Page 28 of Hate the Game
There was still no sign of Ryder but I didn’t let myself dwell on what he was doing. If something was wrong Miss Kay or Jillian would’ve known.
More volunteers showed up as the morning stretched on and I found myself shoulder to shoulder with a senior in high school, John, and a guy a few years older than me, Vaughn, who I was pretty sure was being court ordered to help. They helped me finish the kennels and then we moved into one of the runs outside to clean up even more dog shit.
Vaughn didn’t seem all that thrilled to be there but I didn’t understand John at all. Every piece of poop he picked up madehim gag ferociously. He also admitted that he was allergic to dogs. There was another volunteer, though, another senior from his class, Lily, and she was crazy about dogs. After nearly gagging myself from listening to all of John’s gagging I told him I’d do his part if he just went back inside.
I watched him go and then shot Vaughn a look. “Sweet but I doubt Lily will be impressed if he goes into anaphylactic shock and dies.”
He was my same height and looked like a long lost Hanson brother. He tossed his perfectly straight hair over his shoulder and talked straight to my tits. “What’s your deal? Why are you here?”
I returned to scooping poop and chose to ignore his gaze. “A friend brought me. He’s in the back working with a dog.”
“A boyfriend?”
I frowned and shook my head. “No.”
“You’re single?”
I wondered if I’d get in trouble if I threw poop at him. “Does it matter?”
“I heard you tell John you’re at USC. I just graduated a couple of years ago. I think I saw you at a party once. I thought about getting your number that night but I had to drive a friend home. You know how it goes. We should make up for lost time. I have to finish a few hours here and I can’t go anywhere else but home.” He flashed his ankle monitor. “You could come with me, though. I make a mean Long Island.”
I didn’t look up. “This is my first semester at USC. I’m nineteen. You must be remembering someone else.”
“Oh. Well you could still come over.” He inched closer. “You’re hot for a thicker chick.”
I snapped my head up to tell him off but I saw Ryder standing at the gate to the run, fingers white as he gripped the chainlink.
“Sav. Come here.” He sounded even harsher than normal and my gut reaction was to tell him to go to hell but when I saw that he was glaring at Vaughn and not me I bit my reaction back.
I walked over to him and shivered when he looked down at me, his entire body tight. I opened my mouth but snapped it closed when he licked his lips.
“I want you with me.” He shot Vaughn another dark look. “You’re still doing community service, Vaughn? I’m still not quite sure how you got community service for attempted date rape.”
I slipped through the gate as soon as Ryder opened it for me. Once I was on the other side, half behind Ryder’s wide body, I looked back at Vaughn and scowled. “I’m not hot for a thick chick, asshole. I’m just hot.”
Whatever Vaughn was going to say dried up when he saw the fence bend under Ryder’s grip. I stared at the bent chainlink and looked up at Ryder with wide eyes. I was worried for a moment when he turned and grabbed the back of my neck but his grip was gentle as he led me back inside the shelter.
I didn’t say anything as he directed me towards the bathroom and locked us inside. His eyes moved over me quickly and instead of the usual heat I saw concern in his gaze.
“Are you okay? I lost track of time and I didn’t realize the others were here. I never meant for you to be left alone with him. I-”
“John was with us. He kept gagging so I sent him inside. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I had to stop him because I could see the self-blame weighing him down. “And I’m fine. He asked me out. Then said I was hot for a thick chick. That’s all.”
“He asked you out.”
I frowned and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Were you into him before I mentioned the date rape?”
“Really?” I poked him in the chest. “You think I came here with you and went looking for a date?”
“It’s not like this is a date.” He looked around and his scowl came back. “Just stay away from him.”
I watched him leave the bathroom and crossed my arms over my chest as he left me alone. What the hell was that? I sighed and went out to find Jillian. I could depend on her giving me something to do that was bad enough to get my mind off of Ryder.
***Ryder***
Imanaged to get Tony comfortable enough with me that he let me get him out of the van and into a private kennel inside. I sat with him in the kennel, taking a corner of the space and giving him the rest of the room. He wasn’t thrilled with me but he wasn’t going for my throat so I counted it as a win. I rested my arms on my knees and tore off a piece of chicken to toss to him.
