Page 69 of What are the Risks
Ryker
I’d definitely freaked Ruby out. She’d run from my bedroom before I’d even had a chance to comprehend what we’d just done.
What the fuck was I thinking?
Not only had she just got out of a long-term relationship, but she’d been crying in my arms about it less than two hours ago. How had I responded? I’d kissed her and fucking complicated everything.
But that kiss.That kiss.
I gently brought my fingertips to my lips, like a teenager committing their first kiss to memory. I’d hooked up with plenty of girls in the past – so many I’d lost count a long time ago – but none of their kisses had ever lingered. None had stirred anything in me the way this one had, as if I’d just experienced a completely new emotion.
“Ryker?”
I looked up to find Kyler still hovering in the doorway, the same doorway Ruby had just run through.
“Huh?” I murmured.
“Pat? Jock drama? Help?”
“Right.” I clumsily got to my feet. “Hockey player?”
“Nah. They’ve got a game.”
That’s right. Holloway had mentioned that earlier. I’d take the win. Whenever the football and hockey teams mixed, drama was a given. Though since Levi and I had become amicable, the arguments had died down. Who knew if that would carry over when we both graduated at the end of the school year. Not my problem either way.
The party was fully loaded by the time I ambled back downstairs. I followed Kyler onto the back deck, preparing for a hostile situation. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to stick up for one of my teammates. But whatever the altercation was, it had already been diffused and the guys were fussing over a keg instead.
Pat waved me over. “We need more beer.”
“Already?”
“Yeah the, ugh, guest list blew out.”
No thanks to him. The backyard was crowded with people, and I barely recognised half of them.
“You’re still sober, right?” Pat prompted.
Unfortunately, Iwassober enough to drive. I’d settled down after my few swigs of vodka this afternoon, and Pat’s pour had been too strong for me to finish the whole drink. A beer run was the last thing I wanted to do though, especially knowing Ruby was around somewhere, likely freaking out.
Gretchen bounced over to me, her fitted dress not even slightly suitable for the weather. Her pink nose implied her body could feel the cold, despite the alcohol in her system telling her it didn’t exist.
“Are you doing a drink run?”
“Apparently.”
She perked up. “Can you bring back something other than beer?”
Pat draped his arm around me, resting his head on my shoulder. “What would you like, gorgeous?”
Gretchen chewed her glossy lip. “Hm. I’m not sure.”
“Why don’t you come with us and choose something?”
Us?He wasn’t volunteering to keep me company twenty seconds ago.
I subtly shot him a cautioning glare. I knew his MO. He was about to turn this into something I didn’t have time for.
I needed to find Ruby and talk through whatever the fuck had just happened before I spiralled. Or maybe giving her twenty minutes towrap her head around it wasn’t the worst idea. If I was rattled, she sure as hell had to be too.
