13. Ronan
I t’s after ten when Ryan walks through the door, throwing her backpack onto the floor with a thud. She looks exhausted.
And miserable, like she’s fighting the urge to cry.
“You’re gonna have this place all to yourself for five months!” Connor bellows, oblivious to her mood. Or he’s trying to cheer her up. He’s not as obtuse as he plays at.
Ryan’s gaze drifts over the laptop on the coffee table, to the cans of beer in our hands, and finally to me. “I take it you got the job?”
“I did.” The welcome package arrived two hours ago. For whatever else Belinda might be, she’s definitely on top of things.
“We booked our flights. We leave next Saturday.” Connor throws up his arms in celebration.
“You two gonna share a bed up there too?” Ryan wanders over to the fridge. I expected more excitement from her than she’s showing. She hasn’t hidden the fact that she doesn’t want me here.
“Depends how many girls are in it with us,” Connor chimes in, earning my chuckle .
Her face contorts with a grimace. “Gross.”
He climbs off the couch and carries the empties over to the waiting case. Living with this guy is going to turn me into an alcoholic. “No, it’s not. You need to get back to your Greek roots.”
She flashes an incredulous look his way. “I have no Greek roots. Neither do you.”
“So?” He shrugs. “Live a little.”
“That’s your solution to every problem, isn’t it? Get laid?”
“Hasn’t failed me yet.” He belches. “I’m crashing. See you guys tomorrow.” With that, he vanishes into his bedroom.
I watch quietly as she rifles through her food, pulling out glass containers.
Moving her things to the bottom shelf was brilliant on my part.
It makes her bend over further, giving me a better view of that round ass, especially when she’s wearing leggings, and she wears those a lot.
She’s got solid, muscular thighs. Not skinny but proportionate to the rest of her.
The only part of her that isn’t proportionate is her waist, which is tiny.
It works well on her, though, making her breasts—I’d put them at a C—stand out and her hips all the more provocative.
Abruptly, she turns and catches me ogling her.
I’m slow in averting my gaze, not really caring if she knows I’m checking her out. “So, how are you doing?”
“How do you think?” She tosses a bag of carrots onto the counter.
“He sits two rows over and she comes in to visit him all the time. Walks right past my desk too. Doesn’t even bother to go another way.
And then everyone notices. I can feel them watching me to see how I’m going to react.
And I’m pretty sure he hooked up with her before we broke up. ”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” If I had to see Tasha and her new conquest every day, I think I’d have been arrested by now. As it is, I left my entire city to get away.
Her eyes glisten. “It really does.”
“I guess they have those office dating rules for a reason.”
“Those are for managers and subordinates. I don’t report to David.” She bites down hard on a raw carrot and the sound of her crunching is the only noise for a long moment.
“Still … it’d be a lot easier if he didn’t work in your office.”
“I’m never dating anyone from work again, ever ,” she declares through a nervous laugh. “It’s like high school—people gossiping about how David cheated on me and wondering if I had a clue. Don’t they grow out of that?”
I ease off the couch. “No, a lot of them don’t. And they get worse as their lives get more boring. Sitting in those cubicles all day? Pretty fucking boring. They can’t keep their mouths shut.”
“Please. This coming from the guy who told everyone he messed around with three women last Friday night? Yeah, that’s right. I heard about it.” There’s no missing the disgust on her face.
“I didn’t tell anyone about anything. Thank your brother for that.”
“So, your big ego doesn’t need stroking like Connor’s?”
“My big ego is not what needs stroking.” Her jaw drops, and I smirk. She walked right into that. “But I never talked about it. It’s none of anyone’s business who I’m with or what I do with them.”
“Unless they’re unfortunate enough to share a wall with you,” she says dryly.
“Hey, you questioned my skill. I had to prove you wrong.”
She rolls her eyes.
“Fine. I was drunk. It wasn’t one of my finer moments,” I concede.
“That was all an act for me? How sweet,” she croons in a mocking tone.
