Page 141 of Hold Me Until Morning
Ryder was slung back in the booth, already sipping from a tumbler of whiskey when I arrived.
Five minutes late because I’d spent extra time kissing Hailey outside her house before I’d finally pried myself away.
He canted me a smirk when I plopped into the seat. “About damned time. You texted to meet up and here I’ve been sitting by myself like a poor fucker who was about to get stood up.” His expression darkened. “I was worried something was wrong when you texted me.”
I cracked a grin. “What, I can’t want to hang out with my bestie on a Tuesday night?”
Ryder’s sharp brow arched. “Bestie?”
The guy might act like a hard-ass, but I knew he loved it, so I took it upon myself to rub it in.
“That’s right. You’re my BFF. My bosom buddy. My ride or die.” I drew them out, making each more ridiculous than the last, going for whatever nonsense Dakota and Paisley always spewed about each other.
He balled up a napkin and threw it at me. I tried to dodge it, but it hit me in the temple. I feigned outrage. “How dare you, Ryder? Why always so violent?”
Amusement crawled over his face. “Not sure I can be considered the violent one. Not after what you pulled on Saturday night.” His tone turned emphatic, head tipping to the side. “You want to tell me about it?”
God, Saturday felt like a lifetime ago. Like the world had been flipped. Every-fucking-thing I knew changed.
I shrugged like it wasn’t a big thing while the violence threatened to work its way back to the surface, escaping from where I was barely managing to keep it tapped. “Asshole got sloppy and hurt some girl. I was simply reminding him of his manners.”
Ryder let go of an incredulous chuckle. “Poor fucker got the message delivered to him in blows. Think he pissed his pants. Ezra had to call his wife to come and pick him up to take him to the ER.”
Irritation blustered through my consciousness. What a fuckin’ prick. Dude deserved to get his ass beat. Unfortunately, there were worse deviants we were dealing with right then.
Speculation in his eyes, Ryder pressed deeper into the topic he was hinting on. “And some girl?”
I itched, not sure why I was agitated since I’d been the one to call him here, really needing to talk about that very girl, the one girl, but I wasn’t quite sure how to broach it. Not when I was so out of my element that I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
Treading thin.
Ice cracking below.
The fractures splintering out, five seconds from a collapse.
No question, the frigid waters were right there to drag me to the bottom.
I scratched at my beard, thankful for the distraction when a server stopped at our booth. I ordered a beer on tap, then turned back to Ryder who was watching me carefully.
“Something’s up with you,” he said the second she was out of earshot.
I sighed. “Think I’m in trouble.”
I could sense the flash of worry that sped through him, though he kept his voice casual and cool. “And what kind of trouble might that be?”
I gnawed at the middle of my bottom lip before I finally confessed, “The kind where I actually like that girl.”
He looked far too entertained by the news, relieved that this was the only trauma we were talking about.
If he only fuckin’ knew.
“Ah, a woman has finally gotten under your skin. Wasn’t sure I was ever going to see the day, though it was pretty damned apparent from where I was sitting on Saturday night that she had you in knots.”
I scraped a flustered hand over my face and blew out a sigh as I sank back on the booth seat. “She doesn’t have me in knots, man. She has me in fucking chains.”
Disbelief rocked through him, and his eyes the color of pitch gleamed. “That’s how it is, huh?”
“Think so.” I was reticent to admit it. The server walked by and set my beer in front of me, and I muttered a quiet, “Thank you,” as she walked away.