Page 42 of Keep Me

Cuddy chuckles. “Dude, no one was coming to steal her. Relax.”

I hide my smile in his chest because I secretly like the whole possessive caveman thing he has going on right now. I like it a lot.

“Why are you even here?” Ryker asks him.

“We do have to leave for practice in twenty minutes. We’re meeting in the lobby, remember?”

Shit, how late did we sleep in?

I scramble out of his lap, and Ryker jumps to his feet in search of his phone. I grab mine, reading 9:05 a.m. on the screen. We overslept.

It turns into chaos as I rush into the bathroom to get ready as soon as possible while Ryker does the same in the room with Cuddy. In my hurry to get ready, I find myself pausing when I see the stack of bills in my makeup bag.

I take them out carefully, flipping each bill as I add them up. I bite on my bottom lip as I think of where it came from until I realize it’s the same amount I paid Ryker for the tattoo. For a man who’s intent on keeping things casual, he sure has a funny way of showing it.

Although a part of me threw down that money out of spite because I was upset, another part also wanted to properly thank him for his work. My tattoo is beautiful and a reminder of everything that I am, a reminder of why I left.

I push the thoughts away as I finish getting ready for the day, throwing on shorts and a cropped T-shirt with our school’s mascot on the back. Once we’re both ready, Ryker makes Cuddy go out first to make sure no one’s in the hallway to see me leaving his room.

While Cuddy is outside, Ryker’s hand wraps around my hip. He turns me to face him and presses his lips to mine. He kisses me so sweetly, brushing his lips across mine, then my cheeks, my nose, and finishing with my forehead.

“See you soon,” he murmurs just as Cuddy gives us the go ahead.

I give him my brightest smile, unable to contain it in that moment. As I slip into the hallway and make my way to the lobby, it dawns on me that although we just agreed to be nothing more than friends with benefits, it feels like more already.

My heart is doomed, yet I don’t want to prevent myself from falling further.

What is wrong with me?

Chapter Eighteen

Ryker

Camille’s been driving me fucking insane all day. In the best and worst way possible. At practice, I went harder than I needed to, knowing she was there. I always try my best, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing a little extra today for her.

Being around her before was always hard because my body seems to want to gravitate toward her, but after I kissed her? It felt magnetic, making it impossible to stay away.

I found myself finding ways to be near her. I even pretended I needed to stretch out my leg just so I could have five minutes of standing next to her on the sidelines, staring at her smile that is way too fucking pretty to be real.

I never thought a smile could make me feel things, but fuck, when she does, I feel it all.

And I hate it.

The entire team is currently waiting in line for this sports bar we’re trying to get into, and Camille hasn’t stopped smiling this entire time as she talks with the team. I don’t want to be that guy, but I can’t help wishing she were smiling at me right now instead of them.

I need to get a grip.

When we’re finally seated, I make sure I sit right next to her and even though it’s Cuddy on her other side, I put my hand under her chair and scoot it closer to mine.

Camille bites on her lip, a smile slipping through. “What are you doing?” she whispers.

“I just want you close,” I murmur, opting for blunt honesty.

A tinge of pink paints her cheeks as she ducks her head and looks at the menu in front of her. “Is that why your leg randomly needed stretching during practice?”

I grunt in response, nudging her thigh with mine.

She turns to me, her champagne curls spilling over her shoulder as she smiles shyly at me. I hold her eyes for a beat, then force myself to look away because my chest is starting to feel tight. I should probably see my doctor about that.

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