Page 134 of Power Play

Evan stood beside three people from campus, holding a beer in one hand despite the fair technically not allowing alcohol outside the designated area.

“Hey.”

His gaze shifted to Ryan, and recognition registered immediately. “Ryan.”

Ryan nodded. “What’s up?”

Nothing about his tone was aggressive or rude. Still, his hand slid from my shoulder to my waist as Evan looked between us.

“You two together?”

My stomach tightened.

The question should’ve been easy. We were seeing what happened. We weren’t seeing anyone else. Ryan had taken me on a date and stood beside me with his hand around my waist.

The label wasn’t there, but that wasn’t what stopped me.

People were looking.

Evan knew people from design. People from design knew my family, or knew someone who knew them. One picture, one careless comment, or one question passed to the wrong person could turn Ryan into something my parents expected me to explain before I had figured out how to protect what we were becoming.

My body hesitated before my mind made a decision.

Ryan felt it too.

His hand didn’t leave my waist, but his fingers went still. The warmth in his expression closed slightly, leaving something guarded behind his eyes.

I forced a smile. “We’re hanging out.”

The words sounded wrong immediately.

Ryan’s fingers flexed once against my side. A quiet hurt passed through his expression so quickly I might have convinced myself I imagined it if I hadn’t been watching him so closely.

Evan nodded like the answer made sense. “Cool. You guys have fun.”

“You too,” I said.

We kept walking.

Ryan didn’t say anything, and neither did I. His hand remained at my waist, though the easy possession in it had changed. He was still touching me because pulling away would mean something, and I knew him well enough to understand he wouldn’t punish me in public for an answer I had already started regretting.

The silence lasted long enough for my stomach to twist before he stopped at another game booth and looked down at me.

“You want to try this one?”

I stared at him.

He was giving me an exit from the moment without giving me an exit from him.

I looked toward the dart balloons. “Yeah.”

“Pick a color.”

“Pink.”

“Obviously.”

His mouth curved, but the smile didn’t fully reach his eyes.