“Itreallyis.”
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?”
3
Ryder
