Page 44 of Shaken and Stirred (Bottle Service Boys #1)

ALEX

I floated my way through the entire afternoon. Study groups? I think I went to them, but don’t ask me what we talked about. Hopefully, the notes our group leaders emailed were comprehensive because I didn’t absorb a damn word.

Ryder’s words from that morning replayed over and over in my mind.

My life consisted of school, work, taking care of my family, and the minimal spare time remaining, I usually spent stressing about those other three things.

A social life? What was that? Aside from the occasional quick lunch with Trevor or mandatory fun with my coworkers, I didn’t have one of those.

Yes, I knew I had a prickly personality ninety percent of the time. Life had fucked me without lube or prep more times than I could count. Of course, I’d built six-inch steel walls around my heart and head. Who wouldn’t? A therapist would probably help, but who had the money for one of those?

Not me.

It would take a damn saint to be willing to chisel through my bullshit, yet Ryder had done it, and that man was far from a saint. Ryder was, well, a man. Flawed and prone to mistakes, same as me. In my desperation, I’d let him climb a few of my walls and glimpse the mess on the other side.

And he hadn’t run away. Instead, he claimed to want more. And he’d fucked me like he’d meant those words. But he’d said the words after fucking me.

God, did he fuck me good.

And there I went, daydreaming about Ryder and his talented dick again.

My phone rang, dragging me away from my latest we’ll-have-to-try-that-later fantasy.

Diamond Auto Shop flashed across the screen. “Hello?” I said as I brought the phone to my ear.

“Good afternoon, this is Darla with Diamond Auto Shop. I’m looking for Alex Morgan.”

“I’m Alex.” I slowed to a stop near where I’d agreed to meet Ryder.

“Fantastic. Well, Mr. Morgan, your car repairs are complete, and it’s ready to be picked up at your convenience. We’re here until eight tonight and open at seven thirty tomorrow morning.”

“Wow, that was fast. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome, Mr. Morgan. We pride ourselves on fast and quality service.”

“And the bill?” I asked, though I knew what she’d say.

“Is taken care of.” Her cheery tone had me rolling my eyes.

“Of course it is,” I mumbled. “Um, could you tell me what the cost was?” If it were crazy expensive, I’d—what? What the hell would I do? I couldn’t pay Ryder back. At least not in a timely manner. Maybe he’d take a payment plan.

In blow jobs.

“No, I cannot,” she said with a tinkly giggle. “I have strict, written instructions not to let you know anything about the invoice amount. “In fact, someone wrote an exact script for me. Nice try, you stubborn, sexy man. Now go find Ryder and give him a kiss as a thank you.”

“Oh my God,” I said as my face heated to the equivalent of a tar road in the desert sun. I pinched the bridge of my nose, shaking my head. Thank God, no passersby could hear her side of this ridiculous conversation.

Darla giggled again. “Sounds like you got yourself a very sweet man there, Mr. Morgan.”

Her statement had my hand dropping to my side. “Yeah.” My throat dried up, leaving my voice a rough croak. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

“Have a good day, sir. We’ll see you when you pick up your vehicle.”

“Yeah… thank you.”

She disconnected the call, leaving me standing beneath a bare oak tree once again, thinking about the man who’d shaken my entire life and stirred up emotions I’d locked in a box, all in less than twenty-four hours.

It was a gorgeous day. Even as the sun dipped closer to the horizon, the bright ball heated the chilly air to a beautiful fifty degrees, much higher than the average for the year.

I closed my eyes, allowing the warmth to kiss my face while I inhaled.

Without Ryder, today would have been a mess of anxiety and stress.

I’d have probably missed my study group and freaked out over how to pay for my car repairs.

He’d eliminated that obstacle for me, and as much as I should probably feel guilty over it, all I felt was grateful.

I couldn’t wait to show him how grateful later. And, shit, now I was soaking up the sunshine with a growing erection.

A sharp wolf whistle cut through the air, making me jump.

I opened my eyes to find Ryder sitting behind the wheel of his Rover.

He wore aviators and a leather jacket—thank you, warmer day—that probably cost more than my car repairs.

Damn, did he look hot. The dark jacket contrasted with his beach-boy blond hair in a way that made my mouth water.

“Hey, sexy,” he called out as he pushed his aviators up to his head. “Need a ride?”

My smile grew so fast that my cheeks ached with the force of it. This funny, gorgeous, intelligent, and generous man was all mine. At least for the time being, and I wasn’t going to waste a second of having him in my life.

