Page 63 of Hate To Love You

Ryker pulls away, a smirk playing on his lips as he pulls up his pants and hands me my clothes. He looks satisfied, yet still lustful as he watches me get dressed.

“We should probably go before a class starts and sees us in here,” Ryker says. He’s right. I cannot get caught in an empty room with him. I’d never hear the end of it. I’d probably be the talk of campus for weeks.

I know people are already talking about us since we’ve been seen on campus together working on our project, and because of the way Ryker defended me against Ashton at the Halloween party.

I guess a lot more people saw what happened than I originally thought. Ryker’s been there twice to defend me, and even though we couldn’t stand each other not too long ago, I still believe he would have been there to save me.

Something tells me that when Ryker Steele gets something in his head, he doesn’t let it go easily. I wonder if he claimed me before we even really started getting to know each other.

That girl in the library the first time Ryker and I met up seemed like she was waiting for him to get up and leave with her. She looked like she was upset when he blew her off. I wondered who she was back then, but it didn’t really matter at that point. I’m not stupid. I know it had to be a girl he’d fucked or that wanted to fuck him. But I didn’t care because all I wanted to do was get out of there.

I know Ryker doesn’t do relationships. I can’t expect that a guy like him will want to be together just because we’ve had sex a couple times.

But he seems so possessive over me, so protective. I can’t help but think, is he that way with all of the girls he sleeps with?

“Gwen?” Ryker’s voice distracts me from my thoughts. I look down to see his hand stretched in front of me to help me off the table. I take it hesitantly, and he helps me jump down. I could have gotten down on my own, but I didn’t want to. Not with the offer of his help.

We walk to the door, and Ryker opens it slightly, peaking around the hallway to see if anyone’s around. When he decides the coast is clear, he lets me leave the room before him, him following after.

I don’t know why this feels awkward. Like I don’t know what to say to him now that we’re not in the heat of the moment. Where do we go from here? We don’t have a project to work on anymore, and we have no real reason to hang out.

Ryker stands in front of me, his hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans. His thick, dark hair mussed from the sinful activates that just occurred. He looks effortlessly sexy in his dark maroon colored shirt and black pants. My core aches at the thought of him fucking me again.

I open my mouth to say something, but the sound of a cellphone cuts me off before I can.

Rolling his eyes, Ryker pulls his phone out of his back pocket, groaning when he looks at the screen.

“I have to take this,” he says, almost regretfully. “I’ll call you, okay?” he looks into my eyes, as if making a promise.

I nod. “Okay, yeah,” I reply softly, a dull ache swirling in my chest as I watch him leave.

Chapter 33

Guinevere

“You really slept with him?!” Lainey squeals as we sit in the courtyard, sipping on hot coffees from Café Grind.

The fall air has now turned into the beginning of a cold winter chill, and the trees are pretty much empty. No one really sits out here this time of year, but there’s always a few people milling about.

“Shh! Keep your voice down,” I scold. Lainey rolls her eyes and looks around the vast space, seeing only four people scattered around.

“No one’s here! Besides, no one would know who we’re talking about anyway,” she swats my arm playfully.

I tug my black winter coat, wrapping it around me tighter as a cold breeze passes. This is really not the ideal place to be talking about this, but we both have a class in ten minutes, so we didn’t want to walk home.

“So, how was it?” Lainey asks, curiosity and a bit of jealousy swirl in her eyes. Rolling mine, I take a minute to answer. How was it? It was… it was earth shattering. It was mind blowing. It was like scratching an itch I didn’t even know I had. And I hate him for it. I hate that he’s made me feel this way about him. Like I want him, need him.

I don’t need anyone. I’m fine on my own. Although, I do want someone to share things with. Like when I have an awful day and need to rant, or when I’m upset and need someone to hold me. Could Ryker be that person?

No. He couldn’t. Ryker Steele could never.

“It was fine,” I tell her. I know she’s not going to accept that for an answer, but it was worth a try.

“Come on! Give me more than that! I need to live vicariously through you,” she begs. She’s acting like she isn’t constantly fucking a new guy like every week.

I love Lainey, and she can do whatever she wants, but why would she need to live vicariously through my sex life? Just because it’s Ryker?

I chuckle at her outburst. “I’m not giving you details! I shouldn’t have even told you. It’s not like it matters,” I huff as I watch Lainey’s smile fall. God damnit, I want off this topic. “He was good. Better than good, he was great. He made me…” I trail off. Lainey adjusts herself in the spot next to me, angling herself so that her knee is now touching mine.

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