Page 36 of What are the Risks
I’d felt Gretchen’s gaze on me my entire workout. Earlier she’d purposely stretched within my line of sight, making sure to show off her flexibility. I’ll admit, the height she got her leg was veryverytempting.
While New Year’s Eve was a little blurry, the morning after wasn’t, and it had been really good. A little loud on her part, but good nonetheless. I was partly convinced some of her noises were more about hearing her own voice than experiencing that much pleasure. I trusted my abilities in the sheets and was confident I’d shown her a good time, but her breathy moans had implied she’d been mid-orgasm during the whole thing.
“Your phone’s going off,” Brady said, throwing it at me.
I was so gassed I nearly dropped it.
After turning it the right way, I caught sight of Ruby’s incoming FaceTime. I answered without hesitating.
“Hey, Rubz. What’s–”
“I need you to delete our entire message train without asking me any questions.”
She rushed out the words, panting like she’d just crossed the finish line of a marathon. Behind her glasses, her eyes were wide in angst, and her cheeks were tinged bright red.
Of courseI was going to ask questions.
“Why?”
“Because...” She sank her teeth into her shaking lower lip. “I accidentally sent you a picture intended for Noah.”
That admission caused my body to feel a million different emotions all at once. Before I could figure any of them out, Evan was snatching my phone out of my hands.
“I’ll give you ten thousand dollars for a copy of whatever that photo is, Ruby.”
I stole my phone back, purposely shoving Evan away as I did.
Ruby’s eyes widened even further, if that was possible. “Are you still in the gym, Wheels?”
I swallowed. “Mmhm.”
“Fuck, Ryker. How many other people are listening?”
Ryker.Ouch.
My gaze flicked around anxiously, answering her question – more people than she probably wanted to hear.
I couldn’t help that I was mid-training. It wasn’tmyfault she’d sent a naked photo to me by mistake. I mean, I was guessing that’s what the picture was. That or something close to it.
Something unexplainable pulsed in my chest. The thought of Ruby posing and taking a photo like that was kind of... hot. Which was a fucking concerning feeling. I’d never associatedRubyandhot.
I waswaytoo keyed up from my gym session. It was a shame we had a team dinner after this, otherwise I’d be tempted to march over to Gretchen and fuck her in my car before I exploded.
“Rubz–”
“God, could this get any worse? Whatever. Please just promise me you’ll delete it without looking.”
“Can I delete it without deleting our entire message chain?”
Her brow lowered. “I don’t know. Why does that matter?”
“Because I...”
I trailed off, well aware I held the focus of my four best friends. They were nosily listening, curious to hear where I was going with that.
Given I already received a hefty amount of shit for my friendship with Ruby, I wasn’t about to add to their leverage. But the truth was, mine and Ruby’s conversation history was full of years of memories. I didn’t want to erase it.
“I’ll promise you this,” I vowed. “I swear on my life, and yours, and football that I won’t open the message. I’ll give my phone to Tori and have her delete it.”
