Page 75 of Something to Someone

“You’re sure he knows that?”

“Yes, of course. We made that very clear from the outset.”

Natalie looked from me to her wineglass, then to the dance floor where Ryder was still in the middle of the chaos. A carefree smile gracing his lips and his once perfectly styled hair falling over his forehead and into his eyes.

“He might have said that, but did you entirely believe it?” Natalie asked without looking back at me. I ran my finger around the bottom of my wineglass and also continued staring at Ryder. Even from that distance, I could feel that pull in my chest. The anxiety and panic from before morphing into something else the longer I looked at him.

I swallowed around the emotion and pushed it to the back of my head. “I had no reason not to believe him.”

Natalie took a sip of her drink and finally looked back at me. Seeing her head turn out of the corner of my eye, I was finally able to look away from Ryder.

“He’s had a crush on you forever. Everyone knows that. I mean, I thought it was like a teenage crush that would eventually fizzle out, but obviously it didn’t. And knowing that, I think he’s in the perfect position to really get hurt. Especially since you’re not the mostopenperson with your feelings or love.”

I tried to hide my reaction by taking a sip of my wine, but apparently, I didn’t do a very good job. Natalie huffed out a laugh and shook her head.

“See, you just cringed when I said the ‘L’ word. I know you both very well, and if you ask me, whatever you think the rules or boundaries or agreement is, he likely thinks something different.”

Thoroughly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation and gobsmacked at the turn the night had taken, I readjusted in my chair and looked around the room until I spotted Addie. She was in the opposite corner, tapping away on the iPad in her hands, and talking to one of the venue staff.

“I should probably get back, but I need to know,” I said. “How did you find out?”

“Hmm…well,” she hummed. She leaned forward in her chair and sether glass down, propping her elbows on the table she appeared deep in thought with her eyes narrowed. “I’m not blind, for one. The two of you are not as slick as you think. And you not telling me about the guy you were obviously dating—sorry—seeing was a big indicator. But that was only on top of catching you two making out in your office.”

The fact that wine didn’t come out of my nose or mouth was a miracle. I coughed for several seconds and took a careful sip to quell the burning in my throat before I croaked out, “What?”

She shrugged and acted like it wasn’t a big deal. “I actually walked up to your office door about ten seconds before you thought I did. When I caught you two, I wasn’t sure what to do—I wasn’t going to call you out right then and there—so I walked back down the hallway and made a noise. You know the rest.”

My jaw was permanently in the dropped position. She’d acted completely normal. I had no idea she’d known which was impressive on her part and awful on mine.

“And all of that would have been enough to figure it out if I hadn’t noticed you were wearing his shirt when I showed up at your house that day three months ago.”

THIRTY-TWO

RING THE ALARM

Caroline

Thankfully my mouthwas already open, so it saved me the energy of dropping it once again.

“What? How? I—what?”

“You’re not the only person who requests that I repair their clothes. The shirt you were wearing, Ryder had asked me to fix the hem a week before which I wouldn’t have noticed except when I repaired it, I didn’t have any black thread to match. All I had was this thick white thread that definitely stood out in the few places I used it.”

The DJ said something over the microphone about something…I wasn’t paying attention. I was still trying to comprehend everything Natalie told me. When the DJ cut off the microphone and the music changed, I could finally speak.

“I’m so sorry, Nat. I’m so,sosorry.”

“I know,” she said without an ounce of anger in the words. “And I accept your apology. Just…keep me in the loop now. I don’t want to know everything, but the highlights would benice.”

For several seconds, I just looked at my friend. We were sleeping together, that’s all it was, so what would the highlights be? “Also, and I know you’re going to hate this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I don’t think you believe it either. You thought I’d be mad, maybe angry enough for it to seriously change our friendship, but you did it anyway. And the Caroline I know wouldn’t do that if it was justfun.”

Lucky for me, I didn’t have to respond. Not that I would be able to form words anyway. The music changed to something much slower, and Theo appeared on the other side of the table. He offered Natalie his hand which she took without a second thought. She gave me a smile before Theo led her onto the dance floor. I was too busy watching the two of them and thinking about relieving Addie that I didn’t see Ryder next to me until I stood and almost walked straight into him.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered, halting my momentum with my hands against his chest. As I stumbled, he reached forward and grabbed my waist before I could knock him over. All the breath rushed from my lungs the moment I felt him against me.

He chuckled, and I righted myself. Smoothing my hands down the front of my black dress, one of his hands stayed firm on my hip.

“Dance with me,” he said. Not a request, but a statement. My eyes flicked to his, and the blue captured me as it always did.

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