Page 7 of Loathing Ryan
As if he could feel my gaze burning holes into him, he glanced up and caught my eyes with his own. He watched me intently for only a minute before returning to his conversation, and despite not feeling cold, I shivered.
Taking a breath, I turned back to my small group too, steeling myself for the rest of the evening. I was glad that Ryan had chosen to take the high road in that instance. Though I was sure that wouldn’t be the case for too much longer.
As the night wore on, my patience thinned.
One of the Bennett boys had snuck contraband into the camp by means of disguising it as mouthwash and had spiked the punch. I had no interest in getting wasted on my first night at camp, which meant I stuck to water or soda. Juliet had taken off with Liam about thirty minutes ago, leaving me to my own devices.
I had found my way from the crowd around the bonfire and went off by myself to stand by the lake. It was a little quieter over here, allowing the subtle buzz in my ear from the many conversations to fade. The moon was reflecting on the black surface of the water, creating an alluring mix of colors that drew me in. I could hear the frogs chirping over on the bank’s other side as if their song was just for me. This was my favorite part of the camp.
I couldn’t care less about the activities or the team building. I just liked to sit by the lake and disappear. It’s what I did best. It was peaceful and serene.
And then?—
“Heya, Bells!”
I groaned but didn’t give him the satisfaction of turning around. It was inevitable that he would find me at some point. As soon as my guard slipped even slightly, he was there. “What do you want?”
“You look lonely over here all by yourself,” he said as he came up to stand a few paces away from me.
“Yeah, well, I’m not. I prefer being alone,” I shot back at him.
“I don’t believe that. You always seem to be happy around Juliet.”
Turning around to face him, I scowled. “What do you want me to say, Ryan? Fine, I prefer being anywhere that you’re not. I don’t care who I’m with, as long as it’s not you.”
I watched his face as I delivered my blow, hoping he would pick up on my hint that I was over his games. He stared back at me. Something I couldn’t name flashed across his eyes, but his face remained blank. Finally, he cleared his throat and looked out onto the lake.
“Nice night,” he remarked.
“Seriously?” I retorted. He looked over at me again as his lips twitched into a smirk.
“What do you want me to say, Izabel?” His voice took on a light, teasing tone, and the hairs on the back of my neck instantly stood up. Oh, he was mocking me now. “You amuse me, and I prefer being anywhere that you are. So it seems we are at an impasse here, are we not?”
I blinked at him, unsure where this side of Ryan was coming from. Uneasiness swirled in my belly as I considered his words. I crossed my arms over my chest and didn’t say anything back, hoping to appear unbothered by him standing in front of me, when really, I was battling to reconcile what I previously knew to be true about Ryan Miller, and whatever new version of himself he was showing me now.
We stood in silence for a few minutes, before he took a sip of the alcoholic punch, turning his head back to me. I braced myself for whatever was about to come out of his mouth. This new Ryan was unpredictable, so I had to be ready for anything.
“You look nice tonight, Bells.”
My arms dropped from across my chest, and my jaw went slack.What?Did he just have a stroke? DidIjust have a stroke, or did Ryan actually give me a real compliment? What the hell was happening here?
Finally, my brain stopped having a seizure long enough for me to respond with a “What?”
He nodded at me. “That dress looks nice on you.”
Quickly, the recesses of my brain struggled to piece everything together. I collected the tidbits of information I’ve gradually been collecting since stepping foot off that bus. It wasn’t adding up. I had no idea which way was up, or who this person standing in front of me was—because it certainly wasn’t the Ryan I had come to know and hate. Still not fully recovered from my initial shock, but collected enough to speak, I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s your game here, Ryan?” I looked around. “Are you recording this or something? Trying to lower my guard before stomping me into the ground?”
I noticed Juliet make her reappearance from across the field. She started to head over this way, a few other people following behind her. We must have gotten their attention. Good. I was ready to get the hell out of here.
Ryan’s usual menacing expression morphed into something I had yet to see grace his features before. My heart skipped a beat as the firm set of his eyebrows loosened, softening the appearance of his green eyes as he watched me. I found myself wanting to hear what he was going to say.
“No, I just—” Ryan started, before one of his friends made a beeline toward him and knocked his cup out of his hand. Of course, as if I were a magnet, it spilled all over the front of my pristine white dress.
I stood there dripping in red liquid, tears pricking my eyes at how foolish I was for setting myself up for this. For a moment, I had given Ryan the benefit of the doubt, and look where that got me. Ryan stood before me, not moving a muscle, observing my assessment of the now-ruined dress. My eyes eventually found their way back to his face, and I glared harder at him, hoping he could see just how unamusing I found this whole situation. His muscles tensed as he gauged my reaction.
Irritation continued to burn inside of me, and I let instincts take over. Ryan got the better of me, tricking me into letting my guard down, but it wouldn’t happen again. Instead of running away in tears like I was sure he hoped, I put both hands on his chest and shoved him as hard as I could.
Ryan yelped as he fell backward, clearly not expecting me to push him. He hit the water with a satisfying splash, and I turned on my heel and stalked away, so ready to be done with this night.
