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He wasn’t going to do anything about it, but he needed to see her face and remind himself she was flesh and blood, and not words on a screen. Of course their late-night texts were stupid. It kept them connected instead of building up the wall he needed to resurrect between them.
Every night he’d promise himself he wouldn’t do it, but as soon as he slid into bed, his dick would get hard and he’d start thinking of all the things they’d done, and the next thing he knew they were in the thick of it.
He’d told himself he’d stay away from the Rileys’ tonight, but here he was, unable to keep away from her.
He was weak.
Their eyes met. A hushed silence fell over the party-goers, lasting two beats before the din of conversation continued.
They’d moved on. But Sophie and Ryder hadn’t.
Their gazes clung.
She sucked in a breath before wetting her bottom lip, and gave him a little wave of her fingers.
He nodded, and they managed to rip their attention away and back to the party. She sat down next to Gracie, Maddie, and Harmony at the outdoor table, and the four of them bent their heads and huddled together for some deep conversation.
He sat there with narrowed eyes and watched her.
“You’re going to burn a hole into her.” Mitch handed him a beer and sat down.
He took it and took a long drink, draining half the bottle. “Thanks.”
Out of all of them, Mitch Riley was the one he knew the least. Between Maddie, his career, and their new baby, he didn’t get out as much as the rest of them did, but Ryder liked the guy.
Mitch chuckled and shook his head. “I feel like I should apologize for my wife.”
Ryder raised a brow. “Did she plan this?”
Mitch shrugged. “I’m sure in her mind she didn’t. I’ll ask her tonight and she’ll have some perfectly plausible explanation that will sound really good. But it won’t change the fact that while she might not have been outright manipulative, she still put the dominos in place and hoped they’d fall in her favor.”
Ryder’s gaze slid to Sophie, who hadn’t looked in his direction once since she walked in. He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. This town is small, our friends are connected, it’s bound to happen sometimes.”
“Maddie means well, you know. Her friends are like sisters to her, and she can’t stand to see them upset.”
Ryder couldn’t stand to see Sophie upset either, which was how he’d gotten himself into this weird limbo mess to begin with. “I’m glad she had such good friends taking care of her.”
Mitch pointed to his beer. “You want something stronger.”
Ryder looked down at the bottle, remembering how he’d licked salt from Sophie’s neck that first night he’d kissed her. “Yeah.”
Mitch got up and Ryder turned his attention back to Sophie. James had joined the women and his hand rested on Gracie’s neck, his fingers stroking over her skin. He gazed down at her, and Ryder’s body tightened, recognizing the look he gave his wife for what it was. He’d given that look to Sophie many times, letting her know with a single glance her respite was over and he was going to take her the first chance he got. That he expected to have his way with her. That it was his right to do so. That no wasn’t a word he expected to hear from her.
Not that she ever said no to anything.
He both was and wasn’t surprised to see the professor wearing it. Ryder had obviously never thought too much about the guy’s sex life, but he couldn’t miss what he witnessed in front of him. The guy had a quiet assurance about him that was hard to miss, so Ryder guessed it made sense. James tightened his grip on Gracie’s neck, leaned down, and whispered something in her ear.
Her spine straightened. She turned and said to her friends, “I’ll be back.”
Then she slid her hand into James’s and they disappeared in the direction of her house.
The remaining women rolled their eyes at each other and kept right on talking, letting Ryder know this was not an uncommon occurrence.
Mitch returned and handed him a glass filled with brown liquid. “It’s whiskey. Sophie brought it.”
“Thanks.” He downed half of it in one gulp, looking back at the woman in question.
He missed it. Missed what he had with her. Missed being with her. But he had to put it out of his mind. At this rate, he wouldn’t make it another ten minutes, let alone the rest of the night.
