Page 20 of Ryder

I nodded.

“Are you okay, Em?”His hand closed over mine and gave a gentle squeeze.“I know you hide stuff from your sister.”

“I’m fine.Honestly, I am.I…I like him.I don’t even freaking know him, but I liked him a lot.And not just because the sex was hot.I mean, it was mind-blowing, but there was other stuff too.He was…” I searched for the right words.“Unexpectedly gentle.”It was more than that, though.How did you put into words a spark I’d never felt with any other man?During our brief exchange, there were hints about his past and arrival in the zone.He wasn’t a beast—he was complex and also a man.I wanted to peel the layers back and explore.

“There is no easy way to come here,”he had said.“It’s worse for some than others.”

Why couldn’t he be one hundred percent asshole?It would be so much easier then.

Jude smirked.“Em, you’ve never connected with a guy, ever.I wondered if you were gay and in denial.”

I snorted out a laugh.“I love you, Jude.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

Turning left, he pulled into the visitor parking bay of our apartment garage.

After our parents died, we sold their house and bought something smaller and more suitable.It was close to the city center.College was only a fifteen-minute walk for me, and it was convenient for Sloane, who worked in the city.Despite Jude’s presence, it felt empty without Sloane.

“Want a coffee, love?”Jude called as he headed for the kitchen.Jude and Jewels hung out here so often, Sloane affectionately called it their second home.

“Hmm, please.”

I kicked off my shoes, fished my cell out of my bag, and padded through to my bedroom.I needed a shower and craved something soft against my skin.

My cell dinged.

“Sloane?”Jude called from the kitchen.

“Um, no.”I had a different ring and message sound for Sloane.Standing at the foot of my bed, I stared at the name next to the message.

Ryder.

Fuck!Ryder was messaging me.

Are you okay?

I rolled my eyes.Really?He was sending a message to check if I was okay after booting me out of his apartment?All the anger I’d quashed reared its ugly head.

I thought about sending a snippy answer.

“Coffee’s up!”Jude called.

“Just taking a shower!”I tossed the cell on my bed, daring him to text again.

He didn’t, and that also made me irrationally mad.

I ripped off the spangly dress and put it in the wash.I could still smell Ryder’s pheromones clinging to my skin.The face staring back at me in the vanity mirror might as well have been a stranger.Here, away from prying eyes, away from the need to put on a bright smile, the real me stared back.

I looked so freaking lost.

Taking out a wipe, I started cleaning my makeup off.On the bed, the cell phone dinged with another message.

I ignored it and continued removing all evidence of the party girl.By the time I was done, I looked like a different person.My skin was pale in the artificial bathroom light, my eyes looked a little too big, and my dark hair was wild where he’d had his fingers in it.

I closed my eyes, hit by a flashback of me on his bed, legs stretched open uncomfortably wide to fit those massive shoulders.Ryder was eating me out, his expression dark, feral, and utterly ravenous.My pussy clenched, and a slippery mess gushed out.I clamped my hand over it, confused and a little shaken.Did I just come?

Sweat popped out across my skin, and my knuckles turned white where I gripped the countertop.

---