“Great, and can you have a car pick her up at the airport? They can drive her right to the arena so she can see the show.”
“Done.”
“Thanks, hon. You’re the best.”
“You got it.”
I set the phone down after I ended the call and faced Dillon.
“Did you really just do that?” he asked in awe.
“Yeah, I did, and you’d better call her and tell her to start packing. I’m not sure when the next flight is, but she should probably hurry.”
He nodded a few times. “Okay. Yeah, okay,” he said as he fumbled with his phone.
I went into the kitchen and refilled my water bottle.
“Hey baby,” Dillon said a few seconds later. “I, um, I have a surprise for you. . . Yeah, so I had to fly down to Florida to do a song with Sydney, . . . Yeah. . . Yeah. . . I know. . . I know! . . . No, I told you nothing is going on with us. It’s all fake! Anyway, I was telling her . . . Babe, listen, please. I was telling her how much I missed you, and she offered to fly you down tonight. . . Yeah. I’m serious. . . I know. I miss you so much . . . Uh-huh. . . I know. . . I know. . . Okay. Well, I’ll see you in a few hours then. . . I love you too.”
When he hung up, he was smiling so wide that it made my heart ache. I wanted someone to think about me, miss me and smile that wide at the thought of me visiting them. And I wanted that someone to be Ryder.
“Thank you, Syd,” Dillon said, crossing the room to hug me. “You’re the best fake girlfriend a guy could have.”
“Aww, Dill, you’re welcome. Just have fun tonight and show her how much you love her. I’ll even let you guys take my room.”
He pulled back and looked at me. “Where will you sleep? With Paul?”
I threw my hands up. “No! Why does everyone think I’m dating Paul?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I read it in Celebrity Weekly.”
I punched him lightly on the arm. “You idiot! According to Celebrity Weekly, I’m also dating you. You really can’t believe everything you read.”
He grinned at me. “I know. I’m just messing with you. I thought you guys might have something going on though. The last time we got together, at the start of your tour, you talked about him non-stop.”
I shook my head. “He’s just a good friend. That’s all.”
“Oh, well. He seems like a cool guy. But you didn’t answer my question. If Mer and I are in here, where will you be?”
“I’m actually going to visit a friend after the show, but I’m not really telling anyone about it. Can you keep a secret?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
“Good. Then if anyone asks, you, me and Meredith hung out together. Got it?”
He nodded. “Got it.” Then he grinned and punched the pillow next to him. “Damn, I’m so freaking excited to see her!”
Yeah, I totally wanted that.
Chapter Ten
Ryder
“Ry, this is Olivia,” Jake said, coming up behind me where I was standing on the upstairs porch looking out into the woods behind the house, sipping a beer.
I’d had a few already, since the last twenty-four hours had seriously blown, and I was letting off steam.
After leaving Sydney’s hotel room the night before, I’d gone down to get Jake’s car from the garage where I’d parked it. But I didn’t really have anywhere to go, and I didn’t have enough money for a room in the hotel since they were like five hundred dollars a night. And I couldn’t drive to a cheaper motel, because once I’d started walking, I realized just how drunk I was. So, my only option, outside of going back up to Syd’s suite and asking to crash on her couch, which wasn’t going to happen, was sleeping in the car.
Fortunately it was a full-size SUV, and the backseat wasn’t too bad, but I’d been woken up at six in the morning when a car alarm two spaces down went off. I’d bolted up and looked around, trying to get my bearings. I didn’t see anyone nearby, and the alarm kept going off. After five minutes of incessant honking and flashing lights, I knew I’d never get back to sleep. So I figured I’d leave and go get breakfast.
I found an iHop nearby, ordered pancakes and drank copious amounts of coffee until Jake texted me three hours later. I went to pick his ass up, feeling hung over as shit. Then I had to listen to him regale me with tales of what he did with the girl I’d left him with at the bar and all the places they’d had sex the night before in her friend’s apartment. Then he’d asked me question after question about why I hadn’t slept with Sydney. I didn’t want to talk about it, but being alone in a car with someone for two hours when they won’t stop asking you questions and your head won’t stop pounding will break you down, and I ended up telling him every sad, pathetic detail.
By the time we got back to Gainesville, all I’d wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep for three days. I couldn’t fathom getting back in the car and driving two more hours only to be tortured some more by looking at the girl I’d never have up there on stage wowing the world. So I’d texted Syd and told her I had a frat thing, and I couldn’t make it to her concert. In truth, we were having a party at the house – some end of the semester blowout since finals were starting on Monday. I definitely didn’t have to be there, but at that moment, anything sounded better than punishing myself further.
I napped until almost eight, and then Jake and I had ordered two pizzas. We each ate one. I hadn’t eaten since the pancakes early that morning, so I was starving. At ten, I finally emerged from my room, showered and looking halfway presentable, figuring it was time I got on with my life. That led to beers with some of the guys, a rousing game of Flip Cup, and a huge buzz that I was really enjoying. A little hair of the dog works every time.
“Olivia wanted to meet you,” Jake said suggestively when I didn’t turn around at first.
