Page 27 of Something to Someone

I shrugged and popped a mushroom into my mouth. “I’m sure it helped lighten up your schedule, though. Broke up some of those more difficult classes, so they weren’t all in your final semester.”

He nodded and lifted his glass of water to his mouth. When he pulled it away, my eyes were fixed on the small droplets of water clinging to his lips and his tongue that peeked out to collect them.

Completely clueless to my gawking, Ryder set his glass back down and continued, “Yeah, it was nice to have a class that was simple and straightforward, especially with job hunting and interviewing, too.”

“Any news on the job front?”

When Ryder didn’t say anything, I looked up to see him shrug. “I…umm…I’ve had a few interviews. Several, actually, and I think there are a couple contenders. I have two offers so far, and they’ve been generous enough to let me wait until after graduation to decide.”

“That’s really exciting,” I said, my enthusiasm completely genuine. Ryder had worked so hard, I knew he wouldn’t have a problem finding a company that would kill for his talent.

“It is,” he agreed, but his voice was quiet, and his tone was closer to somber. He stared down at his plate and nudged a green bean around with his fork. I lightly nudged his hand with my own fork and drew his attention to me. With a sigh, he sat back in his chair. “One of them is here. It’s at a local engineering firm, and honestly, it’s exactly the job I was hoping to find. But the other is…it’s not local. It’s across the country, and they’re willing to pay me more. They’ll even help me relocate and add a bonus on top of my salary for the first year to help cover any other transitional expenses.”

My reaction wasn’t what I expected it to be. I was supposed to be supportive and push him to take whichever would be the better opportunity for him, but instead, I wanted to do anything I could to make him stay.

I couldn’t remember life without Ryder.

“Wow,” I managed to say through thick emotion. “That sounds incredible.”

He was silent again for a beat, and I watched every emotion flit across his features in the span of a second. “It is incredible, but the idea of leaving doesn’t sound entirely appealing.”

“Why?” The question was out of my mouth without a second thought. Ryder’s stormy blue eyes flashed to mine. We held each other’s stare for several seconds before I finally found the power to look away, and Ryder cleared his throat, readjusting in his seat.

“How the hell did our conversation get to this? This was supposed to be a distraction,” he said, waving to the table still full of food. “I’d prefer to talk about anything but finals or work.”

The door at the other end of the room swung open, and Kate stepped into the dining room, wringing her hands in front of her as she strode to us. “How’s it going? Any thoughts?”

“Everything is amazing,” I said, and she beamed with pride.

“That’s so good to hear. What about you, Mr. Calaway? What do you think your friends would like?”

I suppressed my giggle with a hand over my mouth, and Ryder—excuse me,Mr. Calaway—nudged me with his leg under the table.

“I think we go with all the appetizers except the one with the avocado—Miles’s mom is allergic. We should probably avoid it for the entire night. Then I think they’ll want—” When Kate realized Ryder wasn’t going to stop, she took out her phone and started furiously taking notes. “Three choices for the entrée—beef, salmon, and the veggie. As for sides, I like the potatoes, although they get really freaking hot, and?—”

Kate’s eyes widened. “Oh no, were they too hot? I’m so sorry. I—I?—”

“No, he’s fine,” I said. “He burned his tongue a little, but it obviously didn’t impair his ability to speak.”

“Or do other things,” Ryder whispered suggestively and only loud enough that I could hear him. I made it a point not to look at him. Kate appeared flustered enough, I didn’t want to make things worse.

“She’s right. I’m fine,” Ryder continued, “The potatoes are great as are the green beans and whatever that one is—” he pointed to a dish that I also couldn’t identify, but it was amazing, nonetheless.

Kate nodded and typed furiously on her phone. “Yes, we can absolutely do that.” The waiters came in and cleared the plates while we confirmed all the details. Kate left with a promise to bring the cake and dessert options.

“I hope you’re in the mood for something sweet!” she said before scurrying off.

At least that time Ryder waited for her to be well out of earshot before making his suggestive remark. “I am in the mood for something sweet. And although it’s in this room, it’s nothing that Kate is going to set on this table.”

Slowly I dragged my eyes up from my phone to Ryder. “You have an uncanny ability to make anything a sexual innuendo, you know that, right?”

He braced his hand against his chest and smiled. “Wow, thank you so much.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Kate was back in less than a minute followed by waiters carrying more sweets than we could ever possibly consume. As she had before, Kate explained each dish. “Enjoy. I’ll be back in a few.”

“I’d enjoy it more if?—”

The cutting look I threw his direction was enough to cut his words off but not enough to curb his crooked smile.

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