Page 72 of What Are The Odds?
“Anytime.”
He made no effort to leave. I didn’t either. Having distance between the cowgirl and Harley Quinn was nice.
“Are you enjoying the party?” he asked.
I shrugged, leaning against his dresser. "It’s a lot crazier than the house parties I’m used to.”
“What were they like?”
“A lot tamer than this.”
He chuckled. “What can I say? We go big here.”
That was an understatement. Everything was grander. Some things I liked. Some things I didn’t. Just like I missed some things back home. And others I was happy to be away from. Each place had its pros and cons. After a pause, Ryker opened his mouth.
“I have to ask. Are you and Holloway together?”
His question surprised me. I parted my lips, trying to give him the best explanation I could, but it was hard when I didn’t know myself. If I said no, I was downplaying mine and Levi’s agreement. But if I said yes, how did I explain Harley Quinn and the cowgirl? I settled with both.
“Yes and no.”
“Yes and no?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I mean, probably more yes than not. But we’re not, like, dating.”
“Right.”
Ryker drew the word out. He clearly didn’t know what to make of my explanation.
“Let me help you, Grace. If I asked you out, what would you say?”
He’d asked the perfect question. Because the answer was so clear to me. I smiled apologetically.
"That I was with someone else.”
The corner of his lips pulled up, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“I think you have your answer.”
He was right. I hadn’t thought of another guy since hooking up with Levi. Partly because it was hard to look past him, but mainly because I didn’t want to. Even if we hadn’t agreed to not hook up with other people, I wouldn’t have anyway. So long as anything was happening between us, nothing would be happening with me and anybody else. That wasn’t who I was. Casual was new to me. Being casual with more than one person was too hard to fathom.
“I should probably find Levi.”
Nodding, Ryker moved toward the door. Though just before he turned the handle, he hovered.
“For the record Grace, if Levi doesn’t break his no girlfriend rule for you, he’s a fucking idiot.”
With that, he opened the door, gesturing for me to go first. Wordlessly I stepped out of his room, only to slam into a solid wall of muscle. Levi. And an angry Levi it seemed. The muscles in his arms strained as he clenched his hands at his side.
“Hey,” I cautiously said. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for you,” he answered. “What areyoudoing?”
“Ryker let me use his bathroom so I didn’t have to wait in line.”
Levi’s gaze travelled past me to Ryker. His jaw was set, and his posture was rigid.
“Is that all?”
