Page 82 of The Lessons

“Yep.” I mumbled into the phone.

“Good. Talk to you then. Bye, Natalie.”

I murmured goodbye, pulled the phone away from my face, and pressed end.

“Who was that?” Ryan asked as he came into the room and slung his messenger bag and leather jacket onto a chair.

“Just work.” God, he looked sexy in his black T-shirt and jeans. The way that shirt hugged his body made me temporarily forget about my throbbing head.

“Brad?” he scoffed.

“Actually, yes. He was just calling with a…uh, project update.” I didn’t want to get into everything. Besides, how’d Ryan known I’d been talking to Brad? “What do you have against him anyway? Aren’t you two roommates?”

He exhaled and stuck his hand in his front pockets. “We were roommates in undergrad. I was a different person back then.” His eyes went dark. For a second it looked like he was lost somewhere bleak. A second later, he was back. He shrugged. “After we graduated, the living arrangement just kind of…continued.”

“But still, why the hard feelings?”

Ryan pressed his lips together. “I don’t know. I guess…you know how we talked about honesty? Well, I’m not only big on honesty in the office. I need it everywhere. I think it’s because I grew up with such a lack of it, and Brad is… Well, I told you before, he’s a player.”

“So?”

“I don’t know, it just triggers something with me. My dad was never faithful to my mom, and it caused her a lot of grief. I guess you could say I’m still holding onto those feelings.”

“That’s very psychobabble of you.”

“Thank you. I’ll tell my therapist that. He’ll be pleased.”

“Yousee a therapist?”

He shrugged. “Not often. But I’ve seen him for years. I told you. Lots of people see therapists, Natalie. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

I chuckled. “You know, you walk in here all tattoos and sexy hair and think you’re a badass, but you’re not. You’re like a fucking boy scout with all your moral standards and everything. You’re not fooling me, Ryan.”

He pushed his hands into his pockets and grinned at me. “You think I have sexy hair?”

For a moment, my stomach flipped, and I allowed myself the luxury of thinking that maybe he was into me, but then my breath left me in a rush because, suddenly, the reality of the situation set in. My situation. Our situation. Everything we had, all of it— it was based on a lie.

My lie.

My stomach sank just as quickly as it had risen.

He registered the change on my face. “Natalie?” He cocked his head at me. “You feeling alright? Do you need more water?”

“Sorry, yes, no, I’m fine. Oh, did you hear his news? Brad’s, I mean.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “No—what?”

I swallowed and rubbed my forehead. “He just told me he got a job with MM Social.”

“Oh, wow.” Ryan removed one hand from his pocket and rubbed his jaw. “He got it? That’s great. He’s always wanted to work for them.”

I nodded back, my brain awash with all kinds of emotions and things I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with. Crap. I even entertained the idea of telling him the truth for a moment—but what was the truth?

That I was just a lonely thirty-year-old virgin?

That I found him sexy and charming and that I couldn’t stop thinking about him?

Well, maybe the direct approach was best. He wanted honesty, so I could give it to him. I rubbed my hands together, but Ryan started talking before I could get anything out.

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