Olivia inches toward me. “You want me to come along?”
“You go ahead. I won’t be long.” I shake my head and offer her a smile, hoping it’s enough to dissuade her. I don’t even know where I’m going, but if she comes with me, then everyone else will come with me and it’ll all be for naught.
Olivia’s eyebrows draw inward, and she stares at me with an unreadable expression. The longer she looks at me, the more it feels like she’s peeling back all of my layers and finding the real reason why I’m acting so weird.
“Okay, are you sure?” Nova says.
“Yeah. Go on without me.”
Olivia and Nova are the first to turn and leave. Jaxon and Dahlia stare at me. The former’s expression is slack—similar to Ryder’s—but I can see the gears turning in his mind. Dahlia glances at Ryder, then at me. She hides a smile by biting her bottom lip, then tugs Jaxon’s hand as she walks away.
That leaves Ryder, and he doesn’t move a muscle as he watches me. His eyes lower as he looks me over. The dull, dead appearance of his gaze cracks until it reveals a burning inferno of hunger. And it’s all forme.
I duck my head and turn around, then put distance between us. The whole time, my body hums beneath the weight of Ryder’s stare. He’s still watching. I don’t have to turn around to know that.
My legs move on their own, and I eventually end up inside a Spencer’s of all places—low lighting, loud music, and crammed with racks full of T-shirts decorated in vulgar sayings. Not that I’m complaining. I happen to own a T-shirt from here that says Cum Dumpster, which is ironic, considering I let Ryder come inside me.
I glance around the store, working my way to the sex toys in the back. A small rack of monster dildos stands nearby. One of them takes inspiration from a demon, another from a tentacle monster. I eye them and nibble my bottom lip. If I get one of them and use it in a video, it’ll bring in more money. Which means I can get out of town quicker.
Do I really want to move? Now that I got a taste of what it’s like being with Ryder?
I shake away the thought.
Dad won’t allow us to be together, and he’ll still force me to marry Justin. I’ll be in a loveless marriage, pining after a man I can’t have.
Large hands grip my waist, and a chest presses against my back. I squeak and jump, but the person behind me holds me still with a low chuckle. “You should get it. I’ll pay.”
My face instantly heats with a blush. Ryder slips a hand around my front and places it over my stomach, tucking me closer against him while he keeps his head bent with his lips next to my ear.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper.
Ryder raises an eyebrow.“You thought I would let you wander off without me following?Baby,” he coos. “You don’t know me well enough.”
I check to ensure we’re alone. For once, the small shop is empty except for the employees hanging out behind the cash register.
“Look at me.” Ryder catches my chin between two tattooed skeleton fingers. He forces me to look at him as he cocks his head.
“We can’t be caught like this,” I whisper.I suck in a breath as he smirks at me, breaking the blank expression he uses as a shield.
Irritation flashes across his features, but he reins it in, leaving his cockiness out in the open.
“We’re not doing anything.” He pauses for a moment. “Yet.”
Oh, fuck me.
I sway in place, and Ryder steadies me with his hands on my waist, his smirk growing into a full-on fuck-boy smile that I desperately want to kiss off his stupid face. “What do you mean,yet? We’re at the mall.”
Ryder jerks his chin toward the monster dildos. “Which one do you want?”
“You don’t mean that.”
Ryder leans against me as he reaches for the nearest box, and he tilts his head as he analyzes it for a long moment. My pulse thunders in my ears, and I try to calm down, but it’s impossible with him wrapped around me as he toys with the notion of buying the dildo in his hand.
“Ryder,” I say.
He finally turns his attention to me, his pierced lips tugging into a secretive smile. “Baby, I saw you looking at these. I know you want one, so let me buy you one.”
“You just want to use it on me, don’t you?”
