Chapter 137: As long as he’s mine
Ryder sat at his desk, staring blankly at the papers spread out before him. His secretary, Claire, droned on about some meeting with investors, her voice a dull hum in the background.
Ryder’s fingers tapped restlessly on the polished wood surface, his gaze unfocused, lost somewhere far beyond the numbers and contracts in front of him. He should have been listening. These meetings were important, crucial even. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus.
Noah’s face kept flashing in his mind—those anxious eyes, wide and scared, the way they had filled with tears when Ryder had broken his heart. The memory hit him like a gut punch, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Why the hell couldn’t he stop thinking about him?
"Mr. Ryder, are you listening?" Claire’s voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back to the present. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.
He blinked, forcing himself to sit up straighter. "Yeah, I’m listening. Go on," he muttered, though the words felt hollow.
But as she continued, her voice faded again, and Ryder found himself back in that moment—standing at Noah’s door, seeing those fragile features twisted in pain. His heart clenched, and he cursed silently under his breath. It was ridiculous, how much space Noah took up in his head, how even the smallest detail reminded him of the man he’d tried so hard to forget.
Claire slid a file across the desk, pointing to something inside, but Ryder barely glanced at it. His mind was miles away.
He remembered Noah’s smile, that rare, genuine smile that always seemed to light up his whole face. The way his eyes would soften when they were alone, when it was just the two of them, and for a brief moment, Ryder had allowed himself to believe that maybe...could keep things simple.
But he had been wrong.
"Mr. Ryder? The presentation?" Claire’s voice pulled him back again, and this time, she sounded a little annoyed.
Ryder rubbed a hand over his face, nodding as if he understood what she was saying, though he had no idea what she’d just said. "Yeah, I’ll look at it later," he mumbled.