Just a Little Crush(22)

He moved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m being good, remember?” His lips curved into a sexy smile that awoke every nerve in my body.

If this was good, what did bad look like?

He wrapped his arms around my waist and urged me forward. My chest pressed against him as his gaze dropped to my mouth. “You don’t make it easy though.”

“I’m not trying to make it hard.”

I’d finally managed words and that’s what I came up with?

He chuckled and grazed his teeth over his lip ring.

My face heated and I looked down. Seriously, why did everything equal sex with him?

“Shot time,” Fallon cheered as a waitress walked by carrying a tray stacked with small plastic containers.

Ryder’s other friend hooted and spun the girl he’d been dancing with, while Luke pulled out some cash and got a handful of tiny cups with lids.

“What’s that?” I asked Fallon.

“Jell-O shots.” She handed me one then popped the lid off hers. “It’s cherry. You’ll like it. Just don’t chew.” With her finger, she slid her way around the container to loosen the Jell-O, then held it to her lips and squeezed the little cup. It popped out and she swallowed it whole.

I stared at the shot in my hand. Ryder held one in his hand and appeared to be waiting to see what I’d do. Jell-O seemed harmless enough and the first two shots really had just loosened me up. And in all honesty, I was having fun. One more wouldn’t hurt. I popped off the lid, mimicked what Fallon did and swallowed it.

Ryder grinned and squeezed his into his mouth by crushing the cup.

His friend offered us another and Ryder declined for both of us.

“They sneak up on you,” he whispered as he pulled me back to his chest.

An hour later, I laughed as Fallon danced around Luke. Everyone, except Ryder and me, had finished off several more shots, and Fallon was drunk. Usually I found drunk people annoying, but tonight she was pretty hilarious. She even made drinking look fun.

Ryder grinned. “You’re friend isn’t going to be able to stand upright much longer.”

Fallon spun in our direction. “Hey, she’s the one over a table, not walking right.” She pointed at me.

I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried not to laugh at her random slew of Ryder comments meshed into one indecipherable sentence.

“What?” Ryder’s eyebrows scrunched as he stared at her then me.

“Nothing. She’s drunk.” I pressed my lips together to avoid laughing.

He smirked. “Are you?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Fallon jumped back in. “No way. Brinley’s drunk!” Her eyes widened. “Hell just froze over.” She shifted her gaze to Ryder. “Don’t be taking advantage of my roomie. I know you want to occupy Vagistan and all that but she’d be sooo pissed at—”

“Oh my God. We’re done.” I pressed my hand to her mouth as my face seared with embarrassment.

Luke bent over in hysterics. “I think I love your friend.”

“Awesome. She’s yours. Just don’t let her talk anymore.”

“Keep her mouth busy? On it.” He pulled her forward and planted his lips against hers. Not exactly what I’d meant, but happy to have her silenced.

“Huh,” Ryder said. “Now, that’s a new one, even for me.”

“Please forget everything she just said.”

He chuckled. “Let’s get your friend home.” He looped his fingers in mine. “C’mon,” he called to his friends. “Did you drive here?” he asked me.

“No, we took a cab.”

“Us too.”

Outside, he hailed a cab, but when all five us couldn’t fit, Fallon, Luke and the other guy climbed into the first cab. Ryder and I took the second one. When we got back to campus, Ryder walked me to my dorm room.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

“Yeah. I did. More than expected.” I smiled.

“Good.” He shot me a sidelong glance. “You feel okay?”

“Yeah, great.”

With a laugh, he said, “Hope you still feel that way in the morning.”

We reached Laney Hall and took the elevator up to my floor. My stomach bubbled with nerves and excitement. I desperately wanted a goodnight kiss, and then some, but when we reached my door, my shoulders sank.

“Is that a sock?” Ryder asked.

Hanging from the knob was a rainbow-striped sock. “Um, yeah. Which means Luke and Fallon really hit it off. How did they get here so fast?” We’d caught a few lights on the way home, but did our cab driver purposely take a long way to campus to make more money?

“Interesting. This happen often?” He gestured to the door.