Page 88 of What are the Risks
He’d also never kissed you before.
“You’re forgetting about Gretchen. The girl he’s been sleeping with the past few weeks.”
While we’d been getting ready, Gretchen had very willingly filled me in on some of her and Ryker’s past hookups – like New Year’s Eve and the night of his final college game. They weren’t wasting time tickingbirthday sexoff their horny bucket list either.
“Gretchen’s a distraction,” Evan said. “A hot one, sure. But merely a means to an end.”
I forcefully shook my head, trying to clear the fog in my mind. When that didn’t work, I sprang to my feet and began pacing Evan’s room.
I didn’t have a thing for Ryker. I didn’t even care about Evan’s absurd theory... so why did I feel like a giddy teenager hearing her crush was crushing on her back?
“You’re wrong. Ryker and I are just friends.”
“So the kiss didn’t rock your world?”
“Rock my world?” I snorted. “Who says that?”
“Fine. Tell me how it made you feel.”
It had made me feel surprised. And good. And giddy. But it had also left me confused. And bummed that Ryker hadn’t acknowledged it. And annoyed that it left me not knowing how to act around him.
“It was new,” I answered.
“New?”
“Fine. It was good. Like,reallygood. But kissing any guy who wasn’t Noah was always bound to feel different.”
Evan stood up. “Let’s test that theory.”
“Huh?”
“Kiss me.”
My heartbeat stopped. So did my pacing. As much as I’d enjoyed Evan’s flirting, each time he alluded to somethingactuallyhappening, I caught myself freaking out.
With a nervous cough, I cleared my throat. “Why?”
“Then you’ll know whether the kiss was different purely because it wasn’t Noah, or actually good because it was with Ryker.”
I raised one eyebrow. “You want me to kiss you?”
“Sure. It’s just a kiss, right?”
“Right.”
But was it?Ididn’tjust kisspeople. At least I hadn’t until recently. But I was single now. Kissing wasn’t a marriage proposal. Single people kissed all the time.
One of Evan’s large hands came to rest over my cheek, keeping me steady. His hand was warm and dry, whereas my palms were beginning to sweat.
I felt stupid for even playing into his theory, but after two weeks of obsessing over what might end up being nothing – just a new kiss and nothing more – I realised I had nothing to lose.
“When you’re ready, Ruby,” he taunted, his mouth hovering an inch from mine.
Fuck it.
I closed the gap.
The second our lips met, I began my comparison.
