Page 68 of Knot A Chance

Ryder: When and where?

Me: Around the corner from Victor’s Car Wash. In thirty minutes.

Bennett stepped back into the room, and I tucked my phone in my pocket. “I’ll take the truck and then get a rideshare back. That way you and Michael can get to work.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. The way he was looking at me made me wonder if he knew what I was up to.

“Yeah, I have no interest in building a crib, but I’ll be back in time to watch you looking sexy while doing so.”

He chuckled. “Once again, I’m starting to think you create these scenarios for your own enjoyment.”

I scent marked him and rested my head on his chest. “And yet I’m still not clever enough to have manufactured any of these.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around me. “I can come with you if you’re worried the location might be too much on your own.”

My heart skipped a beat. He really can smell the drug cravings.

“I promise to call if I need you, but I can do this,” I said confidently.

He kissed the top of my head. “Okay, handsome. I’ll be here.”

I held on to him for an extra minute, hating that I wasn’t being entirely truthful about where I was going. But Bennett would never let me face Ryder alone, and Ryder would never agree to what I needed from him if Bennett was there. It was a small lie, and I was doing it for us. I’d tell him everything once it was over.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I ignored it until a few minutes later when I was climbing into Bennett’s truck. I sat down behind the wheel and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Ryder: I’ll be there.

“Hey,” I said, approaching Ryder.

I’d just dropped off Bennett’s truck at Victor’s, whose daughter told me it would be ready in a few hours.

Ryder stood in the back alley around the corner of the garage, a location I’d chosen because of its close proximity to Victor’s, as well as the fact that it was a place Ryder and I knew well. He’d bought drugs at Victor’s frequently over the years and I’d often waited here for him, anticipation coursing through my veins knowing that the high was coming as soon as Ryder returned.

Ryder pulled his hand out of the pocket of his hoodie and held out a needle filled with heroin. The vinegar scent hit me hard, and I took a step back.

“I assume this is why you’re here?” he said. “Can’t think of another reason for you to reach out after ignoring my calls for years.”

“I’m not here for that,” I said, nostrils twitching.

“You sure?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “You look like you could use it.”

I reached for his wrist and lowered his hand. “Can you please put that away? This is hard enough as it is.”

“What do you want then?” he asked.

“I’m seeing someone, and it’s serious,” I said, releasing a breath. “I think you know that already, Ryder, because I’ve felt you lurking.”

Ryder shrugged.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked with a sigh.

“Congratulations?” he asked before throwing his hands in the air. “What the fuck do you want me to say?”

He took the needle and pressed it to the inside of his arm.

“Seriously? Do you really need to do that right now? Can we have a conversation for five minutes?”

“If you want me to talk about you and your new alpha for five minutes, I’d prefer to be high as a kite, Felix,” Ryder said, shooting up. He tossed the used needle onto the ground. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t the only discarded needle in the dirt.