Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
And I hadn’t.
My gaze finally drifted left, and I found Ryder watching me. I sucked in a breath as the nerve endings in my skin came to life, tingling with awareness. I could almost feel the heavy weight of his gaze like a caress on my sensitive skin.
Or maybe that’s just what my subconscious wanted it to be.
I needed to get the hell out of there. But instead of standing and making an excuse to leave, I opened my big mouth. “So, uh, what are you up to today, Ryder?”
He cleared his throat. “Just finished up a meeting with my academic advisor for next semester. And this afternoon, I’m signing a lease on an apartment.”
“No shit?” The news overrode the bullshit in my head, and I grinned at Ryder, who nodded. “Well, congrats, man. That’s awesome news.”
“Thanks. Want to come with me? I can give you a tour.”
And we can get each other off again.
The unspoken words reverberated through my brain as loudly as a brass marching band.
Everyone not at our table disappeared. Trevor’s gleeful stare was palpable. My friend used every ounce of strength to avoid standing up and cheering us on. Corvin’s stare, on the other hand, burned into the side of my head—hot, jealous, and laden with heavy disappointment.
But I didn’t care. All I could think about was being alone in an apartment with Ryder, where I could get my hands on him and feel his on my bare skin.
Where I could make him come.
Again.
“Uh, yeah. Sure. I guess I can do that.”
Trevor snorted.
My hoodie and jeans went from keeping me comfortably warm to stifling me in a burning inferno. A bead of sweat rolled down the center of my back. If someone didn’t change the subject, I’d start panting and might hop up and hump his leg.
Ryder knew exactly what the offer did to me. He smirked the same arrogant grin I’d seen from him and hated countless times, and while it still had a profound effect on me, it no longer enraged me to the point of blind fury. Now it riled me up in a way that had my dick aching.
“I didn’t realize you’d found an apartment.” Corvin’s clipped tone had Ryder frowning his way. “I’d have been happy to join you if you wanted company.”
Over my dead body.
“Oh.” Ryder cleared his throat. “Shit, sorry, Corvin. I—”
“Actually,” Trevor broke in, flashing Corvin his most charming smile. “I was going to ask if I could get a tour of the university’s ballet studio after lunch.” He batted his eyelashes and scooted his chair close to Corvin, resting his hand on the other man’s arm.
“Yeah,” Corvin said. “I can do that.” He did a shitty job of erasing the disappointment from his face, and if Trevor had an actual interest in him instead of just taking one for the team, I’d hate the man even more.
“Yay,” Trevor said as he clapped. “I’m excited.” He pinned me with a you-owe-me-big-time look that had me chuckling.
I wasn’t sure if I should buy my friend a bottle of champagne for being a stellar wingman or slap him upside his head for enabling my toxic behavior.
The rest of the lunch crawled by in a too-slow blur of stolen glances at Ryder, insufficient blood flow to my brain, and a constant desire to donkey kick Corvin, whose mooning over Ryder bordered on pathetic.
Trevor kept the conversation flowing, drawing Corvin’s attention whenever his slobbering over Ryder became too obvious, while I reverted to one-word answers and grunts. If I participated in the conversation, I’d have either blasted Corvin with a verbal assault or begged Ryder to leave now and feast on my cock for lunch instead of his panini.
I snuck another peek at Ryder to find him watching me. My tongue dried up at the heat in his eyes. They’d darkened until I almost couldn’t find the speck of green I’d become obsessed with.
I didn’t know what the hell we were doing besides playing with fire, but I did know one thing.
I was seriously fucked.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
RYDER
After serving drinks until two a.m., coming my brains out on Alex’s tongue, and jerking him until he flooded my hand, you’d think I’d have passed out the second I got home. Instead, I’d laid flat on my back, staring at the ceiling for an hour, tense. My skin felt sensitive and irritated, as though I’d developed an allergy to sleeping under my father’s roof. The thought of spending another night there had me wanting to scream, so I got up, grabbed my laptop, and searched for apartments until the sun came up. As soon as the business offices opened at eight, I called my top five and decided to rent one right then and there. Tonight, I’d sleep in my own apartment in a building my father did not own.