Now let's put Ryder under the microscope. It took a little while for me to understand Langley, but Ryder was right up front from the moment I started thinking about Wicked Obsession. Front the start, he didn't think he was good enough for Langley.
The college thing was really a huge deal for him. I hope the fact that he thinks about it several times over the course of the book shows just how much this impacted his behavior. His father was determined that his three boys would have a better life than he'd had and that meant they all needed to go to college. His two older brothers both did this, but while Ryder tried, it wasn't his thing.
He finished his first year and then dropped out to join the army. When he'd go home to visit his parents, all he'd hear was how proud his dad was of his other sons. But Ryder wasn't around when his dad did a ton of bragging about him and how he was Special Forces. His father is as proud as can be, but has never told Ryder this, so yeah, he believes even his father doesn't think he's good enough.
And then he meets Langley who not only came from an affluent background, but graduated from college with honors (See Langley and perfectionism in an earlier post). She's also lived all over the world, speaks a dozen languages either fluently or mostly fluently and he's like, yeah, as soon as she figures out that I'm not good enough, she's out of here.
But Ryder doesn't see Langley as clearly as he should. She's not a princess like he believes for much of the book. His friends see this easily. Finn and Griff both try to get him to understand that his view of her is skewed. She's tough and smart, but Ryder is stuck on her being a delicate princess.
It's actually his image of her that's interfering with reality. He also hasn't asked her a lot of questions about the nitty gritty of how she was raised. Aside from the bodyguards who were necessary for her protection, Langley wasn't spoiled by her parents. As she says several times in the book, she has more in common with the children of ambassadors from other countries than any other group of people.
By the end of Wicked Obsession, Ryder finally understands that Langley isn't this princess he's been thinking she was, but a strong woman who will do whatever it takes. Like participate in a shootout with the bad guys.
