Page 78

For a solid two minutes, only the ragged sound of my breathing filled the space between us.

Ryder was quieter, but I could feel his heart pounding through his chest, erratic and relentless, syncing with mine like some dark, private duet neither of us wanted to break.

I blinked, startled when I realized he was still hard.

His cock was standing at attention like he hadn’t just come all over me.

Was that normal?

I swallowed and glanced over at my phone. Ashton had hung up, but I wasn’t sure when. “Why did you do that?”

He reached around me and turned the sink on, gently easing his fingers out of my body. “I wanted to give him a gift,” he said, his voice dripping with malice as he reached past me to turn on the sink. “He hung up a second too soon.”

He grabbed one of the face drying towelettes and wet it, then cleaned off my stomach. When all of his come was off me, he helped me off the counter, making sure I was steady on my feet before letting go.

I turned, automatically washing my hands, still a little shell-shocked.

I wanted to be furious at what he’d just pulled, but the truth was, I liked it.

That possessiveness. The control. The reminder that Ryder never played fair and never would, not when it came to me.

Some warped part of me didn’t want him to.

“You really think he’d be able to tell the difference?”

Ryder’s brow creased. He leaned back just enough to look at me fully, his gaze sharp, trying to catch the truth I hadn’t meant to let slip.

“How often did you fake it?”

“Um… I don’t think this is the time or place for that.” I tried to look away, but his hand came up, curling around my jaw, holding me there.

“Tell me,” he repeated.

“Rye, we only messed around… maybe five times. I never once did that.”

“ That? ” His voice was low, almost disbelieving. “He’s never made you—?” He cut himself off with a sharp, almost feral shake of his head. “I didn’t think he could deserve you any less than he already did.”

“I don’t want to talk badly about him,” I tried.

“He should be talking badly about himself.” His eyes narrowed, scanning my face with laser precision. “Wait, I’m the first and only man to ever get you off?”

My silence was a confession all its own.

A quiet, rough sound escaped him. His hand slipped from my jaw to the back of my neck, cradling me like something precious and breakable. “That part of you… that’s mine. No one else’s.”

His thumb traced over my bottom lip, gentle, but the possessiveness in his eyes turned my bones to liquid.

He kissed me so softly it was almost sweet, but the claim in it rooted itself deep in my chest, right beside my thudding heart.

When he pulled back, his thumb brushed slow circles on my cheek. His voice came low, almost like a vow.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure it’s always better for you than it is for me. ” “I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure it’s always better for you than it is for me.”

I folded into him without thinking, my cheek pressing against his bare shoulder. “It’s supposed to be mutual.”

“With you, it always will be, but I want you so fucking addicted to what I do to you that nothing else even comes close.”

He kissed me one last time. It was quick, light, almost chaste if not for the way his lips lingered a fraction too long, like he was branding me.

“I’ll let you get dressed now.”

I hesitated, my pulse thundering as I glanced down — then back up at him.

“But you didn’t… you’re still…”

A low, lazy chuckle vibrated through his chest. His hand slid over my hip once more, possessive even as he stepped back.

“I can handle this. You couldn’t handle what it would take to fix it.” His gaze dipped to my mouth, then lower, searing through me. “One day.”

Promise and threat stitched together, he finally turned, exiting the bathroom without another word.

I spotted Ryder leaning against the pool table, scrolling through his phone like he hadn’t nearly wrecked me twenty minutes ago.

He was in fresh clothes, black tee clinging to him in all the wrong ways beneath his jacket he’d reclaimed, and his dark hair was still wet.

He must’ve used the other bathroom to get ready.

I glanced down and—yep. He had definitely taken care of himself. Only the usual print was visible in his grey sweatpants that should honestly be criminalized. Cade was dressed too, already looking at me with a giant grin stretched across his face. Ryder looked up then, and our eyes locked.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t have to.

The way his gaze traveled over me, he knew exactly what I was thinking and wanted me to keep thinking about it.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

I nodded, pretending my pulse wasn’t doing gymnastics.

“Good night?” Cade asked, wagging his brows like the instigator he was.

“Great night. Would’ve been a greater morning if someone didn’t decide to sing off-key.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who turns into Cardi B when they get too tipsy,” he shot back.

“Okay, first of all, I only did that once, and I was provoked.”

