Page 14 of A Lot Like Love
Bourbon.The only thing within reaching distance was an almost empty bottle of JD, and as much as he would have liked to drown his sorrows in more booze, it wasn’t going to happen. He’d made a mistake, and now he had to pay the price, and that meant no sticking his head in the sand and imagining his troubles away with alcohol.
Ryder kicked the covers off and stumbled to the bathroom, eyes still half-shut as he stuck his head under the faucet and took a big gulp of water, swallowing the tablets. When he raised his head he looked at himself, glared at the bloodshot eyes staring back at him. He’d beaten himself up enough the night before, and today he was going to have to man up to what he’d done.
His phone bleeped and he splashed some cold water on his face and brushed his teeth before checking it. Two messages, from his brothers.
Ryder read the one from Nate first.Who’s the cute blonde driving your SUV?Chase’s message was almost identical.Hot blonde coming your way. Why the hell is she driving your SUV?
He grunted, deleting the messages without replying. Trust them to both see her coming. So long as they didn’t try to stop her, he’d be fine. Neither of them would disturb him if they thought he was shacked up with a woman, which meant he’d bought himself some time without even knowing it.
But it also meant that Chloe was about to pull up outside, and he needed a shower. Bad. He pulled off his boxers, kicked them across the room, and headed into the bathroom again. The front door was unlocked and she could let herself in.
He turned the faucet on, stepping under the water when it ran hot. Ryder shut his eyes and let the water glide over his face and down his chest, running his fingers through his hair.
“Ryder?”
“In here,” he called back, reaching for the shampoo and massaging it through his hair. He wanted to scrub away every reminder of the night before. Except for Chloe. That was the only positive part of the evening and he could do with scrubbing her right now in the shower beside him.
“Ryder, are you…”
He turned the water off and turned around, reaching out for his towel.
“I’m here,” he said, rubbing his hair dry. “Come on in.”
“Ryder!”
Chloe’s high-pitched tone made him laugh.
“What? You weren’t expecting me to be naked?”
He tucked the towel around his waist, not bothering to dry his body. The look on her face was priceless, and it had cured his headache better than any pills could.
“You called me in here on purpose,” she said, all shock gone from her face as she folded her arms and stared at him.
“No, I was in the shower and called back to you.”
She made a noise that he couldn’t decipher, but he got that she was angry. Although he hadn’t missed the way her eyes had roamed quickly down his body then all the way back up again.
Chloe walked through the bedroom, heading straight for the almost-empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s on his nightstand. She held it up.
“So you kept drinking last night?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“Did it make you feel better?”
“Yeah. I guess,” he replied, turning his back to her and putting on deodorant and aftershave. His reflection was looking a whole lot more human again, compared to the half-dead corpse look he’d been sporting when he’d dragged himself out of bed.
When he turned around this time, Chloe was bent over, looking at a framed photo on the other side of his bed. Ryder stopped midstride, admired the pert bottom tipped up in the air, jeans like a second skin. He tucked his towel more snugly at his waist—if she kept her butt pointed in his direction for too much longer… He cleared his throat and forced his eyes away from her. Maybe it was the fact she was bending over next to his bed, or then again it could be the fact that she was sexy as hell and he’d wanted her from the second he’d glanced at her across the ring before his ride the other day
She turned and he crossed the room to get some underwear. He dropped his towel and pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, before going back to locate his jeans.
“Seriously, Ryder, put some goddamn clothes on,” Chloe said, eyes narrowed. “I’m not just going to jump into bed with you because you’re half-naked if that’s your plan.”
He laughed. She was even sexier when she was all hot under the collar and angry. “I didn’t think you were that easy.”
Her smile gave her away even though he could see she was fighting it, the slight curve on one side of her mouth telling him she’d been thinking about him in exactly the same way.
“Well, at least my reputation is intact. Now get some clothes on and let’s eat breakfast.”
