“I mean, sure,” I said, “but I was thinking coffee.”
Ryan chuckled, eyes scanning my body up and down. “Yeah, man, that’d be great. An espresso please.”
I resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze. His shitty brown eyes, the same shade as dry dirt, disgusted me. Being in his presence made me feel like I needed to take a shower and scrub my skin raw to escape the oily sensation from this interaction.
It hadn’t taken me long to uncover some…informationthat maybe, Ryan Boyd swung both ways, at least in private. Mommy and Daddy wouldneverallow their perfect little baby to be openly queer—yet another reason to fucking hate these people. However, his bisexual tendencies worked in my favor, because clearly, he liked what he saw in me.
Ryan stepped off to the side while I got back in line. Thankfully, the rush had ebbed, and I only had to wait afew minutes before I ordered an espresso for him and an Americano for myself.
Once the barista handed them over, I passed Ryan’s off to him.
“Well, thanks,” he said, holding it up in cheers. I tapped my cup against the side. Ryan’s eyes remained on me as I lifted it to my mouth and sipped, lingering on my lips after I pulled it away.
He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead, he inclined his head, and I followed him back outside.
“Where are you headed?”
I named a building in the direction I knew he’d have to walk to get home, and he grinned widely, a smile I’m sure would’ve been comforting had I not known about the evil swirling beneath it. “Great, we can walk together.”
“Lead the way.”
My strides were longer than his, so I shortened them to match his shorter ones.
“Do you play football or something?” he blurted. “You look familiar.”
“Nah,” I said, barely biting back a grin. Owen was about to earn me another point. “I played in high school, but that’s as far as I went. You might know of my brother, though. We look a lot alike, and he’s a pro QB.”
One of his dark brows raised. “Who’s your brother?”
“Owen Lawless.”
“Hooooooolyshit. Your brother isZero?” he said, using the nickname Owen’s teammates had given him in deference to his jersey number and the fact that he was goddamn ice cold on the field.
I nodded, cheeks flushing with pride that wasn’t forced or faked. Iwasgoddamn proud of my oldest brother. I’d be proud of him regardless. Owen was one of the good ones, thebestoneif you asked anyone in my family. He’d only been in the league for three years, but after earning Rookie of the Year honors in his first season, he’d continued to improve and impress. It wouldn’t be long before he led Detroit to a championship.
“Yeah,” I said in answer to Ryan’s question. “That’s my brother.”
“Shit, man. That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” I said noncommittally. In truth, none of us had ever really bought into Owen’s overnight star power. To us, he was just our big brother, the oldest of the Lawless clan.
The one who’d kept us together when Dad died.
“Well hey,” Ryan said, stopping on the sidewalk. We’d come to a crossroads, and I knew he’d head left. The building I’d named earlier was to the right, so this was where we’d part ways. I couldn’t blow my cover quite yet.
“We should party sometime. You can come by the frat house, or we can go out for drinks.”
“That’d be great!” I replied enthusiastically, grinning at him. I had a damn good smile, and I turned it up to a thousand. “Give me your number and we’ll set something up.”
Ryan took out his phone and clicked around, then passed it to me with a new contact page open. I entered my info, texted myself so I’d have his, and passed it back.
He hooked a thumb behind him and said, “I’m headed this way, but I’ll see you around.”
And then the fuckerwinkedas he backtracked a few steps before turning his back to me.
Hook, line, and sinker.
“Storytime is great and everything, Lane, but could you get to the fucking point?”
