Everyone wants a piece of him.
“You do know he has a fiancée, right?”
Ryker’s tone reeks of judgment, but he has no right to judge. He brags about the number of taken men he’s seduced. Husbands, fiancés, boyfriends. He doesn’t care about the aftermath, it’s all about the fucking.
But he wants to stop me from doing what he prides himself on.
Hypocrite.
It’s what Amy wants too, although my perceived wealth might be part of her motivation. But the point is, we’re two consenting adults, and what we do or don’t get up to is none of Ryker’s concern.
I could tell him now, tell him I’m no longer taken, that Keegan and I are done, but I don’t owe him an explanation.
Amy smirks in a way I’ve seen Ryker do countless times. She wraps a strand of her hair around her finger and shrugs. “Her loss.”
Ryker scoffs as he shakes his head and turns his attention back to me. There’s that look again, like he doesn’t recognise me, like this might be a case of mistaken identity.
He has a twin, and I have a doppelgänger.
I take the initiative, gesturing for the redhead to step closer. He does, and he’s level with Ryker again. Ryker glances down at his hand as I take hold of his wrist, then I’m lifting his dead-weight arm, pulling and tugging, and knocking the side of hiscompanion’s head with it until he gets my intention and bends his neck to receive the honour of Ryker’s appendage.
It’s not the appendage he wants, but it’s a start.
I place Ryker’s hand on the man’s shoulder and give it a patronising pat. Redhead’s hand shoots up to hold and align their fingers. They’re in the same position as when they first noticed me.
Normality can resume.
“There,” I say, but when I release Ryker’s wrist, his arm falls.
The expression Ryker hits me with looks at home on his brother’s face but alien on his.
It’s murderous.
Then it’s gone andRykeris back. He turns to Amy, and his friendly, flirty demeanour shines through. I tense, unsure what he’s planning. He’s a gay man, surely he’s not considering seducing Amy to cockblock me, but his lazy smile has the predictable effect.
Amy returns the look, and her cheeks turn pink under his gaze. I hate that he can do that, fluster people with a smile. I hate that she unconsciously leans towards him and pushes out her chest to showcase how the fabric stretches across her breasts. It’s sheer at the bust, teasing the outline of the black bra beneath.
“One more for the road?” Ryker says, and that’s his play, to keep me here longer.
I begin to shake my head, but Amy is lost in Ryker’s deep brown eyes. She nods as I shake, and Ryker doesn’t spare me a glance as he steps up to the bar. The redhead stands awkwardly on his own, eyeing Ryker’s back, lost and confused.
I feel for him.
He thought his tongue would be in Ryker’s mouth by now.
I offer him an olive branch, because it’s the least I can do considering I’ve interrupted him being fucked in the toilets. Thewhole time I’ve not heard him speak, and I wonder what voice will be screaming out Ryker’s name and making it echo.
“I’m Freddie,” I say. He probably knew that, considering Ryker said my name, but I tell him anyway.
“Nathaniel,” comes the agitated reply, and he doesn’t even look at me. He licks his lips with his gaze fixed on Ryker.
Any pity I feel for him evaporates.
“Nathaniel,” I repeat. I turn my body towards Ryker so we’re both facing his back. “I don’t think he’s had a Nathaniel before . . .”
Ryker stiffens. If he turns, I know he’ll look more like Liam again. I know he’s glaring at the bottles on the other side of the bar. The satisfaction at irritating him makes my heart thud hard in my chest.
Good. Fuckinggood.
