I pull away from Viktor and straighten. “Yeah, I thought he was you.”
Fuck. Now Viktor knows we came together. I’m glad I’m not an actual spy because so far I’m batting zero.
Viktor holds his hand out toward Ryan, as though he wants to greet, but Ryan keeps his hand down, his face grimaced.
“So this is your boyfriend?” Viktor groans.
Ryan glances toward me, still ignoring Viktor. “Did you get what you came for?”
I nod, though I’m not sure if I did or not. I got a weird conversation. I got inappropriately horny. I got a lot of strange, aggressive flirting. I’m not sure that’s what I was looking for when I set out to seize this moment.
The valet pulls up with a black pickup truck and hands Viktor the keys.
He looks toward me. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”
I look away from him, avoiding eye contact at all costs, but he steps toward me, leaning into my ear.
Ryan takes a step forward, as though he’s on alert. Though, I stay put. I’m not sure why. I should move. I should run. I should do anything but stand here like the fool.
Viktor’s breath is warm heat tickling my neck. “If you want me to leave you alone, I will. But whatever is happening here, isn’t going away. I want to taste your excitement, fuck that sweet little cunt, bend you over my fucking knee, and fuck you wherever else you’ll let me fuck you because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He pauses briefly. “Something tells me you want that too.”
He backs away from me and nods toward Ryan before moving toward his truck, leaving me standing breathless in a puddle of wetness, my heart racing.
Ryan reaches toward me, his hand on my back. “What did he say?”
For a second, I can’t move, can’t speak, can’t think. It’s like an atomic bomb has just gone off and I’m waiting for the aftershocks to stop.
“Everleigh,” he says, his voice deep. “What did he say?”
I glance toward him, then toward Viktor’s truck as it pulls away. “I don’t know what happened. He just… can we go home?”
Ryan wraps his arm around me, and we walk toward his car in silence. I know I owe him an explanation, I just wish I knew what that was.
We slide into the car, and he flips on the air conditioning, his hand on my thigh. I don’t want to have this conversation, especially with Ryan. I can’t just say turns out he’s a stalker and… my panties are wet.
“Really, what did this dude say to you?” Ryan probes.
I suck in a deep breath, deciding to let everything out as quickly as possible. Let’s just rip off the Band-Aid… minus the truth about the wet panties.
“He admitted to seeing me around town. He said he was interested in me. He also said he didn’t hurt Max, and that he wouldn’t hurt me. I kind of believe him.”
Ryan narrows his gaze. “You believe him?He admitted to following you, but you believe he wouldn’t hurt you? Why?”
I shake my head. “I know how stupid I sound. But there was something about the way he looked at me that just… I don’t know… it’s an energy I guess.”
“An energy?”
“Yeah, like how right now I can tell you think I’m a complete idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot, Everleigh. I just want you to be safe. You’re not seeing him again, are you?”
Maybe Ryan can pick up on whatever weird sexual thing was going on between us. God, I hope not. I really don’t want to have that conversation. I want to forget tonight ever happened.
“I have to see him at school,” I say. “But other than that, no. I don’t plan to see him.”
“He didn’t say anything else to you?” Ryan continues. “I was about to mess him up when I saw him grab your phone. What was that about?”
“I tried to take a picture of him, so I could side by side him and Max, and he grabbed my phone and deleted it.” I leave out the weird part about spanking me.
