“You had every right.” He brushed sand off my side and froze. “Sorry.” He jerked his hand away.
“That’s okay.” I didn’t mind. I loved the naturalness. The way he reached out to me with a familiarity I missed.
“Can I ask you something?” He waited for a few people to pass then said, “If you don’t hate me, is it because you feel nothing toward me? Is it actually worse that you don’t hate me?”
I bit my lip to hide the smile, recalling the conversation we’d had. He’d remembered why I never hated anyone, but totally missed the point in what I was saying now. “That would make sense, but no. I feel something toward you.” It had taken a ton of courage to spit that out but there was no way I could stand there and wait for his response so I walked away.
Ryder followed in silence.
We all sat at the table outside to eat our burgers. Ryder stared at me almost the entire meal and was extremely quiet.
Mel handed me another beer and settled in the chair next to mine. “I think we need to have a bonfire.”
Her brother, Chris, answered, “Hell yeah. You up for that, Briggs?”
I glanced at Ryder. He watched me.
“Briggs?” Chris shouted.
“Huh?” he asked.
“Bonfire,” he repeated. “You down?”
“Yeah man, that’s cool.” Ryder glanced at me and I smiled.
Mason stared between the two of us and made a little sound. He draped his arm over my chair.
What the heck was he trying to prove?
Thankfully Leena didn’t seem to notice, but a peek at Ryder suggested he had.
With stiff shoulders, he glared at Mason.
Leena announced that she was making margaritas and slipped inside. The other girls followed and I was about to join them just to avoid this awkward situation, when Ryder spoke.
“What’s the place like upstairs?”
Nate answered, “Replica of downstairs, just roomier.”
“More rooms?” Ryder asked.
“Don’t think so. There’s two and a pullout bed.”
Ryder stared at Mason and me. “So who’s the unlucky bastard sleeping on the couch?”
Mason smirked. “Actually, I’m the lucky bastard sleeping with Brinley.”
My mouth fell open and I spun toward him.
Chris shook his head. “Okay, then. I’m going to go help with the margaritas.”
“Yeah. Good idea.” As Nate passed Mason, he muttered, “Since someone has a death wish.”
“What?” Mason shrugged. “It’s true.”
“It’s not a big deal.” I tried to play it off. “We always sleep together,” I added.
Ryder quirked an eyebrow and Mason snickered.
My face warmed. “Not like that.” Dammit. Why was I explaining my actions to him? And why was Mason putting me in a situation where I needed to?
“You mean, not in the way he wants.” Ryder nodded toward Mason.
Mason narrowed his gaze. “Whole lot closer than you’re getting, bro.”
“Are you freaking—” I grabbed my beer can and stood. “I’m going to change. Y’all enjoy your little pissing contest, but leave me out of it. Cool?” I glared at them.
To avoid everyone inside, I had to walk around to the front of the house. As I marched upstairs I grumbled to myself, “And to think I was worried about Ryder and me getting along. Freaking boys.”
Once in my room, I pulled a dress over my bikini and plopped onto the bed, not ready to go back out and face everyone. There was a knock at the door. With a huff I opened it, expecting an apologetic Mason on the other side.
Ryder stood in the doorway. “Can I come in?”
My frustration fizzled when I saw the defeated expression he wore. I waved my hand and stepped back.
He wandered to the window and stared out. “I basically accepted it as fact that Mason has a thing for you, but I need to know, do you have something for him too? Are you two together?”
I scoffed. “He doesn’t have a thing for me and, no, we aren’t together.”
“Yeah, he does, and you have to be the only person who doesn’t see it if you honestly believe that.”
“He thinks he does. He doesn’t. Our relationship is hard to explain.”
“Look, if you two are interested in each other, that’s cool. I know he’d take good care of you. I just need to know the truth.”
“Ryder, I don’t like him that way. There’s nothing between us. Yes, we are sharing a room, but no, not like that. He can be overprotective. And I’m pretty sure he’s trying to get under your skin.”
“Well, that much I could gather. And I get it. He cares about you. I fucked up.”