Page 108 of Out of Bounds

Kassie glanced over at me. “What do you mean?”

“Did you call the police?”

“What?” She snorted and stopped herself before a lone laugh escaped her. “You’re asking me if I called the cops on my parents? What would I have gotten out of it? Not the money. That’s for damn sure.”

“But you needed it,” I replied.

“Yeah. And? Would you have called the cops on your parents?”

Roman Forest was coming up too soon. I started to lift my shoe from the accelerator but Kassie would’ve noticed. Reluctantly, I drove to the curb, thinking it over.

“No,” I decided. “I wouldn’t have.”

Kassie slipped off the jacket and my eyes flickered to her shoulders.

“You can drop it off in the morning,” I told her.

“I’m dropping it off now,” she said instead and held it for a moment between her hands. “You were amazing tonight, Ryan. Really. You were engaging with everyone and you were friendly. It was a real effort, you could see it. You were…real fun.”

“Nobody’s called me fun in years.” I chuckled. “Adam, King, and June—”

“They don’t know how hard you work.” She stared out the window. “It’s easy for them to say that. They don’t see how much is on your shoulders. And—Ryan—youarefun.”

A slow smile spread across my face. “Thanks.”

“You don’t even need me anymore. You’re doing great on your own.”

My muscles stiffened and I couldn’t think of what to say. What did she mean by that? It was just something she tossed out. It had to be. Because if she was serious, what was I supposed to do? Purposely fuck up at events justify her being around? I really didn’t want to have to do that but if I had to, I had to.

She passed over the jacket. I moved to get up too but she shook her head, motioning for me to keep sitting. “You were very…presentable.”

Presentable?

“Thanks.” I paused. “You too.”

“Before or after I almost bit off the donor’s head?” Kassie asked, her eyebrows raised, before she shut the door without another word.

I watched her walk across the sidewalk and my fingers twitched along the steering wheel. It was hard not to stare. The fabric swayed along her body and I got the perfect view of her ass as she took to the stairs.

“Presentable,” I muttered. “The second I get home, I’m jerking off to your pictures. How presentable is that?”

Kassie reached the last step and pulled open the door. She glanced back at the car. She couldn’t see me but I could see her.Me, the presentable guy who could count how many pictures I had to scroll through before I found the one of her in a swimsuit on her page from how often I swiped through it, one-handed.

Presentable. Funny.

And there she went, inside.

My elbow went to the car door and I put my head in my hand, closing my eyes. I used to be presentable.

“Fuck it. Fine.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll fuck up at the events. I’ll put together a gift I can’t spend money on. I’ll figure it out.” I breathed out the tension with the new game plan. “Alright. Shit.”

A brisk knock on the door brought me out of it.

Kassie.

I glanced up and swore under my breath.

“Sir?” That same receptionist for Kassie’s dorm stared at me through the window. “Are you loitering?”

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