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want to leave. He says the beaches are beautiful and parties there are out of this world.”
     
    He didn’t think he was coming back? That idea shook her to the core. “So let me see if I’ve got this straight. You decided that you want to move to the other side of the world. For the beaches and the parties . And you might never come back? And this decision was all so sudden that you didn’t have time to tell anyone. You’re just leaving. What prompted all this?”
     
    He looked straight at her. It was just a glance, but she got the feeling that there was a lot more behind his decision to move than he was telling her.
     
    “The timing is right,” he said in a low, rough voice. “That’s all.” That’s all. She exhaled sharply. It wasn’t about her. That was wishful thinking on her part.
     
    “Jake’s going to miss you.”
     
    “He’ll be fine.”
     
    So that plan of attack wasn’t going to work. Katie tried again. “What about my mom and dad? They adore you.”
     
    She saw Ryder’s expression tighten and knew her point made a direct hit.
     
    “You’re not going to wait until they get back?” she asked.
     
    “Your parents are on a sabbatical in the middle of Africa,” Ryder said. “They’re not getting back until the end of the school year.”
     
    “They’re going to be hurt to find you suddenly gone without any warning.” Katie almost pouted her lips, but decided that might be overkill. “Can’t you push back your move until June?”
     
    “I’m not their son,” he said gruffly.
     
    “Come on”—Katie made a face at that argument—“you are just as much a Kramer as Jake and me.”
     
    Ryder ducked his head, and if she wasn’t mistaken, that comment pleased him. Was he blushing? Ryder Scott blushing?
     
    If being a part of the Kramer family was so important to him, why was he walking away from it all? When Ryder’s own mother seemed disinterested in taking care of him, he became an unofficial member of the Kramer family. Ryder always had a place setting at the table during his teen years and was at Katie’s house more often than his own. He and Jake were like brothers.
     
    But maybe the ties he had with her family weren’t enough to hold him. What was going on? Ryder had made it clear he was leaving immediately, but he wasn’t telling her why. There was an unbridge able gap between them, so different from the easy, teasing relationship they’d enjoyed when they were younger. His silence troubled her. She suddenly felt like she would never, ever see him again.
     
    “Who’s going to look after me when you’re gone?” She didn’t care if she sounded pitiful. Ryder had always been so protective of her and she was going to use that to her full advantage.
     
    “You have a big brother,” he reminded her.
     
    “Puhleeze.” Katie rolled her eyes. “I need protection from Jake. The guy is a terror.”
     
    Ryder stopped dancing but didn’t let her go. He looked deep into her eyes. “If you really need me, I’ll be there for you.”
     
    Her heart did a double flip. On some level, she’d always known that, but he had never said those words. Now they felt more like a brush-off. “Thanks, but how is that going to work when you are thousands of miles away?”
     
    “I’m not disappearing off the face of the earth,” he said with a hint of impatience.
     
    “You might as well be.” She gave a deep sigh. “I’m going to miss you.”
     
    “I know.”
     
    She waited. I know? That’s all he had to say? She forgot how arrogant the man could be. Didn’t he realize that this was the part where he should repeat those words and mean them?
     
    She wanted to look away so he wouldn’t see how she was handling this loss, but she also wanted to hold on to this moment. Katie needed to tell him how important he was to her. But they had practically grown up together—even if they weren’t as close as they used to be, shouldn’t he already know how much she needed him