Page 35 of Desperate Pucker (Denver Bashers #6)

Maddy

Isit at the desk in my hotel room and watch a YouTube video of a delivery guy leaving a bag of takeout on a porch, then shrieking and running away when a tiny orange cat strolls by him.

I don’t laugh. I don’t even smile.

Usually when I watch this video, I crack up. But I can’t right now. I’m too upset at seeing Ryker and Alina together.

I have no right to be—especially when it was clear as day how bothered Ryker was to see her. I know he didn’t want to talk or be around her.

But I couldn’t help the wave of jealousy that blasted through me just seeing the two of them together…seeing how much she wanted him.

I didn’t know what to do. I’m not bold and confident like Ryker was when he strolled over to Bobby Baker and yanked his hand from my body, then told him off. I’m too awkward.

So I froze and walked off.

I sigh, feeling like a loser. I thought coming to my hotel room and watching a few funny cat videos—my normal cheer-up routine—would distract me. But it hasn’t.

Just then, there’s a soft knock at my door.

I stand up, walk over, and look out the peephole. Comfort washes over me when I see Ryker. A second later, embarrassment follows.

I wonder if he’s annoyed at how I reacted…at how I left after barely saying a word.

But then I open the door and take in the look in his eyes. Warm and worried.

He steps forward and gently cups my face in his hands. “Are you okay?” he asks, his voice soft.

I feel myself start to melt. He’s concerned about me.

“I’m fine.”

“Can I come in?”

I nod and step aside. He shuts the door behind him and turns to me.

“I’m sorry for what Alina said to you about the Olympics. It was shitty of her to bring that up,” he says.

I soften at how concerned he is about me.

“You don’t need to be sorry for that,” I say. “I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

He looks confused. “For what?”

“For the way I left.” My shoulders sink, and I glance down at the ground, that embarrassed feeling roasting me from the inside out. “I couldn’t stand there and watch her try and flirt with you. I got too jealous.”

The hard line of his mouth softens. “I was jealous too when I saw Bobby Baker hit on you.”

“Yeah, but you handled it like a boss. You were all confident and bold. I just scampered away.”

“Hey.” Gently, he grabs me by the waist and pulls me closer. “You know that I’m not interested in Alina, right?”

“I know,” I say softly.

“I’d rather fuck a splintered block of wood than be in the same room as her.”

The corner of my mouth hooks up.

“I wanted to go off on her for trying to flirt with me, but I couldn’t. I’m a huge guy. She’s a small woman. I would have looked like a psycho. So I let her say what she wanted to say, and then I told her I wasn’t interested. And that I never, ever would be again.”

Warmth gathers at the center of my chest at how he’s reassuring me. But then I feel guilty. I didn’t think about how uncomfortable he must have been in that moment.

“I’m sorry she cornered you like that. I should have stayed with you.”

He shakes his head and tucks a chunk of my hair behind my ear. “I don’t ever want you to force yourself to stay in a situation that makes you uncomfortable, Maddy. I’m a big boy. I can handle myself. I just wanted you to know what happened.”

I gaze up at him. “Thank you.”

He wraps his arms around me tight.

“What are you watching?” he asks, looking over at my laptop.

I turn around and see a paused still from the cat video.

“Oh.” I let out an embarrassed laugh. “I, um…I was watching funny cat videos to cheer myself up.”

His mouth curves up in an amused smile. “Did it work?”

I shake my head. He traces his fingers along the hinge of my jaw. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

He takes me by the hand and leads me over to the desk chair.

He takes off his coat, sits down, and looks up at me. “Come here.”

I sit on his lap. He nods at my laptop screen. “That one’s pretty funny.” He pulls up another video. “Have you seen this one?”

A video starts playing of an orange-and-white cat stealing a loaf of bread from a counter and scampering off. Off camera, a woman scolds him in Russian while she tries to pry the loaf from his mouth.

I burst out laughing.

“You haven’t seen this one before?” Ryker says.

I shake my head, tearing up at how hard I’m laughing when the cat growls, refusing to give up the bread.

“I wish I could understand what she’s saying,” Ryker says.

“She’s saying, ‘Give me the bread! It’s bread, you fool! Give it!” I say between laughs.

Ryker looks at me, brow raised in surprise. “You speak Russian?”

“Only a little. A few of my figure skating coaches were Russian, so I picked up on some of it.”

We both laugh as the woman yanks up the loaf, but the cat refuses to let it go. Even when she lifts the loaf higher up, the cat holds on with its mouth and front claws, hanging in the air.

“What’s she saying now?” Ryker asks.

“‘Come on, Borya. Give it! Are you going to hang here long? Are you serious? Give it!’”

The bag bursts open and slices of bread go flying everywhere. Ryker and I fall forward, we’re both laughing so hard.

“She just called him a bastard. And a reptile,” I say.

After a minute, we stop laughing. He looks at me, his gaze warm. His fingers brush the hinge of my jaw.

“Better?” he asks in a soft, low voice.

I nod, then run my hand through his hair. He closes his eyes and hums.

“I know that wasn’t very friends-with-benefits-like behavior, the way I acted when I saw you with Alina.” Nerves crackle in my tummy at what I’m about to say. “I just don’t like the thought of you with another woman.”

“I don’t like the thought of you with another man,” he says without missing a beat.

I bite my lip. “What does that mean for us?”

I can’t commit to Ryker…but I don’t want him to be with anyone else.

“I think that means we shouldn’t see other people,” Ryker says.