Page 12 of Dance in the Light
NINE
INEVITABLE
RYAN
Stunned, I had to replay what just happened in my head to understand it, and still couldn’t. I almost went after her, then in the mirror I caught sight of my dripping wet—and extremely hard—situation, recalling we were actually in the middle of a minor water emergency.
“Shit.” I rushed to the basement and shut off the main water there. I’d fix everything tomorrow. Right now, I needed to fixus. Somewhere along the way, we had a timeline that went crazy askew, and it was now or never to make things right.
Back in the hallway, dripping everywhere, I reached for a bundle of towels out of the linen closet.
Then I pounded on her door. “You need a towel?”
“What the hell are you even doing here, Ryan?”
“Megan said you had some junk that needed hauled away.”
The door flew open. She grabbed the armful, but threw one towel back at my face. “How dare you mess with me when you’re engaged to Trudy, asshole.”
Her attempt at slamming the door again failed as my foot got in the way. I stepped inside the room and she quickly wrapped a towel around her body.
“I’m not engaged, dammit. You ran off the other night at the bar before I could finish. Fuck woman, you’re frustrating.” I toweled off as best I could without removing my wet clothes.
“And I’m supposed to believe you? You men are all alike.”
“Hey, don’t lump me in—wait, why are you getting so worked up?”
Her telltale signs were there, I recalled from about a million games played with her when we were younger. If she was hiding something, keeping something away from me, she averted her eyes down and off to the left, exactly like she was right now.
“Is this about James?” It was a stab in the dark that paid off. She startled and turned to her dresser. From her drawers, she pulled panties, bra, t-shirt, and jeans out and started dressing. When she adjusted her beautiful tits in black lace, I swallowed hard and turned my back to her quickly, not needing even more fuel for my twitching cock.
I heard the smirk in her voice. “You’ve already seen it all now, Ryan.”
“Yeah, well, I can be a gentleman too, no matter how rough I want to take you up against the wall right now.”
Her breath hitched. My ears couldn’t miss that. The left corner of my mouth turned up. Yeah, she could deny this all day, but I was certain she wanted me. I drew in a huge, calming breath.
“Look. I’mnotmarrying Trudy. I’d have settled for her, but only for Rose’s sake, because I was lying to myself thinking that would make me happy.”
“Yeah. Whatever.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. What would it take to get through to her?
“I had a discussion with Trudy a few months ago, telling her I needed a break to think about things. But I didn’t need to think about things. I was just a coward, not wanting to hurt her by breaking things off for good.”
“You can turn back around now.” Sitting on her bed, she pulled her knees to her chest. At least she wasn’t kicking me out.
“Two days ago, I finally had that talk, officially breaking it off.” I approached with caution. “It wasn’t pretty, and she didn’t take it well. But I don’t fucking care. Because the only woman I want in this whole goddamned world is you.”
For a moment, I figured this would be a repeat of the night I professed my love to her after prom. My jaw clenched, preparing my heart for pain again.
Her legs shifted, hanging off the side of the bed, and her head hung with them. I stood a foot away from her, hoping she’d remain where she was and not skitter away like a scared kitten.
“Now. Your turn. Who the hell is James and what’s going on?”
“You think you know me so well?”
“Yeah, I do. You might be an adult now, but I look in your eyes and see the same Cynthia. You said little about James to yoursisters, so I know you’re holding something back. Come on. Tell me.”
