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I drop onto the couch and leave a cushion of space between us. Usually, I wouldn’t worry about that, but I don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable after what just happened—whateverthatwas.

But then again, he did walk in without knocking, and he knows the bathroom has a glass shower door, which makes me wonder why.

I try to push the thought out of my mind because Ryder’s straight. He always has been, and whatever feelings I’m trying to project onto him need to stay buried. I’ve made it this longwithout slipping, I know I can lock it all back up and do it again because no matter what, I’d rather have him in my life as my best friend than risk losing him.

“There you two are!”Mia calls out as we walk into the bar, a little later than usual.

“Yeah, yeah. Blame Logan tonight, it’s actuallyhisfault,” Ryder responds, and I know he’s thrilled I’m the reason why we’re late. “I was on time for once.” He smirks my way, and I can’t help but shake my head at him. He’s eating this up.

“Mark it down as a once-in-a-decade occurrence,” I shoot back with no heat.

“I’ll grab your drinks and bring them over to ya,” Mia confirms. We make our way over to our regular table, saying hi to some of the other regulars as we pass them.

Mia walks over with two frosty mugs filled to the brim with beer. “I still can’t believe Ryder was on time for once.”

Ryder shrugs and shoots me a quick look before saying, “Yep, showed up right when things got interesting, too.”

I nearly choke on a laugh and shoot him a warning look. He’s not going to tell people our business, but still. He’s pushing it. Instead of saying anything more, though, he just takes a sip of his beer, looking way too pleased with that little crumb he dropped for Mia.

She raises an eyebrow before waving it off. “I’m not even gonna ask.”

“Probably for the best,” I murmur.

She walks off shaking her head, and I can only imagine the things that woman has heard from patrons in this bar.

“What’s wrong with you?” I laugh, asking Ryder as soon as she’s out of earshot.

He licks his lips and grins. “Nothing, I just appreciate good timing.”

I snort, and I’m grateful he’s not being weird about this, but he also seems a little extra…flirty? Don’t get me wrong, he’s always a little flirty with me, and I know we have a unique friendship compared to most guys, but he’s acting sonormalabout finding me jerking off in the shower. I guess I expected him to want to bury it and move on.

Maybe this is a good sign.

Not wanting to push him too far, I decide to move the conversation back to safer territory.And to stop myself from thinking too deeply about this potential shift in him.

“You ever think we spend too much time here?”

Ryder tilts his head like he wasn’t expecting the question. “Nope, it’s the perfect amount. I like being a regular. I like walking in and having Mia pour my beer without even having to ask what I want.”

“You’re so predictable,” I laugh.

Before he gets another word out, the door at the front of the bar swings open, and I watch Ryder’s face drop. I turn my head to see what caused the reaction, and it’s the same guy he couldn’t stop glancing at last Friday.

Of course this asshole had to come back and fuck up our Friday night ritual two weeks in a row.

Ryder hasn’t brought up last Friday at all, and I assumed if he did want to talk about it, he would have said something on Tuesday.

“Did something happen with that guy?” I ask, unable to stop myself now.

He shakes his head, eyes still glancing at the guy. It’s likeas much as he wants to ignore him, he’d rather know where he is at all times. “No, nothing happened. Just gave me the creeps.”

I nod, glancing over at the guy, but right now, he doesn’t seem focused on Ryder at all. Maybe it was a one-time thing, and he realized Ryder wasn’t exactly giving off a ‘come flirt with me’ vibe and decided to move on.

“Wanna leave?” I offer. I don’t particularly want a repeat of last weekend with Ryder getting all withdrawn and broody. “We can go somewhere else. Or grab takeout and crash at mine.”

Ryder finally looks at me. “No. It’s fine. I don’t even think he’s noticed me this time. I’m sure I was overreacting. Last weekend was just weird; I was really in my head.”

I nod, but still, something about the way this stranger is causing Ryder to react unsettles me.