The Ice Alpha’s Mate (Aria and Ryder) novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

ARIA

The sound of knocking on my window makes me sit upright in bed.

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This feeling grows deep inside of me, and it’s a mix of fear, anxiety, and the absolute certainty that I know who’s on the other side of the glass.

I’m terrified of getting up and pushing my curtain to the side. The knocking becomes more insistent and it becomes harder for me to breathe.

What the hell is he doing here? How could he come here after everything he did? I should ignore him completely. Does he really think he has such a great influence on me that I’ll open the door for him like I did last time?

I couldn’t open the door even if I wanted to because Ray is sleeping in the living room, and he’d evidently see Ryder.

But the knocking starts grating on my nerves. I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t switched my phone off, he’d be calling me nonstop. He’s getting louder by the minute, and I’m afraid that I keep ignoring him, he’ll make so much noise that my uncle will wake up, and then I’ll be forced to confront the most embarrassing situation in the world.

With a groan, I climb off my bed and head toward the window, moving quickly so I don’t give myself a chance to give up. I push the curtain to the side, hoping I’ll see someone else staring back at me, but I have no such luck.

It’s him.

His expression softens when he sees me and my heart does a little thing that demoralizes me and makes me feel sick to my stomach. I don’t know how I can still be stupid enough to react like this at the mere sight of him.

“Go away!”

Ryder places his hand on the glass. “I won’t leave until we talk, Ama. Forget about it.”

I press my lips together and glare at him. “What could you possibly want to talk about?”

“Aria, what happened that night was a misunderstanding, alright I’m sure by now that…let me in so we can talk.”

“Never.”

“Then at least open the window.”

“No!” I grit out before making a mental note to keep my voice down. It’s very important that Uncle Barty doesn’t wake up. He can’t find out about this. I don’t know how I would look him in the eyes after the countless lies I’ve told him.

“You saw me with Nadia, didn’t you?”

His words just remind me of what I saw that night and I just feel sick all over again. I look away from him and he says, “I know what you’re thinking. It wasn’t like that. Someone spiked my drink. I wasn’t being myself.”

“How easy it is for you to tell me these lies,” I claim harshly before meeting his gaze. “Do you think I’m an idiot? I know what you’re trying to do!”

Ryder presses his forehead against the glass. “I’m not lying to you. It was all a setup, alright? Aria, you mean the world to me. I don’t want to lose you, do you understand me? I’ll keep fighting for us. I know what it looks like.”

I shake my head at him. No, I can’t believe him. No matter how many pretty lies he tells me.

I can’t fall for this again.

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09:58 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 86

“Aria.”

“No.”

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I close the curtains before he can say anything else, and just then there’s a knock on my door that makes my heart skip a beat in my chest and 1 grow cold. I shoot Ryder another annoyed look before heading toward the door, hoping that it’s not Uncle Barty wanting to know what all the noise is about.

I’m so angry that I don’t even know if I was being loud or not.

I open the door without asking who it is. I just assume it’s my undle. It’s not, though.

“Ray?”

“Hey,” he says, looking over my shoulder at my empty room. “Sory, I heard noises and it sounded like…hell, I don’t know what it sounded like anymore. Clearly, I made a mistake.” He looks me up and down, and I become overly aware of how small my shorts are. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I reply dismissively.

“I didn’t mean to invade your privacy or something.”

“I know.”

“I just wanted to figure out if you were okay.”

I feel bad now, just because I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm. My uncle has always been a heavy sleeper, so it makes sense that Ray heard something.

“I know,” I say again. “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude.”

“You’re not being rude. Just direct.” After a thoughtful pause, he adds, “I like that about you.”

I don’t know what to answer to this, so I don’t say a word. I’m so empted to look over my shoulder to see if Ray can see Ryder. Maybe I didn’t close the curtains well or something. I dont know.

He doesn’t mention anything like that, though, so maybe I’m jus being paranoid.

“I like a lot of things about you, come to think of it.”

Before I can even come up with a response, my uncle’s bedroom door opens and both Ray and I freeze. His hair is sticking up everywhere and he’s rubbing his eyes to see better. Then, he says my name a little loudly. “Aria.”

“Yes?” I squeak.

“Bed. Now.”

I shoot Ray a look, then close my bedroom door. My heart is being so fast right now that I have to put a hand over it and hope that it won’t give out. I hear his heavy footsteps walk past my door, and then comes the sound of muffled voices from the living room.

I return to the window, fighting all my instincts, and thankfully, Ryder is no longer standing there. Maybe he heard the commotion and decided to run off. Or maybe my words got to him and he has miraculously decided to leave me alone.

A girl can hope.

I return to bed, almost expecting Uncle Barty to come into my room and warn me to stay away from Ray, I would explain to him that nothing happened, and that he just misunderstood everything.

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09:58 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 86

That doesn’t happen, and surprisingly, I fall asleep.

In the morning. Ray is gone.

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