I’m not going to be able to convince her that I’m actually a decent guy. And I’m tired. “Don’t worry, your ex and front desk girl won’t last long. I give them a month.”
I say it to give her hope—that it won’t be thrown in her face every day for too much longer—but her crestfallen expression tells me I haven’t helped much.
“Glad he threw away a year and a half with me for something meaningless.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Shit.
Her lips purse. “It’s okay.” There’s a long pause. “So, what do I do now? How do I keep going to work every day and stop caring?” She peers up at me, a rare vulnerable expression on her face, her eyes begging for an answer.
Her mouth isn’t very wide, but her lips are plump.
Lipstick free. Soft. What would they feel like wrapped around my dick?
What would they look like, parted as she moans?
What would she do if I leaned down and kissed them right now?
I haven’t kissed anyone besides Tasha in over four years. I haven’t felt any urge to.
Until now.
Too bad Ryan can only barely tolerate me. But she’s vulnerable, which is why I need to leave, stat. I don’t want to be that guy .
I finish off my beer and dump the empty into the case. “Your brother was right. Find someone to fuck until the pain dulls or you get back together with that loser who you’re too good for.”
She hesitates. “Is that what you’re doing?”
“Trying. But I need someone who can tell their right from their left.” I should hit up that lioness server at Sin. If they’ll let me back in.
She chuckles, and her focus drifts to my mouth before averting quickly. “Good luck with your search. Maybe you’ll find her in Alaska.”
“Maybe.” Just a stone’s throw away in a nearby cabin, as Connor promises. Easy. Not as easy as it would be to have Ryan, on the other side of my wall. “Too bad my roommate is such a shrew. I wouldn’t have to go so far.”
Her cheeks flush. “I don’t like you.”
Damn it, I can’t help myself. I lean over the island. “Then why can’t you stop watching me?”
“I can …. I mean, I don’t …” She stumbles over her words, completely disarmed.
I grin. The exact reaction I was going for. “You don’t have to like me to enjoy what I can do for you. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.” That way she won’t fall for me because I can’t give her anything more than a quick fix. “’Night.”
Her gaze bores into my back all the way down the hall.
It’s still dark when I wake. Checking the clock—2:00 a.m.—I roll onto my back with a groan, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room. It’s too bright for my liking, thanks to the shitty curtains that don’t block the street lights beyond.
A figure stands beside my bed.
“Jesus.” I jolt. It takes me a moment to calm my racing heart. “Ryan?”
She doesn’t answer, simply stands over me, her arms at her sides, her long hair down, framing a tortured face. Her oversized white T-shirt hides her curves, reaching down to mid thigh. Without her glasses, I can easily make out the almond shape of her eyes.
“You’re here to kill me, aren’t you,” I say, half joking, although a part of me wonders. I shouldn’t have taunted her. “What’s wrong?”
She swallows. “Did you mean what you said?”
“About?”
Her gaze drifts over my bare chest and downward, to where my sheet covers my naked lower half.
Holy shit.
Am I dreaming?
I covertly pinch myself. Nope, awake. Wide awake.
The way she’s standing there, staring at my body … my bl ood starts pumping. I’m going to be hard in about twenty seconds. “Okay, the shower was one thing. But this is hitting below the belt.”
“It’s not a prank.” Her gaze lifts to meet my face, letting me see a lustful heat in her eyes for the first time. She isn’t kidding.
Seriously, is this happening? Is this a test? Because I’ll fail miserably. “You can’t come in here like this and expect me to be a decent guy.” If I weren’t groggy, I’d already have her on her back.
She reaches down to tug at my cover. It slides to my thighs, leaving me exposed. Her lips part with the softest sigh as my dick hardens in front of her. “You promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“Not even Connor?”
Fuck me … Connor has quickly landed a spot at the top of my friend list, and Ryan is his sister . What will he do if he finds out?
I can’t do this. I just …
Ryan seizes the hem of her T-shirt and lifts it up, over her head, letting it fall to the floor.