Page 12 of His Fearless Guy

“Fine.” I nod. Whatever it takes to get her off my case about it. I’m sure I can find something black to wear.

“What’s with you? You’re in such a sour mood.”

What’s with me is the fact that I can’t stop thinking about Ryeson. I can’t stop thinking about what happened between us. My thoughts are spinning out of control. My body feels like it’s on fire. And everything I’ve ever felt and known is coming into question. Meanwhile, Ryes is acting like nothing happened. Not that I expected us to sit down and talk about it, but he’s been completely normal all day. As cool as a fucking cucumber. And here I am completely on edge.

It's not like it just happened once. A collision of testosterone that accidentally overcame us. We’ve made out twice now, and yesterday was way more intentional than some stupid bet. I saw the look in Ryeson’s eyes. It matched the heat that was burning through my veins.

“Nothing’s with me,” I tell her, but my voice begs to differ. “I’m just worried about how I did on my chem test.” It’s not a far stretch from the truth. My mind was so fucked up, I know I got some questions wrong.

“I’m sorry, baby.” She snuggles in closer. “Don’t be stressed.” Her fingers run through my hair, rubbing it against the grain and annoying me further. “I’m sure you did great. My boyfriendis so smart.” Everything she does irritates me now. She’s just trying to be nice, but I don’t even want her to touch me anymore.

“Hey, man!” Ryes comes up, holding his fist out for a bump. My stomach gives me a good kick with nerves. I try to keep my hand from shaking as I give him a bump. He’s as steady and as calm as usual. It’s like he’s completely forgotten he double fisted us yesterday. That he grabbed my cock and rubbed us both off until we erupted all over each other. There was something so intense running between us, but he’s not even phased by it, and it’s making me feel like I’m fucking delusional.

He takes his seat, and Brennon comes right over and sits down next to him. The two of them seem to be paired at the hip these days.

“Hey, man. Willow just texted. She says that Tierney doesn’t like Italian food. Are you good if we go to The Grill instead?” Bren looks over at Ryes for his answer, and I’m looking at him too. Sounds like they’re making plans, but I haven’t gotten an invitation. Usually, Ryes would include me in everything.

“Yeah, I’m fine with that.” Ryeson nods, picking up his fork and winding it around his pasta. The guy could live on Italian food. It’s one of his main food groups.

Brennon types something out on his phone then looks up. “They’ll meet us there at seven. So, I’ll get you at six thirty. Then you can ride with Tierney over to the party and I’ll ride with Willow. Is that cool?”

Ryes nods again, his mouth full of food. I look down at the pizza sitting on my plate and offer it to Taya. “You want this?” Of course, she takes it. “So, are you guys going to dinner before the party tonight?” It sounds like they’re going on a double date.

Ryes nods and takes another bite of food, not giving me any details. He’s never been big on airing his business when others are around, but I’m not big on wondering what the fuck is going on. Thankfully, Brennon chimes in. He’s always eager to share.

“Yeah. We’re going on a double date. I’m trying to hook this one up with Willow’s cousin. You’ll finally get to meet my girl at the party tonight by the way.”

Now the nerves have spun their way into jealousy. Ryeson has agreed to go on a date tonight. After swearing off high school girls, he’s diving right in, isn’t he? Seems like he’s not just trying to ignore what happened between us, but has quickly put it in his past.

“That’s cool,” I state, holding out my hand for another bump, trying not to let the tension curl around my features. “So, is she hot?”

I want to punch him in the arm and ask him what the fuck, but it’s clear that I’m the one with the problem. I’m the one reading into shit. To him it really was just a bet. I’m surprised he hasn’t come at me yet for the money. Make me pay up for his services rendered.

“She’s really hot,” Ryeson answers, smiling. Now, he’s eager to share the details. “Bren show him a picture of her.” I don’t even want to see. I just want to know why I’m the only one rattled by what’s happened between us.

“Here, I’ll pull up her page.” Bren nods, and I feel my jaw growing tighter by the second. The tension railing up my spine.

Bren pulls up an Instagram page and shows me the girl. She looks right up Ryes’ alley. Tall, thin, blonde. Blue eyes. Big boobs. She’s definitely pretty. Usually, I’d be giving him a high five and hoping he ends up making the score. Right now, my stomach is heavy with a dreaded feeling. I’m jealous over a girl he’s never even met. It’s fucking madness.

“Not sure she’s a keeper,” I tease. “She doesn’t like Italian food and that’s your favorite.” And now I’m trying to sway him out of it, like some jealous fangirl. I need to keep my mouth shut before he picks up on my vibe and starts questioning whether Ihave the hots for him. I don’t know the answer yet, but my dick is pointing right to yes.

He shrugs. “Not a big deal. I don’t choose who to spend my time with over what they eat.”

Clearly, he’s attracted to the girl if he’s willing to look past the fact that she hates his favorite food. Which is not something I should be pissed about. He’s straight. Ryeson has always been into chicks. And so have I.

“Well, she’s definitely hot, dude. Hope it works out.” No, I don’t. I hope she’s obnoxious and irritates the hell out of him.

“Hey, baby.” Taya wraps herself around me. As soon as I said the word hot, I felt her stiffen next to me. “Do you want to go out to your truck, and I can help cheer you up?” Taya’s voice prickles over my skin like pine needles. No, I don’t. But I definitely can’t sit at this table anymore. The tension is crawling through my veins like toxic spiders. I can’t sit here and watch Ryes shovel food, acting like everything is completely normal between us. Things are fucked. He fucked me so good I’m losing my mind.

“Yeah, sounds good. Catch you guys later,” I say, grabbing Tay’s hand and leading her right out of the cafeteria. She’s struggling to keep up as I storm out of the building and straight to my truck. I hold the door open for her then practically hoist her up inside and climb in after her.

“Baylor, geez. Calm down. What’s going on with you?”

I grab the back of her neck, ignoring her comment, and slam my lips to hers. I’m desperate to curb my thoughts and get my head back to normal, but the kiss doesn’t feel the same. It feels like I’m kissing my own palm. There’s no excitement or spark, no blood rushing to my cock. I run my hands down to her breasts, giving them a squeeze, rubbing my thumbs over her tight nipples. I’ve always been a tit man, so they should get me worked up, but my dick isn’t budging an inch. I’m so fucking screwed.

I press onward, determined to feel something, but she pulls away. “I can’t believe you called that girl hot right in front of me. She is not hotter than me. And that is so rude to say in front of your girlfriend.”

Fuck me. Way to strike my nerves down further. I sit back, nearly slamming my head back on the seat. Her insecurities always kill the mood.

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