“No, you don’t,” Brody said smugly.
“What is it he’s right about?” Nate asked, because he desperately wanted to know. Wanted to know,is it the same thing I’m thinking too?
But Ramsey was already tossing bills onto the table and hooking his fingers around Nate’s forearm, tugging him towards the doorway.
“Get a car,” he told Nate.
Chapter 18
Hebarelyhadtimeto say goodbye to Dean and Brody before Ramsey was dragging him outside. “Uber’s eight minutes still,” he said to Ramsey, who was trying to hide it but Nate was fairly certain he was vibrating with tension anyway. And considering Ramsey’s normal behavior, that fact had his own anxiety spiking considerably.
“I’ll try to grab a cab,” Ramsey said. He finished typing on his phone and slid it into his pocket. “I added Dean and Brody to the VIP list at Vault. They can go have some drinks on me, and possibly debauch the library.”
“Still pissed you wouldn’t tell me who already did that,” Nate complained.
Easier to focus on the secret Ramsey seemed determined to keep rather on what trouble Jordan was no doubt in.
“What did he say to you?” Ramsey shot him a look and stalked over to the curb, eyes scanning the traffic.
“What do you mean? You read the texts.”
“Yeah, I did,” Ramsey said, a little impatiently, “but I didn’t talk to him, not like you did.”
“He didn’t seem upset, he just seemed . . .” Nate paused, hesitating. “Actually, I’m pretty sure hewasupset, and didn’t want me to know it.”
“He wouldn’t.”
Ramsey didn’t sound like he was guessing. He sounded like heknew.
“How do you know—”
Flagging down a cab, Ramsey interrupted him. “Cancel the Uber.”
Nate wasn’t annoyed but hewasconfused as Ramsey shoved him into the back of the cab, Ramsey sliding in next to him, giving the driver the address and to Nate’s shock, promising a huge additional tip if he could get them there fast and a bunch more money if the cab would wait for them at the club.
After he finished canceling the Uber, sure that his rating was going to plummet after this, Nate turned to Ramsey. “I’m worried about him, for sure, but you’re . . .” Nate gestured towards where Ramsey was nearly vibrating against the seat.
Ramsey looked over at him, blue eyes full of concern. “Spent a lot of time around guys like Jordan,” he said in a clipped voice.
But Nate still wasn’t following. “Hockey players get into trouble a lot?” He hadn’t heard that, but then, it wasn’t like he’d paid a lot of attention to hockey players before meeting Ramsey.
Before falling in love with Ramsey.
Ramsey just shook his head. “No. Plenty of other foster kids, though. Hate authority, through and through. And don’t tell me you don’t notice how tense he gets whenever Sterling talks at him.”
For a second, Nate wanted to correct him. But no, Sterling did speakatJordan, nottohim.
“Why am I the exception?”
“You don’t treat him like an idiot who’s going to fuck up.”
Natedidhave to correct that misinterpretation. “Heisan idiot who’s going to fuck up, though.”
“Yeah, but you don’t treat him like it’s inevitable,” Ramsey said impatiently. “It’s different. I know it doesn’t feel all that different to you, but it is. And it’s made a difference to Jordan. Enough that when the shit hit the fan, you’re the one he reached out to.”
Nate couldn’t help the way his own shoulders tensed. “How do you know that happened?”
“It’s obvious,” Ramsey said with a helpless shrug. “You saw it too. He didn’t bluster. He didn’t beg. He just texted your name,twice.”
