Page 43 of Nailed (Dad Bod Contracting 3)
“News flash for you, Laurel,” Jesse says. “The four of us never really grew up. Inside, we’re still all essentially ten-year-olds.”
“Wonderful,” I drawl. “Juuuust great.”
“I gotta go,” Jesse says. “James and I are in the middle of putting up a six-foot load-bearing beam.”
“Billy Bar later!” I hear James call. “I’ve got questions!”
“Hello?” Ryder makes fake static sounds. “You’re breaking up…can’t hear you…” and then he hangs up, shoving the phone under his thigh.
“Wow, that was…not subtle,” I remark. “Avoiding them, are you?”
He shrugs. “I’m not quite ready to answer a bunch of questions just yet.”
“That I understand. I’m gonna get questioned by the gossip gestapo myself—especially now that Jesse and James both know you’re with me and Nate.”
“The gossip gestapo?” Ryder asks, laughing.
“Yeah, Audra. She’s absolutely merciless when she wants to know something.”
“Now that Jesse and Franco are dating Imogen and Audra, we have our own little circle of gossip,” Ryder says. “Anything that happens to any of us, everyone else knows instantly. Jesse and Franco are just as bad as the women when it comes to spreading shit.” He winces. “I mean, crap.”
We make it to the elementary school with two minutes to spare, and Nate jumps out, shouting over his shoulder. “I’ll be done in an hour and a half, then we get pizza! Okay, see you later, love you, bye!” He pauses, halfway through the door into the school. “I meant I love you Mom, not you, Ryder—that’d be weird!”
Ryder laughs. “I like that kid. He’s funny.”
I grin. “I’m pretty fond of him myself.”
“So. Now what?”
I shrug. “I could’ve just taken Nate to practice myself, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.” A moment of silence between us—kind of awkward, a little strained, neither of us knowing exactly how we’re supposed to say goodbye after the weekend we shared. “We always get pizza for dinner on Sunday.” I hesitate. “I’d invite you to have dinner with us, but I kinda feel like I need to spend some time with Nate. We usually talk about what he did with his dad.”
“It’s fine,” Ryder assures me. “The guys and I almost never miss a Sunday night at Billy Bar, so if I skip, I’ll just get questioned worse later.” He laughs, running his hand through his hair. “I, uh…I’m not sure how this is supposed to work. Like, what we do next, or what to say…”
“Me neither.”
He puts the car into drive. “How about this—I take you back to your place, and we figure out how to say goodbye to each other.”
I snort. “I know what that means.”
He snickers. “Hey, what can I say—I can’t get enough.”
“I thought we agreed we needed a break.” I eye him with an arched eyebrow.
He shrugs. “We’ve had a break. Like, two whole hours.”
“Not even,” I say. “We left Chicago at ten to four. It’s just now five thirty.”
“Close enough.”
I sigh, pat his hand. “I can’t. I’ll lose track of time again.” I shift in the seat. “Plus, I honestly just don’t think I physically can. I’m really sore.” I lean close to him and whisper in his ear. “You’re a lot to take that many times, Ryder. You’re gonna have to give my poor little vagina some time to recover.”
His laugh is a low rasp. “You really know how to…stroke a man’s ego, Laurel.”
I groan, resting my head against his shoulder. “Don’t say things like that, dammit. You’ll turn me on.”
“It doesn’t seem like it’s all that hard, babe,” he teases.
“It’s mostly just you,” I tell him. “There’s just something about you.”
“Is it the hair?” He runs his hand through his hair with dramatic flair. “You probably just have a thing for gingers.”
I kiss the edge of his jaw. “Nope. Just you.”
He smiles at me as we pull back into my driveway. “Seriously. Being around you is amazing for my ego.”
“I could say the same thing.” I don’t want to go; I sigh, reluctantly unbuckling. “That was the best weekend of my life, Ryder.”
“Mine too.” He gets out of the car, circles around and opens my door.
I climb out, close the door, and he presses me up against the side of his car, cupping my face in both hands. He kisses me, and it’s a kiss meant to remind me of everything we did, everything we shared. As if I could ever, ever forget.
“When will I see you again?” Ryder asks, when he finally lets the kiss subside.
“You can’t kiss me like that and then leave,” I whisper. “Not fair.”
His grin is a little cocky and a lot amused, and even more aroused. “That’s the point.”
I tug on his beard. “You realize there’s absolutely no chance I’ll be able to sleep tonight? That I’ll be dreaming about you the entire time?”
He wiggles his eyebrows. “Dreaming about me, huh?”
“It’ll probably be interminably sexy. I’ll likely end up calling you.”
