And who he did it with.
“Ryan!” Eli’s voice cracks high.
I stop and turn. Merci’s flat on a patch of grass by the sidewalk, arms stretched out. His chest rises and falls fast. I jog back toward them. “You okay?”
“Do I look okay?” Merci doesn't even lift his head. “I'm dead. Tell Zach I loved him. Tell him to avenge my death by murdering you both. Slowly. With cardio.”
Eli presses his lips together, gaze flicking to mine. “Sorry if we made you upset. About Raiyne.”
“I’m fine.”
Merci groans from the grass. “Yeah, you sound about as fine as I feel.”
Eli bites his lower lip. “Do you like Connor?”
I rub the back of my neck. “We should go. I'm hungry.”
Merci sits up, blinking. “Holy, shit! You like your husband.”
I duck my head, digging the toe of my shoe into the dirt.
No way I’m answering that.
Merci launches off the grass like he’s been shocked. “Let’s fucking go! We got shit to talk about!” He takes off down the sidewalk in a full sprint, arms pumping, leaving Eli and me behind.
Eli sighs. “Sorry for being invasive.”
“It's okay.”
He shakes his head. “No, you don’t get it. Merci’s relentless. He’ll hound you for every detail. Just. . . be ready.”
I look down the block. Merci’s still sprinting like he didn’t spend the last twenty minutes bitching. “If he makes it. Bet he throws himself down at least three more times.”
Eli chuckles. “One more time, then he calls an Uber.”
We jog after him. This almost feels normal, like the kind of life I used to think I could have.
Chapter 16
Connor
Three days of short answers and shrugs. Three days of loud huffs and a fucking attitude problem the size of Texas. My teeth grind together as I try to continue with this paper for my contracts class, but I can’t fucking concentrate.
Ryan stomps past me, goes into the bathroom and slams the goddamn door.
Yup.
Been three days of that too.
Drives me fucking nuts.
But he’s showering. With me in the room. Still jams the doorstop under the main door. But I get to stay.
There goes that fucking hitch in my chest again.
Ryan comes back out a few seconds later in fucking purple briefs that barely cover half of his thick, muscled ass.
Now I’m fucking hard. And pissed.
