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“I want to be able to speak to your dad without you having to translate. That way I can let him know when his daughter is being a pain in my ass.”
“I made you coffee before I left for practice and put it in the fridge to cool so it wouldn’t get watered down when you added ice.”
He is the king of acts of services
I want her here. I want her to want to be here. Fuck, when did that happen?
“Ryan Taylor Shay.” Zanders gets on one knee in front of me. “Will you be my brother-in-law?”
So cute
“Thanks, man.” We both get into our cars that are parked near each other, but I roll down my window to add one more thing. “And keep your teammates in check. If I hear that one of them tries anything with her again, I’m coming to you.” Zanders folds over his steering wheel in laughter. “Ryan, my guy, you’re so completely fucked, and you can’t even see it.”
See you tomorrow? Is she out of her goddamn mind? In what world does she think I’m going to bed and will just see her tomorrow?
Lolol
God, she’s fucking adorable and that pisses me off.
This is my version of her. The one where she’s comfortable and casual at home and I don’t want to share her.
“Ryan Shay, do you care about me?” “No.” “You care about me.” “No, I don’t, but I’d rather you not get kidnapped while I’m playing a fucking basketball game.” She moves her shoulders, dancing around the island. “Ryan Shay cares about me!” “You’re annoying.”
“Knowing you’re not out there alone driving drunk dudes home at two AM is worth far more to me than five hundred dollars a month. Besides, you should probably start coming to my games when you’re in town. You are the point guard’s girlfriend after all.”
I haven’t been held in years.
Somebody broke his heart?
“It feels disloyal, as ridiculous as that sounds, but that’s how long I loved him for. I never imagined loving someone else. But at the same time, if I’m being honest, when I think about the time we had, the overall feeling I come away with is that he made me feel like I wasn’t enough yet too much all at the same time.”
“Do you think I’m a trainwreck, Ryan?” I huff a laugh. “You’re more like a cute little fender bender.”
Indy is not the type of woman you can simply flush from your system after a single night. She’s the kind to seep into your veins and rewire your brain, making you do and say things you swore you never would. Whether she believes it or not, Indigo Ivers is the type of woman you keep forever, and even though I can pretend to be her boyfriend, there’s no way in hell I could pretend that one night with her wouldn’t completely fuck me up.
I’ve always found Indy’s Converse random and a bit strange, but now I find myself wondering what I have to do to get myself added to them.
Call me old-fashioned, I don’t care, but I have yet and will not let her open her own door.
“Jesus, Blue. Not funny. Are you trying to make me go have dinner next to my GM with a goddamn hard-on in my pants?” “That’s one way to convince him you’re into me.” She giggles mischievously. No one needs to be convinced. It’s fairly fucking obvious. Curiosity laces her tone. “Did it work?”
“Ron, would you mind throwing a few of these on the grill too?” Ryan asks, putting his cooler on the picnic table and fishing out a box of frozen veggie patties. “Indy is a vegetarian.”
Omg
Ryan takes a seat, one palm lingering on my hip and guiding me down to sit on his lap. He situates the blanket over me, then pulls me closer, my back flush with his chest and the warmth of his breath lingering on the skin of my neck.
Under the blanket, his hand slides from my hip bone, curving inward, palm covering my thigh. His fingertips slip between my legs, dangerously close to a spot I need them, before he kneads my flesh as if he were holding back from more.
Life has a funny way of fulfilling you, even when it isn’t in the way you assumed it’d be.”
Ryan rests his chin on my shoulder as I sandwich the graham crackers. “Thank you,” he whispers for no one else to hear. “You saved me out there.” “We’re a team. I’m here to help you out.” “I like the way that sounds.”
A bit of marshmallow falls onto his chin, and without thinking, I wipe it off with my thumb. But before I can clean off the mess, he grabs my hand and takes my finger in his mouth to suck off the remnants.
Excuse me Mr. Shay I underestimated your game.