I knew that tone, and at that moment, I kind of really appreciated that Jake was hooking me up – especially when I turned around and eyed the smokin’ hot brunette standing next to him and smiled at her. Then I shot a glance over at him and saw he was nodding and smirking. He knew it was exactly what I needed.
Thank you, best friend.
“Hi Olivia,” I said, shifting my attention back to her. “I’m Ryder.”
“Have fun, kids,” Jake said to us before he disappeared back into the house.
“I know who you are,” she said coyly, as she walked toward me. “We were in Organic Chemistry together this semester, but I think you were in a different lab.”
“My lab was at nine thirty on Wednesdays,” I said, taking a step toward her. “When was yours?”
“Thursdays at three,” she said shrugging as she closed the distance between us. “Of course, had I known what section you were taking, I would have picked that one. We could have been lab partners. It would have been nice to have something hot to look at when I got bored. My partner was sort of dull, and she wasn’t that great at math. It was a long semester. Something tells me, it wouldn’t have been that way if we’d been partners. You’re slated to get the highest grade in the class, aren’t you?”
Yeah, this girl totally wanted me, and she sure knew how to play the game – complimenting my looks and my brains – that was a turn on in and of itself. And with the way I was feeling that night, she didn’t even have to work that hard. She was totally going to get me.
“How do you know what my grade is?”
We had the final exam on Tuesday, and it was twenty-five percent of our grade, but going into it, I did have the highest grade in the class. I just wasn’t sure how she’d figured that out.
She shrugged. “Like I said, you’re hot and smart. I paid attention. I like to surround myself with people I can relate to, and I think we have a lot in common.”
“What’s your major?” I asked, realizing too late that I’d just asked the most clichéd question a college student could ask.
She’d better not laugh at me, because damn, how had I not noticed her before? Probably because when I wa
s in class, I usually kept my head down and didn’t let my attention drift to much else besides what the professor was saying. I had to stay focused if I wanted to keep my GPA up and get into a good law school which was what I was aiming toward in the long run.
“I’m pre-med. I want to be a cardiologist,” she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear in that flirty way girls did. “What about you? Are you pre-med too?”
I smiled. “I want to be a lawyer, actually,” I told her. “I’m dual-majoring in Environmental Science and Political Science since I want to study environmental law.”
I had dreams of going back home to Washington, or even Oregon, and opening up my own practice down the road, since as much as I enjoyed going to college in Florida, I wasn’t going to stay there forever. There were a lot of great environmental battles being fought in the state, but the ones I was more passionate about would lead me back to the West Coast.
“Figures,” she said, stepping closer to me, and I didn’t know what that meant, since my profession seemed pretty admirable in my eyes, but I also didn’t care what she thought. This wasn’t a girl I could see myself with long term. She had trouble written all over her.
Her hand reached out and took my beer. She brought the cup to her lips and took a long drink. “You’re not going into the courtroom tonight? Are you?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Not tonight.”
She shot me a coy smile before downing the rest of my beer. Then she set the cup on the railing behind me, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me with little to no fanfare. Aggressive little thing that she was, she pushed me back against the railing and pressed her body flush against mine. Around me I could hear the whoops and hollers from my brothers who’d been hanging out on the porch. They pretty much knew I was going to get some.
And yup, I sure was. I was finally taking Jake’s advice. I was going to get over Sydney by getting under someone else. In this case, it was Olivia Last-Name-I-Don’t-Know from Organic Chem. Sweet!
As she continued to kiss me, I forced myself to be in the moment and not think of Syd. Olivia was sweet, and she had one hell of a mouth on her. I found myself wondering what else that mouth might be able to do to me, which I thought was a good thing considering where my head had been earlier in the day. I was bound and determined to get over Sydney for good. Maybe I’d try out casual sex again and see if it helped.
“Can we go back to your room?” Olivia asked breathlessly after about ten minutes of decently heavy making out.
“Sure,” I said, not pausing in my assault on her lips.
In truth, I probably wouldn’t have cared if we just stayed outside, but the railing she was pressing me against was starting to dig into my lower back which was sort of annoying. The couch in my room might be more comfortable. That is if Jake wasn’t already using it. Oh well. If he was, then we’d just go into my cave. Let him deal with hearing me get some for a change.
“Uh, he’s not really available right now,” I vaguely heard Jake say from just inside the house as Olivia’s hand slipped between us and started to massage me through my jeans.
Go away, Jake.
It was a silent request. Thankfully the rest of the guys had cleared off the porch a few minutes earlier, and I kind of wanted to keep it that way, especially when Olivia’s hand was on my dick. I was afraid if Jake interrupted us, she’d stop teasing me, and in that moment her crafty little hand was driving me crazy in a really awesome way.
Then someone, a girl whose voice sounded only vaguely familiar in my sex and beer soaked brain, mumbled something back to him.
“No, you had your chance with him, and you blew it. Just go back to your boyfriend.”
Ah crap. It was probably Kirsten. I did not want to deal with her right then.
“Get out of the way, Jake. I just want to talk to him,” the girl said, and then even my drunk brain picked up on exactly who she was.
