Page 54 of Release Me

“Hey.” My voice cracks over the word as I study the hard lines of his face in the dim light of my lamp.

His warm hand slides around my waist to my back. He pulls me closer until we’re both lying on our sides, our chests pressed against each other. It’s unexpectedly intimate, and we stay like that, quiet, for a long moment. “Hey.”

“You ready for Alaska?”

“Fuck …” He rolls onto his back. “I still don’t know why I’m going.”

“Because my brother lured you there with tales of beautiful, loose women?”

He fits an arm under my head and then pulls me in to rest on his hard chest. “How did you know?”

“Wild guess.”

“Does that bother you?”

“A little?” I’m not ready to say goodbye. “But we knew what this was when we started, right?”

“Right.” He skates a finger across my cheek. “I met Kyle today.”

I swallow, trying to read his thoughts in those four words. “Yeah.”

“Could there be something there?”

“Nah.”

He sighs. “Ryan.”

“What?”

“I’ve spent the last week fucking you in every position I know. I can read your body language. And your bullshit.”

I smile sheepishly. “I’ve run into him a few times in the elevator. He offered to help me study. That’s all.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days,” Ronan says dryly, staring up at my ceiling.

“He was an economics major. I think he actually means to help.” Partly, anyway.

“I’m only teasing. I think it’s great.”

I rest my chin on his pec and study his face for anything that says otherwise. “You do?”

He smiles softly. “Yeah.”

“Does it bother you?” I echo his earlier question.

“A little,” Ronan admits, sending a thrill through my body. Whatever I’m feeling for him seems to be mutual. “But he seems like a good guy, and I like the idea that you’ll knowsomeone in the building. That you won’t be alone.” His fingertips skate over my bare shoulder.

I shiver beneath his touch. “He invited me to his place tomorrow night.”

“I know. You should go.”

“What if he tries to kiss me?”

“Do youwanthim to kiss you?”

“I don’t know.” A beat later, I confess, “He’s hot.”

Ronan chuckles. “Then he’s one lucky motherfucker.”

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