Chapter 8 – pippa #2
Logan takes my hand again, and something like anger flashes in Ryan’s eyes when he clocks it. Leaning in toward me, Logan says in a low voice, “You really shouldn’t be stuck with this guy. We have to get you out of this. You know, I have a vacant condo you could use while you look for a place.”
My brow furrows with confusion. The offer feels too crazy to be real, but his tone is dead serious. What kind of guy offers a girl he met off the internet to stay in an apartment he owns after one date?
Is that not a bit of a red flag?
Now that I think about it, he seemed to know a lot about me.
Our matching all-black outfits seemed like a coincidence, unless he read through my old articles and found the one I wrote last year.
And him guessing that I went to the Bahamas was awfully coincidental.
No, I have to be overthinking this. It’s all just chance… right?
Ryan strides over to us, stepping between me and Logan. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. She doesn’t even know you, dude. She’s not going to stay in your sketchy digs.”
“My place isn’t ‘sketchy,’” Logan snaps. “It’s a million-dollar condo on the fiftieth floor of the Landmark Building. The penthouse.”
I squeeze my eyes shut at the words “fiftieth floor,” feeling the wave of vertigo at the mere suggestion of it. Logan may not know it, but living in an apartment that high up is my actual nightmare. I could never do anything higher than ten stories. Just nope.
“She’s afraid of heights, man,” Ryan says, wrapping his hand around my arm, and I frown. “So thanks, but no thanks. Have a great night.”
He yanks me toward the elevators. When I try to pull out of his grasp, he just squeezes harder. “Stop it, Ryan!”
Ryan ignores me, pulling me with more strength than I knew he had. I dig my high heels into the marble floor, trying to stop him.
“Seriously, let go of me!”
He growls and finally relents, but I only get a moment of relief before Ryan crouches down, grabs my hips and pulls them against his shoulder. When I realize what he’s doing it’s already too late. Ryan pushes to his feet and I dangle over his shoulder, my face against his back.
“I’m so sorry!” I call back to Logan. “I’ll text you!”
But Logan’s already walking away, shaking his head. Another date gone, thanks to Ryan. Admittedly, this one might have been a stalker—but I didn’t know that for sure yet.
The elevator doors open, sending a slight whoosh of air against my ass. That’s when I realize that my tiny miniskirt is probably showing a lot of thigh in this position—fuck, maybe even my garters.
I pound against his back with my fists. “Ryan!”
He strides into the elevator, turning so I can see his friend James is already there and I immediately want to curl up in a ball and die.
James raises his eyebrows, surprise on his usually-stoic face. I focus on keeping absolutely still so I don’t show any more of my ass.
“What’s—”
“Don’t ask,” Ryan answers dryly.
James shrugs, walking out to the lobby as Ryan jams the button for his floor and drops me unceremoniously back onto my feet.
“How dare you?” I hiss, jabbing him in the chest. “You had no right to pick me up and carry me anywhere! I’m not a piece of luggage.”
As the doors ding open, Ryan grips my shoulders to move me out of the way before stepping past me into his apartment. The second I’ve recovered, I chase him out, blocking his path.
“I’m talking to you.”
When he tries to continue past me, I shove him in the chest as hard as I can, but the bastard doesn’t even sway.
“Are you even going to fucking apologize?”
“Nope. You needed to get out of there anyway. We both know there was no way you were going to stay on the fiftieth floor of Fancy Cologne McMurder-Eyes’ condo building, and you damn well know it.”
“I can make my own decisions!” I shove him again, but I might as well be trying to knock over a skyscraper.
“I saw you standing there, thinking about giving him the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t going to let you get yourself killed by some psycho stalker just because you don’t want to live with me.”
His jaw clenches, and I realize that in his own fucked up way, he’s trying to be protective.
While I’m distracted by the thought of Ryan actually being nice to me, he snatches my phone out of my hands. He types in my passcode, making me see red.
“Give that back? And how did you get my fucking passcode?”
“You’ve used the same passwords for everything since you were fourteen,” he says. I yank at his arm, but I don’t have to fight hard for it. He hands it back to me a few seconds later.
“What were you doing?” I demand, examining the screen.
“Sharing your location with me. Don’t turn it off.”
Ryan grabs my chin and forces me to look up at him. “If you insist on going on dates with potential psychopaths, then someone needs to know where you are. Since Cat’s all distracted by engagement bliss, apparently that job is mine now.”
His eyes sear into mine for a long moment before he finally releases me and stalks back to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.