Chapter 2

I lay there half asleep and listened. It took me a second to place the voice shouting my name in the hallway.

Ryder.

I rolled over and ignored him. The pounding got louder, until there was no way anyone on the floor could sleep through it. I gave up, got out of bed, and opened the door with a look on my face that should have sent him home.

Ryder looked wild. He was tall enough to block the hallway light behind him. Before I could say a word, he pushed me back into the room and shut the door behind us.

"Where is he?"

His face was dark. He leaned down and breathed in at the side of my neck, then spoke through his teeth. "Wow. You two work fast. You've already showered him off."

I shoved him away and headed back to bed. "I'm trying to sleep. Don't bother me. Go home."

He didn't listen. He did two laps of the room like a guard dog checking the fence line, then went into the bathroom to look around.

When he came out, his shoulders had dropped. He was even smiling. "Knew it. You're messing with me. There's no sign of another guy anywhere in here, and the trash can's empty. You're not like that. You'd never do that to Pres."

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him. Then I smiled too.

"Of course the trash can's empty. We didn't use anything."

It hit him like a punch. His whole face fell apart.

"Excuse me?! So the good-girl thing was an act? I spent months trying to get you to crack, and you didn't even blink. Meanwhile you're out here doing this? How could you do that to Pres?"

It was almost funny. "You've been texting me for months and following me around town. Which part of that was for Pres?"

"That's— That's different!" His face went red. "I was testing you. For him."

"Then why didn't you bring him along to catch me in the act? Why did you show up alone?"

Ryder didn't have an answer for that.

He went quiet, and I watched him slowly cool down. A few minutes passed before he spoke again. "Fine. I'll act like tonight never happened. But I'm covering for you this one time, and that's it. You end it with this guy, and you don't pull this on Pres again."

I looked him over carefully.

Then I sat up straight, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him down to me.

"You don't want me with other guys? Fine. What about you? Pres is too nice. I like it a little rougher. And you look like you'd know how."

I'd yanked him down so far he was bent at the waist. His eyes went wide like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Then something flickered behind them. I watched the want come up in his face, saw his throat move as he swallowed.

That told me everything. I'd guessed right.

He really was into me. The whole "testing you for Pres" thing was a cover. He'd had his eye on me for a long time. And Preston, the idiot, had sent his best friend after his girlfriend and never once noticed that his best friend actually wanted her. The man was practically begging to get cheated on.

They'd put my heart on the table as a bet and played me for months.

Fine. I'd play along. And I was going to make them pay me back with interest.

I let go of him and pushed him away. "I'll call the front desk for an extra blanket. You take the couch. Don't wake me up again. I have work in the morning, and you're driving me."

Ryder just stood there for a second. He'd been drinking, and his brain was clearly a few steps behind.

"Oh. Uh... okay."

When I woke up the next morning, Ryder was already up.

It looked like he hadn't slept at all. His eyes were bloodshot and he moved like he was running on nothing. As soon as he saw I was awake, he brought over the room service tray.

"I had someone drop my car off downstairs. Eat, and I'll take you to work."

I nodded, went to wash up, and pulled a suit out of my suitcase.

After breakfast, we went down to the parking garage. He was driving a silver Porsche. I couldn't have told you the exact model, but I had a pretty good guess which car this was. It was the one they'd bet on.

"New?"

"Yeah."

Sober Ryder didn't have much to say. He barely spoke the whole drive. At a red light near the river, while he was staring straight ahead, I slid my keys out of my bag and tucked them down between the seat and the center console.

We got to my office early, and the sidewalk out front was almost empty. I got out and was halfway to the door when he called after me.

"Sloane."

I turned around.

"I don't sneak around. And I'm not going behind my best friend's back with his girl. Break up with Pres. Then I'll come after you for real. Out in the open."

I let out a cold laugh, turned, and kept walking. I only gave him one line over my shoulder.

"You don't even know how to treat a person with basic respect, and you think you get to chase me?"