Ryder groaned. He pressed his lips against my neck, trailing kisses until he reached my ear. “I want you so fucking bad right now.” He licked my ear and nibbled at the lobe. “Which is why I need to take you back to your dorm now.”
I jerked away. “What?”
“I may not know you as well as I want to, but I think I know you well enough to say you wouldn’t be doing this if you hadn’t been drinking.”
“I’m not drunk,” I said, though he’d made a valid point. We were going at it…in public. Maybe I wasn’t being myself. Problem was, it wasn’t the shots. I was drunk on him.
“Regardless, you deserve better than this.” He slid me off his lap and stood. “C’mon.”
My dress fell back into place as I stood. Though he’d probably said and done the right thing, I was beyond disappointed. He handed me my shoes and I carried them while he held my other hand.
We didn’t speak the entire way back to the dorms.
“You don’t have to walk me inside,” I said at the door leading into Laney Hall.
“Of course I do.” He held the door open and I slipped past him.
The elevator felt like a box without air holes. The tension between us sucked every last molecule of oxygen from our shared space. His gaze bore into me but I kept staring at my feet.
“I knew you hated me in high school,” he said.
I looked up.
He’d leaned against the wall, hands resting on the metal wraparound bar, and his shirt pulled tight against his chest. “I deserved it. I felt horrible about that night. The party.”
Blood rushed into my cheeks. God, I wished I could erase it from both our memories. “Please, let’s not talk about it.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I cared more about what my friends thought than doing the right thing. In that moment it was easier to be an asshole than admit—”
“It’s fine. We were young. It’s stupid. In the past.” The elevator dinged at my floor and I spun to face the doors as they crept open. Reliving that moment was horrible enough, doing it with Ryder was torture.
He pressed his body against my back and slid his hand over my waist. His breath was hot on my neck as he spoke. “I was young and stupid, and it may be the past, but I can’t forget it. I don’t want to.” He pressed his lips against my neck and my skin prickled. My head lolled to the side as his tongue flicked out and seared my skin.
A shiver raked through me, but I hid it by breaking free of his grasp and shaking him off. “I can walk the rest of the way. Thanks.”
He captured my hand. “Brinley.”
I glanced over my shoulder.
“I’m trying.”
Before I could respond, a door opened, drawing my attention away.
“Mason?”
He pulled the sock off the knob and tossed it into my room before closing the door. He flipped his blond hair from his eyes. “Won’t be needing that anymore,” he said with a smirk.
“You’re wasted,” I blurted.
Ryder came to my side and Mason’s eyebrows slanted over his narrowed gaze.
My stomach twisted into knots and nausea overtook me. “Why…why were you in my room?”
“You gave me permission. Remember?” He laughed but it didn’t sound like Mason. It was cruel. “Have fun tonight?” He pointed at Ryder and glared at me. His words slurred a little and he placed his hand on the wall for support.
“You—You slept with her? But you said—”
“I asked you a question.”
Ryder’s arm brushed me as he moved closer. I glanced at him. The muscle in his jaw clenched.
I looked back to Mason. How did he get here so quick? “I don’t understand. We were at the club. Why were you…Why, Mason?” Hurt and betrayal weakened me. It really wasn’t my place to say whether or not he could sleep with her, but he’d said he wouldn’t and some part of me had clung to that reassurance. Fallon had grown on me lately, but that didn’t mean I wanted to come home and find her screwing my best friend.
“Don’t act stupid. Sweet little Brinley.” His tone was mocking. “I was here for you. But where were you? Huh?” He glared at Ryder then back at me. “Don’t fool yourself. He doesn’t like you. He just wants to fuck you.”
I gasped.
“I think it’s time for you to sleep it off.” Ryder spoke in a controlled tone but his posture was rigid, like he was barely holding it together.
“Fuck off.” Mason stepped forward, his fist clenched.
Ryder’s shoulders stiffened and I stepped between them.
“Mason, go to your room.” My throat was dry and scratchy. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”