Andy Squared (13 page)

“Heard what?”

“I talked to Charlie over break, and apparently he saw Ryder talking to Joshua Grayson.”

“Oh for the love of—that doesn't mean anything!”

“No, I know. But Charlie saw them talking, and he said it seemed more like flirting, because Ryder kept touching him and—”

“You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe this,” he muttered, throwing a hand in the air and nearly dropping his books in the process. “Don't you get it, Sarah? Charlie is saying that because he likes you, and he's upset that you're paying more attention to Ryder than you are to him!”

“But that's not all!” she cried, grabbing on to his arm. “I talked to Joe, too,” she added with a lowered voice. She glanced around at the people passing and pulled him into a quieter corridor. “You know, Joe Anderson, from your team? He said, like, two weeks after Ryder got here, he came on to him.”

Andrew paused and looked at her. “You know Joe is a liar. Remember what he said about Josh Grayson? He says stuff to get attention all the time. When did he tell you this? When it supposedly happened or just now, after Charlie had a chance to talk to him?”

Sarah had to think about it and looked at her classroom door, frowning. “He told me this morning, actually.”

Andrew pressed his lips into a grim line. “Nothing but lies. I'm getting tired of them,” he hissed and headed for class as the warning bell rang. He didn't bother looking back at her.
This time Charlie's shit has gone too far.

*

Andrew put his tray down on the table next to Ryder and leaned close to him. “Charlie's starting crap, and he's getting the other guys from the team in on it.”

“What kind of crap?” murmured Ryder, keeping his voice low and glancing around the room. Students still filed into the cafeteria doors as they came from their classes.

“They're trying to get everyone to believe you're gay.”

Ryder pulled back and looked at him, shocked. “But I am.”

Andrew hissed, “Keep your voice down!” He glanced around again and poked at the strange substance on his plate. “I know you are, but do you really want everyone to believe that?”

After a moment's thought, Ryder shrugged. “If they find out, I don't know if I'd deny it. I only kept it quiet in Texas because of my dad, but he's not here now, is he? And I doubt my aunt and uncle would care that much. They're pretty cool.” He glanced over at him, face betraying his concern. “Are you afraid they'll connect us?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Andrew admitted.

“I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to, or force you out, Andy. I like you.”

“I know that, and I like you, too,” he said, realizing when he said it that like was too simple a word to explain the surge of feelings Ryder brought out in him. But it wasn't the right place to talk about it. He didn't even know if he
could
talk about it. “But I can't…if they start asking me about us, I'm going to deny it. I'm sorry. I'm not ready to be…I mean, I don't even know if I am…you know…”

Ryder looked disappointed for a moment, but shrugged. His lips were turned up in a smile, but his eyes, the way the shine in them disappeared, expressed his true feelings. “I understand. I've been in your place before, and I'm not all that out myself. I don't know what would be harder. Being like this and not being able to talk to anyone about who you like, or being out and having to worry about people like Charlie,” he murmured.

Only seconds after he finished talking, Charlie walked up to the table and hesitated. Andrew glared at him and silently went back to his lunch. He hadn't expected him to sit there, after what happened over break. He heard the tray click against the table and the sound of a chair being drawn out. Charlie sat down and started to eat without saying anything. Tension filled the air so thickly it hung nearly visible in the air between them. Andrew wondered if he could suffocate from how thick the air was. Something had to be done to ease it, but what, he didn't know.

The silence at the table was far from companionable, and Ryder shifted in his seat. Eventually, Andrea and Sarah joined them. Andrea looked at her brother and the two guys, then back at Sarah. Her friend shrugged and stared at her food.

“So,” Ryder started, clearing his throat. “I was thinking you guys should all come over after school. We can go riding.”

Sarah looked up and over at him. “All of us?”

“Yeah, sure! You, Andrea, Charlie. You guys know how to ride, right?”

“Andrea doesn't,” Andrew warned, glancing at Charlie. He wondered what Ryder was trying to do.

“I took lessons a few years ago. But it's been a while,” Sarah said. “And Charlie knows how to.”

