Page 109 of Clashing
He glanced back and shrugged, closing the sketchbook. “I missed seeing your new stuff.”
“Oh.” Not the answer I expected. “Um . . . what happened last night?”
A teasing smile played on his lips, and he approached me. “You tried to assault me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“I’m serious. You kept coming on to me.” He gestured to the stove, where eggs waited in a pan covered by a lid. “Made you eggs. How do you feel?”
“Thank you.” I caught my lip between my teeth and moved to the sink to refill my glass. “Like shit.”
“Not surprised. Were you drinking because you can’t sleep here?”
I spun to face him, and my stomach flipped at the way he leaned one shoulder against the fridge, arms crossed. “Nosy much?”
“Danny’s worried about you.”
“Dan’s always worried. What happened last night?”
“Nothing.” He lifted the shoulder he wasn’t leaning on. “We kissed a little. That’s it.”
“You put me to bed?”
“Yeah. You thought I was rejecting you because I didn’t want you, which, by the way, willneverbe true.” My heart skipped. “I kissed you until you passed out so I wouldn’t make you cry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope that was the right thing to do. I hate seeing you cry. I wasn’t trying to get anywhere.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” His expression softened, and his mouth opened, but my phone vibrated against the kitchen table. “Hold on.” I held up a finger to Ryker and answered the phone. “Hey, Dan.”
“Hey, honey, I made breakfast. You hungry?”
“Youwhat? You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”
“I was careful. Do you want some or not?”
“I’ll be right there.” I sighed and hung up. “Sorry. It was sweet of you to make breakfast, but Dan did too, and yeah. You didn’t do anything wrong. I mean—” My cheeks warmed. “I kissed you first. Sorry about that.”
“I’m only sorry that you were drunk and hurting. Not that you kissed me.”
Goose bumps spilled over my skin. “Did I cry?” He nodded, and I buried my face in my hands. “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.”
“Don’t apologize, Scarlett.” Ryker peeled my hands from my face. “It wasn’t a problem. I told you I want to be here for you, and I mean it. Especially when you cry.”
Mind racing, I lost myself in those blue eyes that caught my attention the very first time I saw him. I missed being close to him. I missed it like part ofmyselfhad been severed. He didn’t let go of my hands, and his eyes never strayed from mine. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something. My phone rang again.
Breaking our eye contact, I picked it up, Dan’s name once again illuminating my screen. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m out of orange juice. Get some from downstairs on your way over, would you?”
“Sure thing. I’ll be right there.” I ended the call and wrung my hands together. “I, um . . .”
“Gotta go?”
I nodded and he did as well. Neither of us moved. I couldn’t think of another time we’d stared into each other’s eyes so long without physical intimacy. Either I was delusional, or something in our stare had altered. It wasn’t pure heat anymore, though of course that crackled in the background. There was something deeper too.
I gnawed on my lip. “What were you going to say?”
“Hmm?”
“Before Dan called this second time. You looked like you were about to say something.”
