Chapter 77: ELENA

Dinner was amazing, but everything that came after, not so much. Ryder had gone above and beyond to make me forget our unwanted audience, and it worked to some extent, and after a time, I really did forget that they were even there. We didn’t pretend to be two old friends playing catch up, but neither did we go crazy with the PDA.

It turned out to be just the perfect end to a crappy day, and by the time we left the restaurant, I was beyond happy that we’d got our first outing since getting back together out of the way. We were mobbed by fans on the way out, none of whom had been there when we arrived, so it was obvious that something had been posted about us on social media to get all of them there.

Now, in the past, something like this would’ve soured Ryder’s mood. It was always a toss-up what kind of response he’d have to being bombarded like this out of left field, and I felt myself tense up. Old habits die hard, I guess.

As if guessing my thoughts, he wrapped his arm around me, pul