Addicted After All (Addicted #3)(28)

“I’m working on it,” Ryke says, nearing the bar counter while Lo and Connor share furtive whispers a few feet away.

I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, my palms sweaty. I wish I wasn’t on the outs.

“Look,” Ryke continues, “a lot is going on…” He trails off as Rose snatches the nearest utensil—a whisk—and points it at him threateningly.

This would be scarier if it was something sharp. Like a knife or a fork.

“Do not tell me that you forgot her birthday,” Rose says in her icy tone. Oh no.

But I remember that Ryke isn’t Lo. He holds his hands up defensively. “Daisy is not the type of f*cking person to remind anyone about her birthday. It’s not my fault.”

“That was directed towards me,” Rose says like she caught an insult midair with a baseball glove.

Ryke frowns in confusion. “What?”

“Because I emailed you my birthday itinerary in advance…” Off Ryke’s scrunched gaze, she adds, “Do you even check your email?”

“To be honest, I don’t even know my password,” Ryke tells her. “And who plans their birthday six months in advance?” Solid points. I look to Lo, wondering if he sees how cordial this conversation is—how unsexy we all are.

My heart just keeps sinking the longer I stare at his back.

Rose drums her fingers on the bar counter. “I’m not ashamed. It’s the one day of the year dedicated to me, so if three-hundred-and-sixty-four days fail to live up to my standards, I still have this one.”

“You sound like Connor,” I point out with a small smile.

She glares. “If Connor appreciated the narcissism in his own birthday that’d make sense, but he refuses to believe they’re anything more than meaningless.”

I wait for Connor to pipe in about how he won’t celebrate his birthday, but like Lo, he’s not paying attention to our discussion.

I find myself scratching my arm, and I immediately freeze in slight panic. I haven’t done that in a while. Ryke’s face hardens in that masculine concern—something I do not want to see right now. In fact, I need to stop making eye contact with him altogether. I have a new tactic: Avoid Ryke Meadows.

Rose is still drawn to the birthday topic, thankfully not noticing my strangeness. “Buy her diamond earrings,” she says.

“She’d f*cking hate that.”

I stare at the bar counter while I mutter, “She’ll like anything you get her.” Daisy is pretty much the easiest person to please.

“Is there something interesting about the counter that we don’t f*cking know about?” Ryke suddenly asks me.

I squint at the granite, speckles of gray, white and black. “I think if you close one eye like this…you can see a bunny rabbit.”

“Everyone is so f*cking weird.”

Rose dismisses that comment with the swat of her hand. “Just wait until you have your first fight with Daisy.” She says it like she’s expecting the moment to happen. Why is she putting that thought into his head?

I lightly elbow Rose. “Don’t say that. They don’t fight.” I can’t see Daisy being that upset over a present.

“Everyone fights.”

I point my finger at Ryke, and it accidentally pokes him in the eye. Oh my God! When did he get that close to me?

“Fuck, Lily,” he curses, his hand flying to his face.

I wince. “Sorry… I was going to tell you not to fight with her.”

“I f*cking got that.” He sighs with a heavy growl. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.” He drops his hand, his eye a little reddened from my attack. He glances at the basement door and then back to me. “You okay?”

“Yeah?” Do I not look okay? My heart is racing with anxiety.

If I shift a little, I can feel how soaked my panties are, and I hate, hate, hate that he was the cause. I’m not even attracted to him right now.

He suddenly walks around the bar counter, his nearness alarming me, especially as I notice Lo watching us and my reaction. Ryke clasps my wrist, prying my hand from my arm, half-moon nail indentions by my elbow. I was scratching again?

I can feel his body heat, and I instinctively hop off the stool and push him away with two firm palms, a little more aggressively than I intended.

“What the f*ck?” Ryke swears.

“Just stay back,” I say, breathing heavily. I shuffle into the kitchen.

“Lily—”

“Shh. It’s better if you don’t talk of this,” I tell him. Let’s just forget my weirdness ever happened and pretend that everything is okay. Nothing is happening between Ryke and me. Nothing.

Ryke glowers. “Are you reading the f*cking tabloids again?”

“Yes.” I nod. “It’s important that I’m up to date on all the rumors.” The three-ways, the I’m having Ryke’s baby ones are out of control. Lo says it doesn’t bother him, but at the hospital, I could tell that comment from the doctor dug underneath his skin. It hurt me just as much.

“That’s the stupidest f*cking excuse,” he tells me. “We’re friends, Lily. That’s it. You know it. I know it. So what if the f*cking world doesn’t believe us?”

“I care!” I shout. I can’t turn it off like he can. After a while, the ridicule hurts.