Page 81 of Out of Bounds

"You’re not going to ruin the dress."

"Ryan, that is ashitton of optimism right there!"

"Kassie, what're you talking about?" He was an inch away from the curtain, and I could see the shadows of his features against the curtain. The outline of his jaw. His hands. His body.

"I’m tied up!" I struggled for a moment before remembering the dress’s price tag. "I’m serious, go get the attendant."

"You’re actually stuck?"

"Yeah, I’m actually stuck." I frowned, pushing past the fact that the only thing separating me, half-naked, and the quarterback, was the thinnest curtain known to man. "What’d you think I was doing? Getting a Girl Scouts badge?"

"I’ll be right back."

Everything would be fine. Ryan would come back in with the attendant and…there was a good chance that he’d see me, tied up like a Christmas present. Oh, boy. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to slow my breathing. Because if I looked into the mirror, at the dress that showed off an ample amount of everything, the blush would overwhelm me.

Footsteps returned and I breathed out a sigh of relief, watching the curtain. But there was only one other person in the fitting room.

Ryan?

The curtain pulled back, and he gazed into the mirror right back at me. My heart leaped to my throat, watching him too. I wasn’t humble enough in my situation to avoid looking at him. My eyes trailed up his body, up the t-shirt that outlined the muscles in his arms and that strong jaw that must’ve dropped thongs when he’d landed his place on the Romans.

Ryan reached back and tugged his chair closer.

My pulse slowed. "Ryan?"

Out of the corner of the mirror, I could see him set a small case on the chair.

"She has some customers she has to deal with," he explained, his voice low and smooth and delicious. "I’ll help you out but I figured, as long as you’re unable to walk out of this store…"

I couldn’t stop the blush. It crept up my neck, determined to expose me, and I pressed my thighs together. I should’ve been hobbling out to get the attendant’s attention and finally get out of the straitjacket but it was hard to think about anything else with Ryan in the tiny fitting room with me.

Something clinked from the case and he held up a gold bracelet, sparkling in the fitting room light.

My eyes shot wide. "Ryan."

"I just want to see what they look like before I buy them."

I swallowed. "You’re not buying those."

"That’s interesting." Ryan gently took my wrist, still bound in part of the dress. Oh my god. My breathing hitched up a notch as he slipped the bracelet over my wrist, cool metal against my skin. "I don’t remember asking you what I should do with my money."

It was impossible to keep the blush away as his fingertips ran across my skin again, clasping another bracelet into place.

I took a deep breath. "You’ll waste your money."

"No. You’re wearing them to the alumni event."

"Is that a requirement to get through the door?" I asked, like I was in the position to ask, instead of breathing out slowly every time he touched me again.

"No."

"There’s—there’s your answer then."

"Kassie." The last bracelet clicked into place. "If you were my real girlfriend, I’d buy you things anyway. It’s my way of…locking it down."

I resisted the urge to swallow. Hard. "But I’m not your real girlfriend, Ryan."

"It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “I like the things I own to look good."

---