Page 3 of The Hookup (Firsts and Forever #13)

“Definitely. If I need help loading him into a cab, I have Vee and the rugby team to lend a hand.” He gestured off to the right, and I spotted Vee doing the Electric Slide with two of his new friends. It didn’t even sort of go with the music that was playing.

I caught Vee’s attention, and he flashed me two thumbs up when he saw Ryder.

I pointed to myself and then the door to let him know I was leaving, and he nodded enthusiastically and made a few hand gestures.

I didn’t get most of them, except for the one where he made a circle with his hand and repeatedly jabbed his index finger into it. Good lord.

I turned back to Embry and said, “Okay then, call me if you need anything.”

Embry glanced at Ryder and shifted his gaze back to me with a huge smile. “I’m definitely not going to call you. Go have fun.”

We made our way through the crowd, and once we got outside, Ryder led me to an enormous SUV.

“I passed a twenty-four-hour coffee shop on the way here. It’s just a few blocks away,” he said.

“Should we head over there, or would you prefer to go somewhere else?” Now that it was quiet and I could hear him better, I noticed he spoke with a subtle drawl.

I decided to cut right to the chase. “I’m guessing there’s coffee back at your hotel, too. Maybe we can have some after.”

It took him a moment to catch my meaning, and then he grinned and said, “I’m definitely down for messin’ around first, but my team’s vacation rental is on the outskirts of Vegas. I don’t know if you’d feel comfortable with that.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because we just met, and I sincerely hope you don’t make a habit of letting total strangers drive you to remote locations. It’d be like you were trying to get axe-murdered.”

“You’re not really a total stranger. I just spent the last few hours with your teammates, and they think the world of you.”

“Still, you might feel more comfortable at your hotel.”

“I’m sharing a room with two other guys, and one of them just told me he’s heading back there soon. So, unless you think you only need about fifteen minutes to?—”

Ryder held up a key fob and pressed a button, and the SUV unlocked with a beep. “My place it is.” He then proceeded to open the door for me and close it after I climbed into the passenger seat. I thought that was very gentlemanly.

To make conversation on our way across town, I asked, “What were you doing before you came to the club?”

“I was shooting pool with a few of my teammates at a low-key dive bar. Some of the guys call us the old fogeys, because we don’t like to party all night in loud nightclubs.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-one, but I was never a party ‘til dawn kind of guy.” He glanced at me as we pulled up to a stoplight. “Mind if I ask how old you are?”

“Twenty-five. But like, a very old twenty-five.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I started a demanding career at fourteen and had to grow up fast. I think that makes me different than a lot of guys my age.”

“Why did you start working that young?”

“I was discovered by a modeling scout during my freshman year of high school. My career took off, and it was… just a lot at that age.”

“I can imagine. Are you still modeling?”

“No. I retired in my early twenties and went to college. Two years ago, I moved from L.A. to San Francisco and transferred to a private art school called Sutherlin. I should be finishing my degree in fashion design this June.”

I was talking too much. This guy didn’t need or want my entire life story, but I dreaded awkward silences, and that made me chattier than usual.

“That’s great! Congratulations.”

“Don’t congratulate me yet,” I muttered. “There’s still plenty of time to crash and burn.”

“I doubt it. You seem like someone who has it all together.”

“It’s an illusion.” As the light turned green and we rolled through the intersection, I asked, “What do you do when you’re not flattening your opponents on the rugby field?”

“I run a horse rescue on the ranch I inherited from my grandparents.”

That made me grin. “You work with horses and your name is Ryder? That’s awfully on the nose.”

He grinned, too. “Yeah, go figure.”

“How many animals do you look after?”

“There are currently eighteen horses, along with a bunch of goats, dogs, chickens, and a donkey named Jeff who thinks he’s a person.”

“Probably because his name’s Jeff.”

“Probably.”

“And you live in Austin?”

“The rest of the team does. I live out in the country, a little more than an hour outside of town.”

“Is your rugby league the equivalent of minor league baseball?”

“No, we’re strictly amateurs. We play different clubs in the area, and once a year we come here for this tournament. This is our fifth year, but it’ll probably be our last, although we plan to do one more regular season after this.”

“Why is this your last tournament?”

Ryder shrugged. “We’re all getting older. For a lot of the guys, that comes with more responsibilities back home, like careers and families. It’s hard to get away.”

“Please don’t tell me you have a hubby and kids back in Texas, because I have zero tolerance for cheaters.”

“God, no. The only kids back home are baby goats. I’m not seeing anyone, and I would never cheat. I think it’s despicable.”

“It really is.”

He glanced at me again. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine.” I summed it up as quickly and emotionlessly as possible. “Two years ago, I caught my live-in boyfriend cheating.”

“Pardon my language, but what kind of fuckin’ dumbshit would feel the need to sleep around when they’ve got a man like you back home?”

“Why does anyone cheat? He could have just broken up with me if he wanted to start seeing that other guy. Maybe the thrill of sneaking around made it extra exciting or something. I didn’t ask. I just left.”

“Good. He didn’t deserve you.”

I didn’t want to keep talking about this, so I asked, “What’s your story? Why is someone as hot as you single?”

“Thanks for the compliment, and that’s an easy answer. I’m single because my boyfriend of six years and my best friend fell in love.”

“Oh, shit. That must have felt like a huge betrayal.”

He shrugged. “I try not to look at it like that. All they did was fall in love. It’s not like they set out to screw me over, and they didn’t sneak around behind my back. As soon as they realized what was happening, they came to me, and we talked it out.”

Maybe I was cynical after what my ex had done to me, but I sincerely doubted his boyfriend and best friend had come to him the moment they caught feelings.

It seemed much more likely that there’d been weeks or months, possibly even years, of pining, stolen kisses, maybe more.

But if Ryder needed to believe what they told him, who was I to question it?

“How long ago did this happen?”

“It’s been about a year and a half. My teammates are trying to get me back out there.

That’s why they sent me your photo, and why they’re always trying to get me to go out and meet people.

But I’m not ready for anything more than an occasional, no strings attached hookup.

” He glanced at my profile. “You know that’s what this is, right? ”

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“Yeah, I figured, but I thought I should mention it anyway. You know, just to make sure we’re on the same page.”

A few minutes later, we pulled up to a huge, Mediterranean-style house in a nice neighborhood far from the Strip, which made me ask, “Is one of your teammates independently wealthy?”

“No. We wanted a place big enough to fit all of us, and by the time we divided this by fifteen, it was more affordable than a block of hotel rooms.”

When we went inside, he started to get nervous. It made me think he didn’t have a lot of experience with one-night stands, which obviously wasn’t a bad thing. He gestured vaguely and asked, “Would you like to have a drink, or…”

I moved closer and ran my hands down his arms. “Maybe later.”

He tilted my chin up with his fingertips. As soon as his lips met mine, raw desire shot through me. I grabbed his flannel shirt with both hands and pulled him closer.

Almost immediately, our kisses grew deeper and hungrier. He pushed me against the wall, and I hooked one of my legs around him, rubbing my cock against his through our clothes. He was already getting hard, just like I was.

When he started kissing my neck, I mumbled, “Where’s your bedroom?” It was probably just a matter of time before some of his teammates came home, and I didn’t want their arrival to derail what was about to happen.

“Upstairs.”

“Show me.”

We rushed up the staircase hand-in-hand, and Ryder led me to the last room at the end of a long hallway. He kissed me again as he pushed the door open, and we tumbled inside.

Then I glanced up and blurted, “What the ever-loving fuck?”