Page 136 of Out of Bounds

"Fine."

53

Kassie

Submit An Official Request

Before the brunch rush,Gianna’swas quietest than I’d ever seen it. It wasn’t hard for the hostess to seat us at a booth. And the moment we sat down, I was damn grateful. My whole body ached. The only thing keeping the exhaustion at bay was curiosity.

What does Ryan want to talk about this badly?

I put my chin in my hands and yawned. "What are we discussing?"

"Just one thing," Ryan promised and scrolled through his phone, keeping it a foot away, like it could’ve grown fangs and bit him.

"Is this something I need to be coherent for?"

"I’m not looking for an answer right now," he replied. "This is more of an introduction to negotiations and I can print out a copy, if you want."

Negotiations?

Our waitress stopped by the table with some waters and I smiled up at her. Sloane, the pretty redhead who remembered Ryan’s protein shakes. But when I reached for a menu, Ryan stopped me.

"We don’t need menus. Kassie wants the strawberry banana French Toast special, eggs, toast, bacon. And a glass of orange juice."

My lips tugged up for a smile.

Ryan grinned back at me and shifted to face her again. "And I’ll have my usual."

While I had french toast? I shook my head. "No, he won’t. We’re both getting my order."

"That’s a lot of sugar," Ryan pointed out. "I can’t do that."

"No practice today and you dragged me in here, you’re doing it."

Sloane took a long look between us. "Uh…do we need a minute?"

"Nope." I reached for my back pocket for my secret weapon, nestled in my wallet. "You dragged me here, ball dribbler. Either you eat this with me or I’m paying."

Ryan took a long look at me but I wasn’t bluffing. I slipped out my credit card and held it between two fingers, a loaded weapon as far as he was concerned.

"You’re not paying," he told me flatly.

"Maybe I’ll pretend to go to the bathroom and slip them my card."

"Kassie."

I shrugged. "Even if you pay, I’ll come back later, and offer a bigger tip for a refund with a new card."

Sloane giggled. "Sounds good to me."

Ryan ran a hand through my hair, never straying his eyes from mine. He waited for me to crack. Maybe he thought I was too tired to fight him on this but he couldn’t be more wrong. I wasn’t getting a damn good breakfast and watching him eat kitchen ingredients. Fuck that. I gazed back at him. No compromise today.

He narrowed his eyes. "Fine."

I gave the sweetest smile I had and he narrowed his eyes further.

The moment the menus disappeared, I had all of Ryan’s irritation to myself. He might’ve scared the freshmen on his football team but I didn’t have a jersey number. He couldn’t negotiate on this.

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