Page 29 of #Moonstruck

My brother already knew the answer. “Because she can’t find the key and doesn’t know when to come in!”

Which left me with Ryan and Diego. Which wasn’t at all awkward. I was about to ask Diego if he wanted a brownie, but he stared at me for a few seconds and then sat down with Billy and Fitz. I let out a sigh of relief at not having to deal with whatever that situation was yet.

Ryan still stood in front of me, shifting from one foot to the other.

“Brownie?” I was doing super great on the conversational front today.

“No thanks.”

I put the plate down on the table. Only two brownies left. Sad and forlorn and out of place. Kind of like what was happening to me right now with Ryan.

“Did Piper give you the full tour?” he asked.

I nodded. “Everywhere except your room.”

“Oh.” He seemed to consider this. “Do you want to see it?”

One part of me was like,Yes, yes, yes, I want to see where you live,and the other part was like,Why does this feel like a setup?I blamed my siblings for my overly suspicious mind.

My brothers were all deeply engrossed in conversation, which was good because promise or no promise, Ryan might be lying flat on the floor right now.

Especially if they’d heard my answer. “Okay.”

I followed behind him, admiring his broad shoulders outlined in his dark-blue T-shirt. It wasn’t my fault; they were right in my eye line. I heard Anton snoring as we went down the bunk alley. Each doorway we walked through felt important, like it was offering me one last chance to say no, to turn back and not do anything foolish.

Instead, I made sure to close the doors behind me.

Every step caused blood to rush through my ears and my hands to tremble in anticipation. Obviously, nothing was going to happen, not with my brothers on the other end of the bus. Even though I was too old to feel this way, the nervousness was because I’d never been in a guy’s room before.

Let alone with Ryan De Luna.

He opened his bedroom door, and it just looked normal. There was a queen-size bed with a gray quilt and some massive black-and-gray pillows. His bed was surrounded by multiple built-in dark-wood cabinets and drawers. One of his custom Martin guitars stood upright on a guitar stand in the corner. There was also a desk with a mirror, a flat-screen TV, and a black overstuffed armchair. That seemed like the safest bet, and I sat in the chair while he jumped backward and sprawled on the middle of his bed.

“What do you think of my room?”

Ryan seemed totally at ease and comfortable, while I was having a mild heart attack. There was such a vast difference in what was going on right now for both of us. Something new, thrilling, and slightly forbidden for me. For him? Having a girl in his room was probably so routine it didn’t even register. “What do I think? To be honest, I’m kind of surprised there’s not a stripper pole back here.”

He laughed and turned on his side, propping up his head with his hand. “I could get one installed for you.”

It wasn’t an offer. “Pass.”

Now that we were here, I wasn’t quite sure what to say or do.

Thankfully, as had been the case several times now, Ryan filled in the void. “This is the quietest place on the bus. If you ever need a place to escape or you want to compose or maybe need more room to sleep, you’re always welcome. I know how tiny those bunks are.”

“Where would you sleep?” I had a pretty good idea where that would be.

Predictably enough, he patted his bed. “I’m excellent at sharing.”

“Say that where my brothers can hear you and you’ll lose the ability to father children.” He didn’t need to know that they’d said they’d back off. I didn’t know what was worse—that he was such a dog or that part of me wanted to accept.

“You can trust me.” It would probably help his cause if he hadn’t winked at me while saying it.

It would probably also help if I could stop picturing it. “Really? You must think I’m so naive,” I said, shaking my head, telling my excited hormones to knock it off.

“I mean that totally innocently, I swear.” He even made the crossing motion over his heart while he grinned, and his hazel eyes danced.

I wanted to be sucked in by the lie. I wanted to believe Ryan De Luna and I could date and maybe fall in love and possibly live happily ever after. I wanted to believe he wasn’t like every other musician I’d ever met.

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