After finally getting out of the private club and with only a couple of camera flashes once we stepped outside, we were soon settled in Ryan’s car.
I snorted as a memory popped into my head, tearing through the quiet car.
“What?” he asked, and I realized it was the first thing either of us had said since the dance floor.
Angling to look at Ryan’s profile, I smiled at him. “Just thinking about Davey’s party.”
Ryan chuckled and shook his head. “You mean when Linda vomited on the roof of your dad’s car, and we spent three fucking hours hosing the damn thing off the next morning?”
“Right. I know it was a hot night, but that sick stuck like tar.”
A louder laugh spilled out of Ryan. “Do you even remember why she was on the roof in the first place?”
I shook my head, amusement lighting me up. “We had some good times, right?”
After a beat of silence, Ryan glanced over, a small smile directed my way. “The best.” When he refocused on the road, I watched his Adam’s apple bob, and he flicked out his tongue, wetting his lips.
“Just ask,” I said, more than aware something was on his mind with those tells.
His gaze darted at me, albeit briefly. “When did you know?”
There was no need to ask for clarity; the reference was clear, and this whole conversation was long overdue. “I suppose deep down forever, but more certain when we were fourteen or fifteen.”
Unspeaking, Ryan nodded.
“I told my folks when I was in my first year at uni. Your gran and sister not long after.” A humorless laugh escaped me before I said, “I downed five shots of tequila before I did.”
Ryan’s grimace was understandable. Since the time we’d both got trashed on tequila when we were seventeen at a friend’s party, I’d sworn never to drink the stuff again, but that visit home from uni had called for desperate measures. Tequila had done the trick.
“How’d your folks react?”
Warmth enveloped me just thinking about how great my parents were. They’d reacted exactly as I’d hoped and expected, but that hadn’t made my fear any less palpable. “They both hugged me, told me they loved me. Dad was a bit weird when I brought a guy around for the first time.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ryan grip the wheel a little tighter. The spark his reaction created pushed out my chest, and I smiled, liking the idea he was a little jealous. Seriously, I could write a playbook on his tells.
Ryan cleared his throat. “How was he weird?”
I chuckled at the memory. “Was just a bit odd, distant. I called him out after Tony left, thinking his acceptance had all been a front.”
“And it wasn’t?”
“Nope, you know what Dad’s like. He told me that Tony wouldn’t know a cow’s tit from a bull’s dick, and the guy wasn’t good enough for me.”
Laughing loudly, Ryan glanced my way. “Your dad’s always had an unhealthy obsession with farming.”
I nodded. “True, but he was also right about Tony. It didn’t take me long to figure that out.”
Ryan side-eyed me as he pulled off a larger road to one that was dark, windy, and I thought familiar. I didn’t think we were too far away from his place. “And boyfriends?”
A heavy pause settled between us. I waited him out. While it was apparent Ryan was struggling, he had to do some of the legwork.
“You’ve only hadboyfriends, right, and you don’t have one now?”
Just as my heart panged at his uncertainty, a wave of happiness unfurled in me. The direction the conversation took was significant, or at least I hoped that was the case.
There wasn’t a chance I’d misread what had happened on the dance floor. Even if we hadn’t shared a kiss, the chemistry between us had been close to combusting. Seriously, a kiss and the right word were all that had been needed to make us spark. As far as I was concerned, it was the whole reason we’d left the club like our arses were on fire.
“Only boyfriends,” I confirmed. He knew about my failed dating attempts at high school, so there was no need to go there. “And no boyfriend for some time now.”
The questions I wanted to ask burned on my lips, but my attention caught on street lighting penetrating the otherwise dark road. We were back. Immediately, awareness kick-started my heart, my pulse going wild.
