Free Sidekick by Auralee Wallace Page A

was calling for me to press it.
    I could just turn around and go.
    But go where? Back to my apartment with the toilet by the bed? Back to The Pink Beaver? Back home?
    The thought of home brought my daddy-anger to the surface again, and that made me all-over mad.
    Ryder was messing with me.
    Sure, fine, I almost got her shot today, and I didn’t listen like a good little dog when she told me to stay…and now I was kind of trespassing, but none of that was an excuse for rudeness.
    I opened my mouth unsure of what I was going to say, but damned sure I was going to say something, when suddenly I screamed.
    Ryder was standing right in front of me.
    Seriously, one second there was a dimly lit foyer with some plants and art, and the next she was right there.
    She so needed to teach me how to do that.
    Ryder stared at me, cool as a cucumber. A loose knot on top of her head held her fiery hair in place, and a black silk robe with an Asian-looking landscape woven into it streamed over the toned muscles of her body.
    “Hi,” I mumbled. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
    Ryder stared at me with her neon blue eyes. I had seen this trick before, mainly from my father. Say nothing and people get nervous. They fill in the silence and tell you all sorts of things they never intended.
    But just because I knew the trick, it didn’t mean I knew how to defend against it.
    “I can help you.” The words came out a little faster than I had intended.
    Ryder raised her eyebrows. For the first time, I saw faint lines creased her forehead.
    “I believe this is yours,” she said handing me my phone.
    “Oh yeah, thanks. How long did it take you to—”
    She held up a hand, and I stopped talking.
    “You have done a very dangerous thing by coming here.” As she spoke the words, she turned from me and walked to a seating area by a two-sided fireplace. She then lowered herself into a chair that faced me and crossed her long, toned legs. “So tell me. What would make you do such a dangerous thing?”
    “I think I can help you.”
    The faintest of smiles reached her eyes.
    “As I said on the street, you have helped me quite enough.”
    “Okay, so it hasn’t been a success-only journey, but you should consider what I have to say.”
    Ryder turned from me and picked up a mug that looked like it had been crafted in some medieval monastery. She took a long sip then nodded once. This was it. My chance.
    “Um, so, wow…okay, I’ve come a really long way to talk to you,” I said, “on foot.”
    Ryder looked at my feet and settled back in her chair.
    I smacked my lips together. “Do you think I could have something to drink?”
    “No.”
    “Okay,” I said chuckling. “You probably don’t know this, but you only get one no a night, and now you’ve used yours all up.”
    I waited to see if my joke had any effect.
    Ryder’s face was as frozen as her heart appeared to be.
    “Okay, well, anyway, I was thinking that after all we have been through today that we shouldn’t end this partnership prematurely.”
    “Partnership?”
    “Okay, you’re right. Partnership is probably the wrong word. I was thinking more mentorship. Like you mentoring me.”
    “I certainly didn’t think it was the other way around.”
    “Good. Good. See?” I wagged a finger at her. “We’re on the same page already.”
    Dead silence.
    “Look here’s the thing,” I said quickly. “I need you to teach me how to be like you. I don’t want to be a bunny fighting marshmallows.”
    Ryder blinked slowly. “I’m sorry?”
    “A bunny!” I shouted. “Look, I can do this. I know I can. Today something came over me. I have never felt so alive. And saving that boy, or rather helping you save that boy, that was the best thing I’ve ever done! And, well, I really need some money. Does the city pay you? Or maybe we could start hiring ourselves out to do events. You know, like, we could be the hot crowd control chicks. I was thinking—”
    Ryder