Page 42 of Riley

Because I was nervous, and asking such things felt too intimate for friends.

But as the word settled in my brain—friends—I realized I didn’t like the sound of it.

I didn’t want to befriendswith Eric.

I liked him. I liked him a whole hell of a lot, and as the realization struck me, I felt the air around me get thinner.

My gaze fixed on him as he danced with her, laughing with her, and I couldn’t help but feel the pang of desire to be her.

To be the one held under his captivating gaze, to feel his hand onmy ass, fingers grabbingmyhips.

While I stuffed his mouth full of my cock.

My cock twitched at the thought, my heart beating faster with jealousy and desire, and I realized I wanted to know everything there was to know about Eric. I wanted to be the object ofhisdesire.This wasn’t about finding a date to my brother’s wedding.

Not anymore.

I wanted to spend as much time as I could with the man who made me feel like I’d finally awakened from a long sleep.

But for all the strides I’d made, I was still sitting in the damn dugout, watching the game be played. Because I was scared.

I was scared that if I pushed too hard, Eric would run away.

Needy.

Desperate.

Stage five clinger.

The words my exes labeled me with rolled around in my brain.

How had things become so complicated?

Why couldn’t I just walk over there, tell him how I felt, kiss him, and take him home?

I watched as Eric bent down, hands behind his back and sucked a shot from between her breasts, liquor running down his chin as Aaron fist bumped the air, the rest of the men at the bar cheering him on. He grabbed the shot glass from his mouth, slamming it down on the bar as everyone cheered. Aaron high-fived him. Watching him with my brother and the party, he fit in perfectly.

Like hebelongedwith them.

A fresh wave of jealousy rolled through me. Grayson’s voice pulled me from my trance, and I realized he was still standing there beside me. Watching, observing.

“He’s a pretty fish, but so are you. You’re an Evans, for Christ sake. Own that shit. Stop staring and second-guessing yourself, and get the fuck over there. Blow his fucking mind. Make him forget everyone else,” Grayson said, clapping me on the back. “That’s what I did, and it worked for me.” Grayson grinned before he headed toward Henry, who wrapped his arms around his boyfriend the moment he stepped into his proximity at the bar.

At that moment, I caught Eric’s sapphire gaze, noting how the corners of his lips turned up in a smirk. Like he was trulybaitingme.

And perhaps it was the shot, or the neon lights that danced over him, or the rage of jealousy, or Grayson’s pep talk, but whatever it was, was enough.

Grayson was right. I wasn’t a clam hiding under the mud, not anymore.

I was anEvans.

My brother may have been the sporty, pretty jock, but I was not without my charms. I could be commanding, and hot, and... and...

I found myself pulled into Eric’s orbit once more as I slid between him and the pretty little tart who was downing another shot, this time with my brother and Lane.

The sounds ofDirty Dancerby Usher and Enrique came over the speakers, and in the distance, I could see a topless woman flipping herself upside down at the top of her pole, which was the only pole in the room to go from high vaulted ceiling to floor.

Okay, that’s pretty impressive, to be honest.

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