Page 32

EPILOGUE

CAUTION: DANGER AHEAD

Ryder

“Stop calling me grumpy,” I muttered under my breath.

Caroline pushed through her front door and gave me an unimpressed look over her shoulder. The door swung closed, and I had to catch it before it smacked me in the face.

I had a right to be a little grumpy, as she called it. It had only been a few days since I found my mom in bed with my best friend.

The shock still hadn’t worn off.

And whether I had accepted it for what it was and realized that maybe they would be good together after all—no matter how strange it was—I still had a right to be a little confused and irritated about the entire situation. Walking in on them dry humping on our kitchen counter also didn’t help matters.

I followed the click of Caroline’s heels on the white tile floor as she moved deeper into the house.

Her house was immaculate. Decorated mostly in white and black, the space was open and minimal. Compared to the home I grew up in where knick-knacks were on every shelf and black and white were scarcely seen, it was the polar opposite. And it was a representation of the put-together, perfect woman Caroline presented to the world. The facade few were lucky enough to see behind.

I was one of them.

“Your mom is happy. We should be happy for her,” Caroline said as she pulled open the fridge. She retrieved a dish from the back, hidden behind a carton of almond milk and a container of Greek yogurt.

She spun back around, glass dish in hand, and leveled me with a stare that would make any man weak at the fucking knees. Gray-blue eyes stormy with determination, I was far from immune.

I’d tried really hard for the past seven years not to waver when she was around, but not even time and a shit ton of willpower were enough to stave off the immensity of feelings that pounded through me when she was near.

God, I was such a fucking sap. But it was just for her.

The first time I saw her at that ridiculous block party on the Fourth of July, I never dreaded a neighborhood event again.

“I am happy for her,” I said, and the words sounded unconvincing even to my own ears.

Caroline raised her eyebrows and set the dish on the counter.

“It’s not that I’m not happy,” I continued. “It’s just going to take some time before I’m as gung-ho about this as you are.”

“Sure, I guess you have improved since you were here on Sunday.”

“You mean when you hid me in your room when my mom showed up?” A grin split my face when she stopped at my words.

Her shoulders stiffened, and she slowly turned back around. “I mean when you showed up here freaking out about your mom and Theo.”

“And then you hid me in your room like I was a dirty little secret. You also didn’t correct her when she caught on to the fact that you had a man hidden away.”

Her eyes widened. That cool, unruffled facade falling away ever so slightly. “You heard that?”

I nodded.

“I didn’t argue, because she was technically right,” she said. Then she added quietly, almost to herself, “Although right now you’re acting less like a man and more like a boy .” I didn’t have time to respond and make a crack about how much of a man I was before she said, “And I knew she’d leave quickly if I didn’t argue.”

“Yes, but you knew what she was implying. That you had?—”

“Don’t,” she cut me off, and my smile widened. I really fucking enjoyed ruffling her feathers.

“Don’t what, Caroline? Insinuate that we could have been doing something more?”

“Yes, because that’s ridiculous. It’s insane .”

“Is it, though?”

She threw her hands in the air and whirled around. Even from the other side of the kitchen, I could see the fire brimming in her eyes. “What the fuck, Ryder? Yes, it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“More ridiculous than pigs flying or people denying climate change? What about kids believing in a magical man sliding down their chimneys to leave them gifts? Or is it more ridiculous than my mom falling in love with my best friend who is fourteen years younger than her?”

Her lack of response was enough confirmation that my words rang true. I chanced a step toward her, and when she didn’t retreat, I found the confidence to take another. My boots were silent against the tile floor, and I kept my steps tentative and cautious. But I continued moving forward until there were mere inches between us.

I held my breath as she stared up at me from beneath lowered lids, her gray eyes more uncertain than I’d ever seen them. My eyes dropped to her full, pink lips, and my entire body vibrated with anticipation. Anticipation to finally feel how perfect her mouth felt on mine. I knew it would. I knew her blonde hair would be soft and slip easily between my fingers, and her skin would be smooth and warm beneath my hands.

I could imagine it so clearly, I could almost feel it.

Almost .

And as good as it was in my head, I knew it would be even better in real life. If only she would give me a chance.

I lifted my hand so, so slowly, and reached for a strand of hair that had fallen from the tousled bun on top of her head. Each of my movements were purposeful and deliberate, providing her with more than enough time to move out of reach if she wanted to.

But she didn’t. The thin strand of hair was delicate between my fingers. And her eyes stayed locked on mine the entire time I pushed it behind her ear. Her eyelids only fluttered closed for a moment when my finger brushed against her cheek.

Her sharp intake of breath was so faint, I almost missed it. But I was so close that I thankfully heard it and saw her chest rise and fall quickly with the inhalation. Her eyes slid open, once again settling on me with a new, darker look.

“You,” she said in a breathy whisper before she paused to take a much-needed deep breath. Her dark look turned unsure, and she licked her lips before she continued. “You, Ryder Calaway, are very dangerous.”

What?

Her confession threw me, and it took several seconds before I realized what she’d alluded to. In so many words, she’d acknowledged that this thing I’d been feeling wasn’t one-sided at all. That maybe she wasn’t as unaffected as she appeared. Maybe she was just damn good at pretending.

Maybe there could have been another meaning to her words, but I liked my definition too much to consider any other option.

With that knowledge, new confidence pumped through me, and I bowed my head enough to brush my nose along her cheek. Her responding shudder was like a gallon of lighter fluid to the fire already burning inside of me.

My lips poised next to her ear, I took the opportunity to breathe her in. She smelled like cinnamon and sugar from baking all morning, and I wondered if her skin tasted just as sweet.

Somehow, I managed not to steal a taste and instead said, in a voice that left nothing to the imagination and belied all my dirtiest desires, “You say that like it’s a bad thing, Caroline. But isn’t it the dangerous rides that leave you breathless? They leave you panting, your heart racing, and your thighs weak. Danger is so much fun.”

The End