Chapter 27: Burning Garbage

Ryder and I headed out to his car, but there was an air of awkwardness between us after our little altercation.

He helped me in and closed the door before heading around to the driver's seat. When he got in he sat for a moment, staring at the rain as it fell on the windscreen. I was certain he wanted to say something, but he either thought better of it or wasn't sure how.

Instead, he simply started the car and we headed toward his house in total silence.

"Wanna put some music on?" I suggested hopefully, trying to fill the space between us with some kind of sound. "Sure. No problem," Ryder agreed, but he made no attempt to put the music on and the silence lingered.

I was about to ask again when he spoke up, "You mad at me?" he asked, sounding a little on edge.

"A little," I replied honestly. "But it feels like the kind of thing a stack of pancakes might be able to fix," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

A small smile spread across his lips, relieved to hear that I wasn't planning to