I sauntered toward the car. When I reached it, I folded my arms and rested them on the open window.

“My car is in the shop, but I’d hate to put you out,” I said with a wink.

“I’m happy to get an Uber.” Holy shit, whatever fancy cologne he wore, I wanted to take a bath in it, or better yet, rub my naked body over every inch of his marking myself with his scent.

“Sure, that’s one option.” His grin grew wicked. “But will your Uber driver suck your dick?”

I pursed my lips, then shrugged. “I mean, if I play my cards right, maybe…”

Ryder barked out a laugh. “Smartass,” he said as he lowered his sunglasses. “Get that sexy ass in my car before I’m forced to get out and show this whole damn campus who you belong to.”

Like he had any competition to worry about, but still, the possessive words turned me on and made my heart flutter. Damn, all these new emotions. Now that I’d let them in, they seemed determined to stick around.

“Well, now I don’t really want to get in,” I grumbled as I opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.

Ryder laughed as he leaned over the center console. “Promise that wasn’t a one-time offer. I plan to do all sorts of nasty things to you later, and I’m sure hoping you’ll do plenty to me too. It’s my turn to feel your dick in my ass.”

“Jesus.” I pressed down on the very interested dick he’d mentioned, fighting the urge to hump into my hand as I leaned toward him for a proper hello.

He was smiling as he pressed his lips to mine in a quick peck that wouldn’t cut it after the teasing. I grabbed the back of his head and held him there as I probed my tongue against the seam of his lips.

He opened for me at once, allowing me to plunge inside for a deep taste. The groan rumbling from his chest did nothing to calm my cock.

“Shit,” he said against my mouth after at least a solid three minutes of devouring each other. “Let’s skip the community center. I need you to fuck me.”

It was my turn to groan. As much as I wanted that, and as much as I was risking my cock’s fury, I knew he’d feel guilty if we bailed on the kids.

They counted on him being there, and he’d given them his word.

What kind of jerk would it make me if I caused him to back out of a promise to a bunch of struggling kids?

“You can’t skip it.” I grabbed the lapels of his leather jacket and held him close as I inhaled the intoxicating combination of his cologne and the leather.

“Are you smelling me?”

“Yes, I fucking am.” I drew in another sample sniff. “Tonight… after the community center, I want to fuck you wearing only this jacket.”

A tremble ran through him. “Hell yes,” he whispered. “Thank God Top Shelf isn’t open tonight.”

So true.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh. “Take your hands off me so I can function.”

Chuckling, I released him, but not before sneaking a final kiss from those addictive lips.

We were both grinning and adjusting the tight fit of our pants as we faced forward.

As Ryder pulled the Range Rover away from the curb, he rested his right arm on the center console.

Without thought, I reached out and threaded our fingers together.

He flicked his gaze my way with a smile, then tightened his grip.

The need to touch him, to be connected physically, rode me hard, and if we couldn’t get naked and have some fun, at least I could hold his hand, something I’d never done with another man. Not even Jared Poznic.

We passed the twenty-minute drive to the community center, chatting about our favorite television shows. It turned out we had similar tastes in comedy and drama, but Ryder loved horror, whereas I tended to nerd out over science documentaries.

“Aww,” he teased with a chuckle as I shuddered over his recounting of Terrifier . “Is it too scary for you?”

I flipped him off. “No. It’s not too scary. It’s too dumb. I’m too intelligent for that shit.”

He laughed harder. “Don’t worry, big guy, you can snuggle up close when we have a marathon of the whole trilogy.”

“Fuck that.” No way, no how.

“Come on.” He slowed to a stop at a red light, then leaned over and whispered in my ear. “How about a trade? For every horror flick you watch with me, I’ll geek out on a documentary with you.”

“Not hap—” Huh. That wasn’t a bad deal. “Throw in a blow job, and I’m in.”

“Well, fuck yeah. I’ll take a BJ from you any time. You don’t need to watch a horror movie to blow me.”

What? Was he for real? I scowled. “That’s not what I meant!” I glared at him only to find his stupidly handsome face screwed up as he failed to hide his laughter.

“I knew what you meant,” he finally managed after the ridiculous guffawing ceased. “I just enjoy flustering you.”

“Really?” I asked as I rolled my eyes. “Never noticed.”

The light turned green, and he drove two more blocks before veering into a small parking lot in front of a one-story cement building.