I pulled away from Olivia’s mouth just in time to see Sydney standing right outside the door that led to the house, her mouth hanging open.
“I thought you were gay!” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. Then she jerked her thumb in Jake’s direction. “I thought he was your boyfriend!”
What? What did she just say? How drunk was I?
“What the fuck are you smoking?” Jake asked from behind her.
Olivia, who I’d sort of instantly forgotten about the moment I saw Syd, started to lean forward and suck on my neck, but I pushed her off.
“Hey! What was that for?” she asked.
“You need to leave,” I said, my gaze never leaving Sydney’s.
“You want me to leave?” Syd asked, anger threaded all throughout her tone. “Fine! I’ll leave.”
“No!” I shouted and lurched forward to dart after her.
She was just inside the house, so I grabbed her arm and held her back, catching her by surprise. She froze and turned around to glare at me, her eyes showing me just how upset she was. As I stared at her, and she stared back at me, I remembered where we were and looked around to see a handful of my brothers and a shitload of sorority chicks milling around the upstairs hallway. Thankfully none of them seemed to take notice to who was standing two feet from them.
But I realized that Sydney never went out without make-up in public, and that night, just like the night before, her face was scrubbed clean. Her long dark hair was tucked completely under a black beanie, and she was wearing a black hoodie, cut-offs and black Converse high-tops. She looked completely out of place for a late night frat party, but at the same time, she looked like she totally belonged on a college campus. She could have been any girl really, but she was still the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on.
Of course she was glaring at me like she wanted to deck me, but to me that only made her more beautiful.
“I’m not gay,” Jake protested, grabbing the first girl he could and planting a hard kiss on her lips. “See! I’m straight. I’m straight.”
“Yeah, you are,” the girl said, grinning at him, so he smacked her ass as she started to walk away and she giggled.
“See! I’m totally straight,” he insisted as he turned back to Sydney and me.
I glared at him. “Shut up, Jake.”
Sydney shook her head. I wasn’t sure if she didn’t believe him or if she was just disgusted by him. I figured it was the latter.
Jake face twisted into a mix of offended and hurt. Then he turned to me. “Dude, can I talk to you for a second?” he hissed.
“Can’t it wait? I’m kind of in the middle of something,” I said, gesturing to Syd with my free hand. My other one was still holding her hoodie sleeve.
“No, it can’t wait,” he hissed again.
I turned to Sydney and sighed. “I need to talk to Jake for a second. My room’s that way. It’s the one with the number fifteen on the door.”
I figured that was a subtle enough way of saying, ‘We need to talk since you showed up at my frat house out of nowhere and accused me of being gay. That’s a problem. Not to mention all the other shit between us. You’re not leaving until we hash things out’.
She nodded, so I let go of her hoodie. She yanked it back in place from where I had pulled it off of her shoulder and stalked off down the hallway.
“Don’t leave,” I called after her.
She spun halfway around. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t,” she said, sounding pissed.
What the hell was she pissed about? It was probably because I’d told her I couldn’t go to her concert. Well, she needed to understand that the world didn’t revolve around her. I hadn’t wanted to deal with her being all perfect and unavailable, so I’d made an adult decision not to do something I didn’t want to do.
But she was so used to getting her way, she couldn’t stand that I’d blown her off. So what did she do? She showed up out of the freaking blue, and now I not only had to deal with the fact that she was perfect and I couldn’t have her, but she was also mad at me. She was unbelieva
ble.
“What do you want?” I asked, turning back to Jake.
“Dude, she thinks we’re together. Like, together. You know what I mean?”
“Yes! I know what you mean.”
I had no idea what made Sydney ask that, so I didn’t have an explanation, and Jake hadn’t shut up long enough for me to ask her when she’d been standing right next to us.
“Why does she think that? You don’t have some sort of crush on me, do you? I mean, I know I’m hot and all, and if you’re gay, that’s totally cool, but you and me, it’s never gonna to happen, man.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have a crush on you, Jake. How long have you known me?”
“Two years.”
“And in those two years, how many women have you seen me with?”
“A lot, I guess. Not as many as me, but you don’t do that bad.”
I shook my head. It was so not the time for a pissing contest.
“Yes, you pull more pussy than I do,” I told him angrily. “You win the fucking prize, but that is so not the point. Have you ever seen me with a dude?”
“No,” he said, shrugging.
“Then that should answer your question!”
He jerked his thumb toward our room. “Then why does she think you’re gay? She’s your best friend. She should know.”
“I’m not having this conversation with you,” I growled at him. “I need to go talk to Sydney and figure out what she’s doing here.”
“Getting jealous is what it looked like.”
I stared at him for a few seconds like he was nuts. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s it,” I said, my annoyance overtaking my tone. “She has a boyfriend. She’s pissed that I blew her off tonight. She’s just being a diva.”
Okay, that was mean, but I wasn’t exactly feeling benevolent in that moment. Before he could respond, I turned and started walking toward our room.
“Hey, what about me?” I heard from behind me and turned to see Olivia standing there with a pout on her lips.
“Come on, Liv,” Jake said, taking her arm. “I want to show you something cool.”
Only With You Page 9
