn.At least L.A.Was.

I’ve been following the theatrics online, and I think I see a pattern forming.“Hey, is there any rhyme or reason to whatever it is these nieces of yours have planned?”I still had no idea what the end result was supposed to be with this whole thing.I knew they were supposed to be helping me in some way, but to what end?

“I wouldn’t go sticking my nose into that mess if I were you.”These two tough guys were the last kind of men I’d expect to sweat whenever those little girls were mentioned, but just like Saunders, they seemed to tense up and look around for cover whenever I brought them up.

Had I not seen their handiwork firsthand, I’d find it comical, but in the last couple of weeks since I returned, I’ve had to admit that they were vicious as hell.I’m almost certain that they were trying to drive Janie and her cohorts crazy, just as they’d planned on doing to Elena.Poetic justice if you ask me, but I find it a bit daunting for little girls to wield this much power.

They took no prisoners, and even I had come under attack, though not in the same way.I did not appreciate them telling the world to stop pairing me with Elena since I was a married man or the fact that they called me a drug-addicted skell who didn’t deserve her.They did at least leave me a caveat, which was that if I cleaned my shit up and got myself together, I just might be worthy of her.

They’re not lying, so I can’t fault them too much, but damn, they didn’t have to go in on me like that.I thought we were playing for the same team, but from what I’ve gathered, they don’t give anyone a pass, friend or foe.

They also had a font of information that was never-ending, and I never knew what to expect from one day to the next and who was going to get it next.Sometimes it seemed like if I looked away for a second or even blinked, I’d miss something new from their end.

What I didn’t expect, though, was for them to crack the code in my song.They put me on blast, and now the whole world knows that I was singing to my old love about how much I love and miss her.How the frig do they know so much?

Now, everyone and their mother have been combing through my songs with a fine-tooth comb, looking for clues.Every song that I’ve released since getting married has come under scrutiny, but what really cinched it for me is the fact that these little girls had somehow gotten hold of three songs of mine that weren’t released and that I’d even forgotten and released snippets of them to the public.

Those songs had caused quite a rift between me, Scott, Janie, and even Matt, my spiritual advisor.That’s because there was no decoding needed to recognize that I was singing to Elena.I guess I was high out of my gourd when they were written because I don’t really remember writing let alone recording them.

Zak’s phone made one of those weird noises it makes, and he read the screen before putting it away.He nodded at Tyler, who was just lounging with that semi-permanent smirk on his face that he always wears, then turned his attention to me.

“Let’s go.It’s time.”

“Time?Time for what?”

“We can’t talk here.”Oh, yeah, I’d almost forgotten that they’d swept the place every day since coming here and that they’d found listening devices planted throughout my side of the house.

They’d done something to my bedroom and theirs, along with the studio, that made it seem like the devices were still there, but the listeners could not hear what we were saying.I’m not sure how any of that works, and I had given up trying since they were never forthcoming with information.