What’s confusing me the most is the fact that my heart hasn’t been aching like this because I can’t be with Hunter. It’s aching because I can’t be with Ridge.
I realize as I’m sitting here that I’m more upset that Ridge came into my life than I am that Hunter left it. How screwed up is that?
Before I can respond, Ridge’s bedroom door opens, and he walks out. He’s in jeans and nothing else, and I tense from the way my body responds to his presence. However, I love the fact that Hunter is about to turn around and witness Ridge looking like this.
Ridge pauses just feet from the table when he sees Hunter sitting across from me. He glances from Hunter to me, just as Hunter turns to see who I’m looking at. I can see the concern wash over Ridge’s face, along with a flash of anger. He eyes me hard, and I know exactly what’s going through his head right now. He’s wondering what the hell Hunter is doing here, just as I am. I nod in reassurance, letting Ridge know I’m fine. I shift my eyes to his bedroom and silently tell him that Hunter and I need privacy.
Ridge doesn’t move. He doesn’t like that I just told him to go back to his bedroom. From the looks of it, he doesn’t really trust Hunter alone with me. Maybe it’s the fact that he wouldn’t be able to hear me if I needed him to return for any reason. Whatever it is, I just made him completely uncomfortable with my request. Regardless, he nods and turns back toward his room, but not before eyeing Hunter with a warning shot.
Hunter faces me again, but his expression is no longer apologetic.
“What the hell was that?” he asks, his voice dripping in jealousy.
“That was Ridge,” I reply firmly. “I believe the two of you have already met.”
“Are the two of you . . . like . . . ?”
Before I answer him, Ridge walks back into the room with his laptop and heads straight to the couch. He drops down onto the sofa, eyeing Hunter the entire time while he opens his laptop and props his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.
The fact that Ridge refuses to leave me alone with Hunter pleases me way too much.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” I say, “but no, we aren’t dating. He has a girlfriend.”
Hunter returns his attention to me and laughs under his breath. I have no idea what he just found funny, but it pisses me off. I fold my arms while I glare at him and lean back against my seat.
Hunter leans forward and looks straight into my eyes. “Please tell me you see the irony in this, Sydney.”
I shake my head, absolutely not seeing any irony in this situation.
My lack of comprehension makes him laugh again. “I’m trying to explain to you that what happened between Tori and me was strictly physical. It meant nothing to either of us, but you won’t even try to understand my side of it. Yet you’re practically eye-fucking your roommate who happens to be in love with another woman, and you don’t see the hypocrisy in your actions? You can’t tell me you haven’t slept with him in the two months you’ve been here. How can you not see that what the two of you are doing isn’t any different from what Tori and I did? You can’t justify your own actions without forgiving mine.”
I’m trying to keep my jaw off the floor. I’m trying to keep my anger subdued. I’m trying to keep myself from reaching across this table and punching him square between his accusing eyes, but I’ve learned the hard way that punching isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
I allow myself several moments to calm down before I respond. I glance at Ridge, who is still eyeing me. He knows by the look on my face that Hunter just crossed the line. Ridge’s hands are gripping the screen of his laptop, prepared to shove it aside if I need him.
I don’t need him. I’ve got this.
I square up with Hunter, pulling my gaze off Ridge and focusing on the eyes I so desperately want to rip out of Hunter’s head.
“Ridge has an amazing girlfriend who doesn’t deserve to be cheated on, and luckily for her, he’s the type of guy who realizes her worth. With that said, you’re wrong about the fact that I’m sleeping with him, because I’m not. We both know how unfair it would be to his girlfriend, so we don’t act on our attraction. You should take note that simply because a girl makes your dick hard, that doesn’t mean you have to go shove it inside her!”
I push myself away from the table at the same time as Ridge sets his laptop aside and stands.
“Go, Hunter. Just go,” I say, unable to look at him for another second. The simple fact that he thought he had Ridge pegged as being anything like him pisses me off, and he’d be smart to leave.