Page 41 of Release Me

“Oh, no. My friends are over there … somewhere.” She gestures behind her into the sea of faces, casually flipping her hair. “I’m Eliza. You’re Ronan, right?”

“Right.” I hide my smile through a sip. Eliza isn’t at all subtle—not that I didn’t pick up on her interest in the hallway. Is this how she swooped in on David and convinced him to abandon a year-and-a-half relationship?

“So … what are you doing here?” she asks, prodding the conversation along.

I rattle the ice in my glass in answer.

“Well, yeah, obviously.” She giggles. “I mean, why are you alone?”

“I’m not. My friend is …” She follows my pointed finger to the corner where Connor has his arm around his conquest to not-so-discreetly hide the fact that his other hand is under her skirt. “Preoccupied.”

Eliza’s mouth gapes. “Wow, I guess what they say about you crew guys isn’t far off.”

“Connor’s a special breed.”

She peels her focus away from them, her blue eyes sparkling when they return to me. “Is it true he’s leaving for the Alaska Wolf?”

“Yup. So am I.” It still doesn’t feel real.

“Youare?” She pouts. “But you just started in Miami, like, yesterday!”

A bit of an exaggeration, but it does feel like it. “You know quite a bit about me.” I’m no idiot. She’s as good as mine if I want her. But the last thing I’d want to do is hurt Ryan. In fact, I wish I’d left an hour ago, so I could get home and tug off that crab-faced T-shirt she loves to sleep in and pick up where we left off.

Her cheeks pink. “Not enough. Like, why did you transfer down here only to turn around and go to Alaska?”

“What can I say but my roommate’s persuasive?” One of my roommates. The other one is probably lying in bed,overthinking her life decisions in part because of this woman who is angling to hook up with me. “Aren’t you dating David from accounting?”

“Oh! That’s new. I mean …” She’s flustered. “It’s not serious.”

“It’s not?” Does he know that?

“No.” Her headshake emphasizes her answer and then a playful smile curls her lips. She adjusts her stance closer to me, her chest subtly nudging my biceps. “So, youdoknow who I am.”

Maybe I’m extra sensitive because of Tasha, or because I consider Ryan a friend, but I don’t want to play this game anymore. Tipping back my drink to down the rest of my whiskey in one gulp, I set the empty glass on the counter. “Yeah, you’re the girl who my other roommate’s boyfriend cheated with. Have a good night.” I leave her gape-mouthed, carving my way through the crowd to Connor and the glaze-eyed brunette he’s finger-banging while they sway to the pulsing music. “Heading out now. It’s late.”

Connor pulls his hand away from the girl to check his watch, earning her frown.

“Damn, it is.” Leaning down, he whispers something in her ear.

She nods and, holding up a wait-a-second finger, scuttles over to her friends.

“Which one do you want?” Connor calls out over the music, and I feel the girls’ excited eyes survey me.

What is this, an auction? “Neither.”

“Dude,” he chastises with awhat’s wrong with youlook.

“I have a headache,” I lie.

“You know what fixes that?Bothof them.”

I shake my head, hoping the girls get the message. “Ryan’s got her exams coming up. She’ll kill me if she loses sleep.”

Connor shrugs. “My room’s big enough for all of us.”

I chuckle. He is, by definition, the opposite of a cock-blocker. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll see you at home.” We’re only a fifteen-minute walk away.

I hightail it out of there before he can convince me to reconsider.

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