Just a Little Crush(69)

“When another guy, whose name will not be mentioned, stepped into the picture, Mason was jealous and scared to lose me. It blurred the lines of our friendship. But we could never have a romantic relationship.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s attracted to you physically.”

“Um, have you met the guy? He’s attracted to anything with opposing parts. We were never meant to be more though. I don’t want to ruin our friendship trying to prove that to him.” I scooted out of the booth. “I’m going to the bathroom. Put that ID to good use and get us another drink.”

She grinned. “On it.”

I slipped past people as I made my way to the back of the club. There was a line to the girls’ bathroom. I leaned against the wall and glanced at a nearby table. Several guys sat around it, laughing. One had a girl in his lap, another was flirting with the waitress, but the one who captured my attention was slouched back in his chair running a finger over a glass filled with dark liquid. Ryder.

He ignored everything around him. Someone said something to him and slapped his shoulder. He shrugged and tilted his glass to his lips, throwing his drink down in a few gulps. The ice rattled as he set it down. The waitress said something and he nodded. He pulled his phone out and stared at it. His shoulders sank and he shoved it back in his pocket.

My heart skipped and I tried to turn away but he entranced me. His tongue flicked over his lip ring and he pulled it between his teeth like he did when he was lost in thought. His T-shirt stretched tight over his chest as he settled back in his chair.

The waitress reappeared and set his drink in front of him. She said something and grazed her fingers along the back of his neck.

Ryder rolled his eyes.

She couldn’t see from where she stood and didn’t seem to get the hint. She ran her hand down his chest over the spot where his tattoo was and my blood boiled.

He winced and shifted away from her.

She pursed her lips and stomped off.

“Hey, are you going?” A girl behind me pointed to the bathroom.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” I glanced one last time at Ryder as he threw back his new drink, and then stepped into the bathroom.

When I was done, I fixed my hair and put on some lip gloss. My phone chimed and I pulled it out.

Fallon: Ryder’s here.

I typed a response as I stepped out of the bathroom and rounded the corner.

Me: I saw—

I ran into someone and looked up.

Ryder.

He steadied me and glanced at my phone. I lowered it and locked the screen.

“Sorry,” I muttered, and tried to pass him, but he put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

“How are you?” he asked.

The music was loud in the club but in this narrow hallway I could hear better. Maybe I could pretend I didn’t and keep walking.

“Brinley, I’m so fucking sorry. Please talk to me. Let me explain things.”

I jerked free of him. “Nothing you can say will fix this.”

“I know. God, I know. But let me just tell you what happened.”

“I’m sorry you feel the need to clear your conscience, but I don’t care. I don’t want to hear it. What you did—there are no words for it. I want nothing to do with you. In fact, I wish I’d never laid eyes on you.”

“Brinley.” He raked his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I love you like fucking crazy.”

My jaw dropped and then I shook my head. “No. No, you don’t get to say things like that.” I pushed him away from me. “Dammit. You can’t say that. Haven’t you hurt me enough?” My eyes welled and I looked down. “Please get out of my way.”

A second passed, then he stepped aside.

I brushed past and took a deep breath, unable to comprehend why Ryder would say he loved me. Was it just to get me back? Or maybe because he was drunk? He didn’t really love me or he wouldn’t have done what he did. It pissed me off. He had no right to tease me with the kind of words I’d hoped to one day hear…before. Now they hurt. I counted to ten, attempting to regain my cool, and headed to my table. Thankfully, Mason was still dancing with Leena. But Mel had returned to the table.

Fallon leaned forward, listening to whatever she was saying. She saw me approach and scooted over to make room.

“You okay?”

I nodded.

“Get my text?”

“Yep, I tried to respond but then I ran into him. Literally.”

“No way.”

“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Okay. Mel was just talking about the paper.”

“Oh, yeah.” I perked up at this information, curious to get the details on what really happened.

“She said a lawyer got involved with the website fiasco.”