I like that people believe she’s mine. I like how it feels to have her in my bed.
“You’re chaotic as fuck, Blue, but you bring me more peace than anyone else.”
“The last woman I was in a relationship with tried to get knocked up so she’d get eighteen years of child support from me.”
Oof. Thats rough.
Fuck me, I want her, and even though she’s made it clear she’s got nothing left to give, I find myself desperate to take even the scraps if they’re offered.
I can’t recall the last time I shared my bed with a woman, and as sad as it sounds, I don’t want to miss a moment of this.
“Blue.” My attention is torn away from Ryan’s backside to find blue-green eyes amused and watching me. He’s still bent over but looking back. “Are you checking out my ass right now?”
“It’s a nice ass.” I shrug unapologetically. His chest rumbles, his voice lowering. “Trying to distract me tonight? With those heels and those lips? Because you look fucking stunning.”
“Get your fucking hands off her.” Ryan shoves Connor. “Fuck you! You could've hurt her.”
“I like having you sitting so close.” I laugh. “Ryan, I just caused you to get a technical foul.” Connor makes both of his free throws. “Worth it.”
Before I can think any further, his palms cup my face, long fingers threading into my ponytail, and his lips are on mine.
Yesssssss fuck Alex
One of his hands drops, curving around my throat to bracket the back of my neck as the other pulls my hips to his.
“Oh,” Ryan says sweetly, patronizingly. “You’re a fan of mine.”
Lololol
“Were you waiting for an autograph?” Ryan continues.
Hilarious
“It was acting, Ind.” Oh. The balloon filled with reckless hope pops in my chest.
Omg TEARS
“You don’t want to play this game with me, Blue.” Pulling away, he bops my nose with a spoon. “I will always win.”
“I’m celibate, that’s why.”
The fuck.
Was it as fake as I claimed? Not in the slightest.
I’ll see you when I get home? Glad that was just a text, because if I said that out loud, I’m pretty sure my voice would’ve cracked like an excited middle schooler getting to see his crush. Yes, but I’ll be home late or maybe tomorrow. I have plans tonight. What the hell? What plans? And with whom? And excuse me, but “maybe tomorrow”?
He doesn’t know that said scholarship is simply my personal bank account, but the details aren’t important.
The girl deserves to be spoiled, and I want to be the one doing the spoiling.
Changing into a pair of sweats and a tee, I grab a beer from the fridge and get to work on the bookshelf I ordered. I easily could’ve purchased a custom-made one or even a bookshelf that was already put together, but the idea of building this myself sounded nice, normal even. It seemed like something a normal man would do for a girl he likes. Because at the end of the day, that’s who this bookshelf is for.
“She’s on a date, and the guy is being a creep, making her uncomfortable. She’s at Sullivan’s on eighth.” She’s on a date?
Wtf
His words tune out when I turn around to find Ryan standing in the doorway of Sullivan’s. His angry eyes wander the room, until they soften slightly, landing on me. He takes me in, his shoulders dropping until his attention lands on my knee, and he stiffens again.
In surprise, I find him staring down at me, his chest rising and falling in rage, his nostrils flared, and his mouth set in a hard line. But then I look up. Brow creased and ocean eyes swimming in a world of…hurt. I hurt him. Oh my God, I hurt him.
Ryan’s hand brackets my throat, pinning me to the wall with his hips, stealing the rest of my words when his mouth takes mine.
Fuuuuuuck
“Look how pretty that is, Blue.” “Please don’t stop.” The words are more desperate than they’ve ever been. “Never, baby.”
A firm chest is molded to me now as his thumb traces the thrumming pulse point in my neck. “Did I buy this dress?” I nod. His throat releases a gravelly noise in satisfaction. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little possessive, Shay?” His chest rumbles against my back in a silent laugh. “Never. But then again, no one else has ever made me feel quite as greedy as you do.”