“Provoked? You pulled a whole Coyote Ugly with Roxxi.”

“Exactly,” I reasoned, straight-faced as I slipped my cheer shoes on since the alternative was the boots I’d been wearing. “I was provoked by the music. It’s like when that one Juvenile song comes on and Cloe immediately gets in position. Ari too.”

Cade mock glared. “Don’t drag sweet Ari into this.”

“She’s not sweet when ‘Back That Azz Up’ comes on,” I quipped, antagonizing him with a grin.

He reached out to grab my bags, shaking his head like I’d just slandered a national treasure. I gave him a grateful smile.

“Such a gentleman,” I teased.

“I try my best. Plus, I figured the guy who made you come seven times last night needed a break.”

My mouth dropped open. “Cade!”

He grinned wider. “I almost stood up and gave a standing ovation.”

Ryder laughed. “I was going to carry them for her, but you already took up the task.”

I groaned and rubbed my hand over my face. “Can we just go?”

Ryder opened the door. “Ladies first.”

“Oh, don’t try and be all gracious now.”

We weaved through the backyard toward the front of the house, the air crisp with that unmistakable fall edge that hadn’t yet turned to full chill. I tugged my sweater down over my leggings.

Cade, never one for silence, looked between us. “So, are you two a thing now, finally, or are we still doing the cryogenic thing?”

Ryder glanced at him, amused. “That was a big word for you.”

“I would fake being offended and call you an asshole, but I only know it from overhearing Ari talk about it with some guy from one of her classes before I stole her for a chat.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Someone’s been watching too many dating shows.”

As the words left my mouth, a thought lingered. He’d been name-dropping Ari more than usual lately. I hoped I wasn’t reading too much into it. He’d already hurt her once, unintentionally or not, and it was only because Ari had asked me, Cloe, and Roxxi not to say anything that we never did.

There were also the subtle glances he and Xander exchanged sometimes.

I had an inkling something was going on there.

Cade was quieter about his hookups with guys, and I wasn’t even sure if Xander swung that way, not that any of us cared.

Still… I watched the way Cade smiled to himself after mentioning her name and tucked the observation away.

Ryder’s hand brushed against mine as we walked, his fingers grazing just enough to make my pulse jump. Then he finally answered Cade’s question, voice low but certain. “We’re at the point of her finally acknowledging she’s mine. Isn’t that right, Sass?”

I didn’t feel the need to verbally respond to that.

Cade whistled, slow and dramatic. “That’s still a step toward progress. As your first big brother, I want you to know, you have my blessing.”

“My first big brother?”

“Yeah, you know I’m older than him.”

“By like four months, Cade.”

“Semantics, Little Sanj.” he adjusted my cheer bag on his shoulder. “Anyways, let me finish. This—” he waved his hand between me and Ryder, “—has been over two decades in the making. I’m just saying, you finally falling into his big, brooding, football-catching arms has been a long time coming.”

Ryder laughed at his verbiage.

We moved in sync down the long drive, our footsteps quiet on the pavement. At the end, Cade stepped ahead to the iron gate and punched in the code, the mechanical click echoing louder than usual in the early fall stillness.

Ryder reached into his pocket, and a second later, I heard his truck rumble to life behind us.

I didn’t waste my breath telling them they didn’t need to walk me home.

They would’ve done it anyway. It didn’t matter that my house was right across the street.

Proximity never meant less protection with these two.

We crossed the road and paused at the bottom of my driveway.

Cade adjusted the strap of one of my bags over his shoulder before turning to me.

“Need me to carry them all the way?”

“I can manage,” I said with a small smile. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Alright, this is where we go our separate ways.”

His hand reached out and patted the top of my head like I was a child.

“Cade,” I warned, smacking his arm.

He laughed, dancing out of the way. “Violent as ever, Little Sanj.”

He truly did make me think this would be what it would be like if I had an annoying sibling I couldn’t help but love. His gaze shifted between me and his brother. “Pass me your keys. I’ll wait in the truck.”

Ryder didn’t say a word, just held out the fob. Cade took the keys and jogged back across the street, whistling low to himself as he disappeared behind the gate again. The second he was gone, Ryder stepped into my space like gravity didn’t give him a choice.

“Are you already overthinking?”

I shook my head. “Not yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.”