“Really? Great! You guys have to come.”

Charlie looked up, glanced at Andrew, and then looked back at Ryder. His face tensed in anger and unease, and then shifted to a blank calm. “Maybe. If I don't have a lot of homework.”

“Since when do you care about homework?” snorted Sarah. Everyone laughed at that, and the strain eased noticeably. Andrew wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.

“So you really want us all to come over?” Andrea asked, leaning over the table.

“Of course. You and Andy can drive me home, and Charlie can drive Sarah.” Charlie perked up at that idea, his shoulders relaxing. “That wouldn't be a problem, right?”

“No, not at all,” Charlie agreed, glancing at Sarah. He smiled and Andrew could see that he had calmed down. Making the suggestion that Sarah ride with Charlie had been genius on Ryder's part.

“You'll have to take me home, though,” Sarah warned.

“No problem. I don't mind.”

“Okay then! I guess it's settled,” Ryder said, clapping his hands.

Lunch after that was full of laughter and teasing. Charlie reverted back to the way Andrew had always known him. When the lunch wave ended, they gathered their things and headed back to class reluctantly, tossing their things in the compactor as they passed it. Charlie waved and agreed to meet them after school by the truck, and dashed off to class. Sarah and Andrea went ahead, talking excitedly, and Andrew held on to Ryder's arm to hold him back a moment.

“You invited Charlie?”

“Yeah, I figured, if I prove I'm not the bad guy he somehow figures me to be, then maybe he'll just leave it alone. Then you won't have to feel so conflicted. I know you do,” Ryder said softly. Not a hint of anger could be seen on his face, though. Andrew wondered how Ryder could be so okay with all of this. He knew, in Ryder's place, he'd be angry.

“Smart, that whole thing with Sarah riding with Charlie.”

“Part of my brilliant plan. She won't fit in your truck anyway, and if I look like I'm helping set him up with her, how can he stay pissed at me?” He tapped his temple and winked. “I can be smart when I wanna. This Texan ain't as dumb as y'all might think he is.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Like we would think that. I just hope this plan of yours doesn't backfire,” he warned, heading down the other corridor to his class.

“It won't. How could it?”

“Don't even get me started. See you outside.”

The rest of the day dragged for Andrew, and he kept glancing at the time. He wanted it to be two o'clock so he could grab his things and run to the parking lot. Part of him was glad he to be riding with everyone else along, to enjoy something as a group like they did before Ryder came, but another part of him was upset that they had to give up their private riding time just to address the unfair rumors. He enjoyed the riding most of all because it was when he got to spend time with Ryder alone. But if it got Charlie off his back and made him leave Ryder alone, then he figured in the end everything would be worth it.

When the bell finally rang, he grabbed his things and sprinted out of class, pushing past the throng of people emerging from classrooms and lingering in the hallway. He switched his things quickly, grabbing random books, and darted out to the parking lot. Andrew made it to his truck first and leaned against it impatiently.

Ryder, Andrea, Sarah, and Charlie strolled out of the school five minutes later, laughing. When they spotted Andrew at the truck, they waved and walked over to him.

“In a hurry?” Ryder teased.

“No, why would you say that?”

“Oh, I don't know, because you're out here before half the student body?” Sarah waved and headed for Charlie's Jetta. “We'll follow you to Ryder's.” Charlie waved as well, the grin on his face nearly splitting it in half as he walked over to his car and opened the door with a flourish for Sarah. She thanked him and slipped inside. Once he shut the door, Charlie gave them the thumbs-up and went around to his side.

“Well, he certainly seems happier,” Andrea remarked as she climbed into her spot in the middle of the bench seat.

“What do you expect? It's all part of my plan.”

“Oh, you have some genius plan? For what?” she asked Ryder.

“To get Sarah and Charlie together so Charlie will stop being a prick.”

Andrea punched his arm. “Now, this I've gotta see.”

Andrew sat astride Magpie, one hand covering his mouth to hide his mirth as he watched Ryder shove Andrea up onto Oreo's back. Oreo, an Appaloosa stallion, stood patiently as Andrew's sister nearly fell off the other side before managing to get on. Ryder adjusted the stirrups, grinning as he did so.

