Page 26 of Something to Someone

It wanted me to give in to everything I shouldn’t, and fuck, I was having a hell of a time remembering why I shouldn’t. Especially when he was sitting there in his chair, leaning back like he didn’t have a care in the world. One arm slung across the back of the chair next to him and the opposite leg stretched out toward me. The tip of his shoe grazed the bottom of my calf, and I silently pleaded that he wouldn’t see the goosebumps that appeared across my skin.

“You look good, Caroline,” he murmured in a low, raspy voice.

I glanced over to the door Kate had disappeared through then back to Ryder, whose smugness was written all over his face and found in the tilt of his lips.

“I know,” I countered. His eyebrows shot up, and I was pleased with his reaction.

“I’m pretty sure the correct response is ‘you look good, too, Ryder,’ but I’ll give you a pass.”

I huffed out a breath. “I’m not in the business of giving compliments for the sake of stroking your ego. You know you look good,” I muttered. Voicing my thoughts made his smile widen, but thankfully, Kate interrupted with perfect timing.

“Are we ready for the first few courses?” she exclaimed, pushing through the doors with plates in her hands and followed by servers holding more plates.

“We were born ready, Kate,” Ryder said. He sat up and scooted his chair closer to the table.

They arranged the food in front of us, and Kate took us through each dish. She explained the appetizers that would be passed on trays during cocktail hour, the pre-dinner salads, the main course options, and each side dish.

It all looked amazing, and I was glad I’d put off lunch in favor of the tasting.

“I’ll let you both get started and come check on you in a little while.”

She exited the way she came as I picked up my fork and surveyed the options.

“I think this is going to be my favorite part of wedding planning,” Ryder quipped.

Smiling, I stabbed a shrimp appetizer and popped it in my mouth quickly. The sweet and spicy flavors exploded on my tongue, and my eyes almost rolled back in my head. “It’s definitely one of my favorite parts.”

Ryder aimed directly for the buttery au gratin potatoes and regretted it immediately. His fork clattered to his plate as he fanned his mouth. He reached for his water glass, and I covered my mouth to keep from spewing shrimp all over the table and to suppress my laughter.

“I can see the steam rolling off those potatoes from over here,” I said when I finally managed to compose myself.

Ryder took several long sips and slumped back in his chair like he’d just run a marathon. “I obviously missed that. They’re really good, though, from what I could taste between the scalding heat and now second degree burns on my tongue.”

“Poor guy. I think you’ll be okay.”

“Hmm,” he hummed as he sat forward and leaned closer to me. On high alert, I straightened and kept my attention on the table and the chicken I spooned onto my plate. “A kiss would probably make it better.”

Reflexively, my eyes shot to his, and the smirk sitting on his lips made my scowl deepen. I dropped the spoon in my hand and let it bang loudly against the dish. Ryder didn’t even blink.

“I can’t help it, baby. It’s almost been a week, and I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t get another taste.”

My hands clenched, and my throat went tight. “We are in public, Ryder, and I’m working,” I said, then added, “And don’t call me baby.”

His lips twitched, and I took a deep breath, hoping the palpable energy between us would fizzle out long enough for me to focus on the food. I blinked and looked back down at my plate. But even when he was silent, all my attention was on him. Like my body was begging to feel his again.

I just needed to make it through the next half hour. Thirty minutes was manageable.

I hoped.

“Are you ready for finals?” My random question was my attempt at changing the subject to anything that wasn’t sexually charged.

Ryder chuckled and ran a hand through his disheveled black hair, but there was no humor behind his laughter. He reached for a serving spoon and shook his head. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes and in the circles beneath them.

“Honestly, my brain hurts from studying so much. That’s pretty much all I’ve done this week. This was a good break. If I spent one more second in that damn library…” His voice was laced with weariness, too, and I fought the urge to reach out and take his hand in mine.

“Which finals do you have left?”

“Two of my engineering classes, one of which is my senior seminar, so that one is going to suck. And the other is a US History class.” He truly laughed the second time, and I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, it is a class I should have taken freshman year but put off until the very, bitter end.”

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