Page 80 of Ryder: Shadows and Desires
A few young women approach, all eyeing Ryder. They’re dressed in short shorts, crop tops, and heels. One wears a fur jacket. “You’re Ryder!”
“Well spotted,” he grumbles, facing them.
“Come sit with us,” one begs with a flirtatious smile, jutting her hip out and over-exaggerating her movements, completely ignoring me. “We watched you on the screen today. McDaniels says you like the back corner over there?” She points through the crowd to a place I can’t see. “We can all take you.”
My blood runs uncomfortably hot, as if I’m not supposed to be witnessing this exchange.
“Thanks ladies, but not tonight,” he replies.
I awkwardly stand there, nervously rubbing my hands and fingers. I havenoidea what to do.
“Oh, come on.” They touch him, and he lets them, but he doesn’t engage.
“Seriously, no,” Ryder insists, eyeing the one who’s touching his chest.
She frowns. “You sure?”
“I don’t want to repeat myself.”
“Alright,fine,” she whines, backing off and trailing her hand down his chest, lingering her gaze on him before she walks away, the girls moving together like a group of fish.
“Well, that was so much fun,” I attempt to tease.
He faces me, hand raising with defeat, his eyes fiercely ablaze. “I swear I’m getting pissed off at how many things are going wrong right now.”
A laugh spills out of me, finding it all rather funny now. I playfully roll my eyes. “Alright, let’s go grab a beer or something,stud muffin.Get out of this crowd.”
Ryder is as close as my shadow as we grab some beers; it even catches me by surprise when he not only puts a hand on my back, but down in the middle of it. When a man bumps into me and gives me a slow one-over, Ryder’s hand moves to my shoulder.
He’s actually keeping the rest away from me…
This web of affection spun only for him gains a new design, one I don’t even bother to understand. It’s complex, and I know how deeply stuck I am in it. Maybe it just scares me how easily my heart gives itself to Ryder.
Concerns about the gym aside… I don’t want my heart to get broken.
He has the power to absolutely shatter it.
The fighter leans into my ear, and I revel in how it vibrates against my skin. “Are you too cold to go outside? There’re a few fire pits. I can watch for McDaniels there. Should probably see him at some point.”
“Yeah, let’s go to one,” I say, wanting to get out of the house to be alone with him.
Conveniently placed heating lamps warm the attendees, a few portable fire pits strewn about. We pick a dwindling portable fire pit, sitting on cold fold-out seats, grabbing the fire poker to prod the coals.
I watch as girls jump into the pool in only their underwear. Men cheer and raise their glasses, a few joining after they strip to their boxers. I laugh. “This party reminds so much of college… except for the hard drugs. We didn’t really have that stuff where I went—“ I think that through real fast “—at least, not that I ever saw.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to do coke on someone’s tits?”
I bite back a giant grin. “Actually, if I have to get in that pool wearing only my underwear in this weather, it might be best with something other than beer in my system.”
He chuckles, mischievousness glinting in his eyes. “I mean, I won’t say no to you jumping in with your underwear on. Can even warm you up afterward, too.”
Sliding my gaze to meet his, I quip, “What if I’m not wearing any?”
I’m definitely wearing some, but I can’t help myself.
The play in his eyes quickly shifts to something deeper, more longing, and a little possessive. “Keep saying that, and I’ll find out before the night’s over.”
I slowly lick my lips. “Don’t give me that look. You’re making me flustered over here.”
