Something to Someone (Someone, Somewhere #2)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

DANGER!

Caroline

Ryder Calaway would be the death of me.

He held a thin strand of my hair between his fingers, a blonde lock that had fallen loose from the bun on top of my head. Toying with it like it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, the back of his finger brushed my cheek.

He didn’t miss my sharp intake of breath.

And before I could stop, I found myself admitting, “You, Ryder Calaway, are very dangerous.” The words spilled from my lips before I could choke them down.

Wild blue eyes flashed to mine, and I was frozen in place. The simple sentence was enough of an admission, I knew he wouldn’t let it slide. I’d known, or at least guessed at, Ryder’s crush for years, but I’d been careful not to hint at my newfound attraction.

Until today.

He was my best friend’s son. I wasn’t supposed to find him attractive or enigmatic or so freaking annoying. But I did, and for whatever reason, it all contributed to that pull. Of course, those feelings hadn’t started until much later. With eleven years between us, we’d met when he was only fifteen.

Until recently, he was just my friend’s son. I didn’t think too much about him, but over the past year, something had changed. I couldn’t pinpoint it, and I couldn’t explain it either, but enough had changed that when he bowed his head and brushed his nose along my cheek, I didn’t pull away.

His lips hovered next to my ear, and I could feel his warm breath flutter over my skin. Like he was breathing me in, he inhaled deeply and hummed low in his throat. Likely an involuntary sound he couldn’t control.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Caroline,” he said, and I ground my teeth, trying not to react to the way he said my name. It was all deep and growly. A sound I never expected to hear from his lips. “But isn’t it the dangerous rides that leave you breathless? They leave you panting, your heart racing, and your thighs weak. Danger is so much fun.”

The last words were punctuated with a brush of his lips against my skin which finally snapped me from my trance. I raised my hands and braced them against his chest. His firm, toned chest, which were not things I should have noticed, and I willed myself to push the thoughts to the back of my mind.

“This isn’t happening, Ryder,” I warned, and he blessedly took a step back. I needed space and air that wasn’t clouded with… him. “Let’s just grab the food and go back to your mom’s.”

His mom, and my best friend, Natalie, was waiting on us. As was her new-ish boyfriend, Theo, who also happened to be Ryder’s best friend. It was kind of a mess, but we were making the best of it.

Ryder found Theo in bed with his mom almost a week ago, and while he was doing fairly well given the circumstances, he was still coming to terms with the fact that his mom and his best friend were in love.

After he’d found them together, Ryder came to my house just down the street. He’d busted through the door like his ass was on fire, anger so intense vibrating through him that he couldn’t speak. He sat on my couch for an hour before he finally confessed to what had happened. Not long after that Natalie had begun texting me, too.

Then she’d shown up at my door, and Ryder hid in my bedroom like a dirty little secret. The last thing he wanted to do was speak to or see his mom, and I didn’t think either of them were prepared for that confrontation just yet.

Only Natalie had sensed something was off and implied that the man hiding in my bedroom was there for something more. Which was a good guess, but it hadn’t been true. No matter how much Ryder wanted it to be.

And whether he was trying to put on a brave face or not, I knew the man in front of me was still reeling from his mom and best friend’s secret affair. He wasn’t in the right mind to insinuate that we should cross a line we couldn’t come back from.

“Why?” he asked simply, and I groaned as I grabbed one of the dessert dishes we’d come back for. I shoved it in his hands, and he huffed out a breath at the impact.

A triumphant smile slipped over my lips.

“There are so many reasons why we shouldn’t. It’s a long, long list.”

“Name a few.”

I leveled him another look, one that often made people think twice about their actions, but it didn’t seem to affect him at all, which was a little unsettling. But still, I pushed on.

“You’re too young. You just turned twenty-one, and you’re my best friend’s son. That’s a line I shouldn’t, and won’t , cross.”

“Those are really just excuses, Caroline, not—” Thankfully, I had my back to him as I added a new layer of tinfoil over the dump cake, I’d baked so he didn’t see my reaction to my name yet again slipping from his lips.

“You just found out about your mom and Theo,” I reasoned, turning back around with the newly covered dish in my hands. “ I think this is a direct reaction to that. Maybe some part of you wants to get back at her, and what better way to do that then to sleep with her best friend.”

He was shaking his head before I finished speaking. “That’s not true.”

“Whether it is or isn’t, this isn’t happening, Ryder.”

“You say that now,” he said with a smirk that made my insides melt. “But your reactions say something different. And I know one day you’ll change your mind, so I’ll wait. I’m very patient.”

I brushed past him and ignored the way his eyes lingered on my face. “You seem very sure of that,” I challenged. I could hear his steps as he followed me toward the door, and I found myself walking faster.

With my hands full, I was struggling with the door when he stopped behind me.

His lips once again brushed my ear, and I felt the heat of his body at my back.

“I’m very confident, Caroline. Very confident.”