“Nowyoulook like shit,” Ryder said, giving me a critical once-over as the elevator trundled up to his seventh-floor apartment.
There wasn’t a single building over three floors in Otter Bay. One time a development company had suggested putting in a five-floor apartment building and I never expected to see any of those guys in town again after the reaction they got.
“Thanks,” I said, leaning back against the railing.
“I don’t like flying either,” Ryder confessed.
He didn’t look nearly as exhausted by all this as I felt. He’d navigated the crowds and the noise and confusion like a pro.
Because he was, I supposed. He’d lived in LA a long time.
Maybe it was the kind of thing you got used to? At least, maybe it was the kind of thing Ryder got used to. I was having a hard time imagining living here.
“You’ll feel better after a shower,” Ryder said. “Which I will graciously let you take first,” he added, offering me a smile that did seem a little tired.
“Could always share,” I joked, trying to ignore the way my stomach swooped as I said it.
Did I want to share a shower with Ryder? I wasn’t sure, but the thought of it was enough to make my insides go nuts.
Ryder snorted as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.
“You could at least buy me a drink first,” he said.
I followed him into a shorter hallway than I expected—just three doors aside from the elevator—toward the door facing us at the end.
“Is that how it works?” I asked as Ryder took out his keycard to unlock the door. “You heard what Dad said, I don’t date.”
Ryder hadn’t said anything about that, which only made me think about it more. I’d already been worried about what he thought of me, and that had made it worse. What if he really did think I was pathetic?
“Dunno,” he said, pushing the door open and gesturing for me to go inside first. “I don’t date either.”
I heard what he said, but the words went in one ear and out the other without pausing as I stepped into the huge, light-filled, sleek, kinda sexy apartment Ryder apparently lived in.
“Holy shit,” I said, looking around in awe.
“It’s uh. Not a mansion in the hills, but… it’s home.” Ryder shrugged. “For now, anyway. It came with the contract, so I guess…”
I turned to look at Ryder, and then my body moved without consulting my brain and the next thing I knew I had my arms wrapped around him.
“Ward, I’m fine,” Ryder mumbled against my chest. “Worst case scenario I’m moving in with you,” he joked.
I pulled back to look him in the eyes, keeping both hands on his shoulders. “You can, you know. Any time. I’ll even get a second bed.”
“Who says I don’t wanna share?” Ryder teased.
My stomach swooped again.
“We’ll have to while you’re here, anyway,” he went on.
“Because of like… people watching?” I asked cautiously. ItwasLA—media photographers must’ve lurked around every corner, and even regular people couldn’t be trusted not to take life-altering pictures of people minding their own business.
“What?” Ryder’s brow creased. “No, because my couch doesn’t pull out and it’s barely comfortable enough to sit on, let alone sleep.”
“Oh.” I blinked at him. Right, yeah. That made sense too.
“Go take that shower,” Ryder said, right as his phone went off in his pocket, the vibration more than loud enough to hear in his otherwise silent apartment. “You’ll feel better.”
I wasn’t entirely convinced of that, but I wasn’t about to say no to the chance to shower and clear my head, either.