“Not a word,” she warned Andrew as Ryder moved off to Cobalt and swung up easily into the saddle.

Sarah pulled up alongside her on the back of Butterscotch, a palomino mare. “Looking good there, Andrea. Sure you've got it now?”

“Shut up,” Andrea hissed, sitting straighter.

“Don't worry, we'll go slow,” Ryder said. Andrew laughed at his sister's discomfort and urged his horse into a walk around Oreo and Andrea.

“We might have to walk the horses ourselves for her to keep up,” he teased.

“You, knock it off. I know where you sleep. Don't get cocky just because you've done this before.”

“When is he not cocky, that's the question,” Charlie piped in as he pulled himself up on Clover, one of the boarded horses. The five of them had quickly saddled the horses and gotten ready to take them out after Ryder's uncle agreed to their choices. The horses still needed exercise and with the five of them it would make the work easier. Clover shifted restlessly beneath Charlie, eager to get to the fields. Only Oreo stood still.

“Don't worry, Oreo's a sweetie. He won't do anything unless you tell him to. He's great for a new rider. Even better than Magpie over there.”

“It's not the horse I'm worried about,” Andrea said. “It's my neck.”

“Your neck is fine,” stated Ryder, and led them out to the field. Andrew pulled up alongside him and rode, while Andrea stayed between Charlie and Sarah. They kept an eye on her and coached her on how to sit and move with the horse.

Seeing the fence and wanting to show off what he'd learned, Andrew leaned over Magpie's neck, prompting her to break into a canter. He heard Andrea say something behind him, but he took off. He laughed as he made a circuit of the field and came back. “See?” he called out to Andrea. “It's not so hard!”

“Show-off,” Andrea muttered.

The five of them spent the next few hours riding around the fields, racing each other and having fun. Andrea didn't dare do anything more than walk, so she often sat to the side, watching and calling out encouragement to whoever's side she was on at the moment. The sun started to go down just as they finished and finally made it back to the barn. They groomed the horses and put away the tack, and then they all went inside for cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

“Fine, I admit it,” said Andrea as she sipped at her cocoa. “You've gotten really good. But it's all because of Ryder.”

The look on Andrew's face was smug. “Finally, something I can do that you can't.”

“You two are way too competitive,” Sarah joked. She sat on the small love seat next to Charlie, who had his arm around the back of the chair. He looked pleased with himself. Sarah finished her cup of tea and set it on the table in front of her. “I had a lot of fun, Ryder. Thanks for having us.”

“No problem. You guys should come again.”

“Definitely,” Charlie agreed enthusiastically. Sarah gave him a look, and Andrew thought he saw something affectionate in the brief way she looked up at him. But the second she looked back at the group, it disappeared.

“We should probably go, though. I've got homework to finish. You know Ms. Cambridge doesn't care that we just got back from break. She'll give us a pop quiz tomorrow just to prove her point,” Sarah pointed out.

“Yeah, she will,” Charlie groaned in agreement. “I didn't finish
Hamlet
. Did you?”

Sarah nodded. “I did. Do you want to stay a bit after you drop me off? I've got notes you could use.”

“Sure! Great!” he said, jumping off the seat and setting down his cup. “Thanks again, Ryder, but I better get her home.”

“You kids drive carefully,” Ryder drawled in response. He grinned wickedly at Charlie, who stuck up his finger behind Sarah's back once she'd turned away from the room.

“We better get going, too,” Andrea suggested, standing up as well. Andrew shot Ryder a brief, wistful look and stood. He debated asking Charlie to take her home but knew that would be met with resistance.

“Yeah, all right.”

“See you tomorrow, Ryder.”

Ryder waved and they grabbed their things and headed out to their vehicles. As soon as Andrew climbed in the driver's seat and put his books down next to him, he swore and started shifting through the stack of books, then his bag.

“Wait here a sec, I'll be right back. I forgot something inside.”