This Time Around (Maybe #2)(39)

“You know the rules…”

“You can’t be serious,” he growls. He leans down and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth, and I know then that I’m going to have to give in. For my sake, not his. He pulls back and undresses himself, quicker than I’ve ever seen him do so. He lies on top of me, and looks up at me, a question in his eyes.

“Fine,” I snap, reaching down to position him.

Ryan chuckles, making me scowl into the dim light.

“I win,” he says, slamming home.

Bastard.

*****

“What happened with Xander last night?” I ask as we’re having breakfast. I tried to make bacon and eggs. I say try because the bacon came out great but the eggs are a little runny, and not that tasty. Ryan eats them anyway, not once complaining. He’s probably just happy to get fed.

“Nothing. We just had a little chat,” he says, emphasising the word chat.

I roll my eyes. “She’s a grown-ass woman.”

He lifts his head to look at me. “Yes, she is, and she can make her own decisions. We haven’t been there for her, her whole life. We can’t exactly walk in and take over. As much as we want to,” he mutters the last part.

I look down to hide my smile. “Aren’t you mature?” I tease.

He takes a bite of toast and chews then swallows. “Hey, I can control myself.”

I raise an eyebrow in disagreement.

“Maybe not when it comes to you,” he amends, standing up and taking his plate to the sink. “Thank you for breakfast. It was good,” he lies.

“Was it?” I ask dryly, forking my eggs.

He walks past me and kisses me on the head. “It was, because you made it.”

“What’s your plans for the day?”

“Going to the gym, and then I have a business meeting. After, I’ll be at the bar.”

“Business meeting?” I ask.

“Yeah, looking at my options,” he says vaguely, banding an arm around my waist and giving me a kiss. “I’ll see you in the evening.”

“Bye,” I reply, leaning in for another kiss, this one deeper. He grabs his gym bag and walks out. I tidy up his apartment—I don’t know why I keep my place when I practically live here anyway. Am I keeping it as a security net? A back-up plan? I frown, wondering if some part of me is questioning whether this will work out. Am I just waiting for something to go wrong? I don’t want to be like that, but I suppose I need to be realistic. At some point, I’m going to need to take that leap and move in with him. I know he is waiting for me to decide when I’m ready. He’s even spoken of buying a house for us, for when we want to start a family. While I want children, I’m not exactly ready for one just yet. I know that Ryan will be an amazing father when the time comes, because I’ve seen him with River. He’s amazing—attentive and patient.

I lock up and head to my apartment, unlocking the door and walking in. Isis is nowhere to be found; she must be at work or uni. I call up my mum and chat with her for a while, and then I clean up my apartment. I’m about to relax and watch some TV when Summer calls asking if I want to hang out with her. Sure beats sitting around here, so I agree.

“Where are we going?” I ask as we get into her car.

“Xander’s house,” she says, reversing the car. “I thought we could hang out there. Is that cool?”

“Yeah, who’s there?” I ask, staring out the window.

“Just Xander. My dad might drop in at some point.”

“No classes today?” I ask.

“No, I’m on break now. So happy because exams were stressing me out,” she says, puffing out a breath.

“I can imagine.”

“So Ryan said you want to own your own dance studio one day?”

I turn to look at her. “Yes, that’s my dream.” I’ve wanted to own my own studio since as long as I can remember. I’ve been saving most of my money, hoping that one day I can make my dream a reality.

Summer gives me a sly smile. “I haven’t seen you dance yet. Clubbing doesn’t count.”

I laugh softly. “You can drop by any time and see me in action.”

“I might take you up on that,” she replies. “I love this song,” she says, turning the volume up. It’s some ‘Gangsta’ song that Reid told me drives him insane, because she plays it on repeat. Over and over again. I think it’s cute. We pull into Xander’s place and spend the day watching movies and eating junk food.

I learn two things.

Xander is as sweet as he is sexy. And he definitely wants Sephie.

This ought to be interesting.





Chapter Twenty-Two

Ryan

I look around the vast space, happy with what I see. This is the fifth building I’ve seen today, and they definitely saved the best for last. This is the perfect location. I head home and have a quick shower before I head to Knox Tavern. Tag is at the bar, Jade is standing next to him talking. He’s nodding at whatever she’s chatting about, but he looks like his mind is elsewhere. There are about three people sitting at the bar, and I do a double take when I see one that I recognise. I’ve only seen a photo of him once, when I was annoying Summer and snooping through her shit. I say a quick hello to Tag and Jade, and then stand in front of him. He looks a little bit different than the photo, older and muscular. He still has the same shaggy dark hair, blue eyes and his eyebrow pierced.