Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(21)

He squeezed my hand to get my attention. Reluctantly, I glanced over at him, hoping my jealousy didn’t show. Yes, I knew if he’d been intimate with other women, it was my own fault, but that thought didn’t comfort me right now.

“I know what you’re thinking, angel. And as much as I wanted to f*ck away my problems, I didn’t. I haven’t slept with anyone since you.”

Mouth gaping open, I stared at him, wide-eyed. “Are you serious? But you made it sound like you did.”

“I’m not saying I was perfect during our month off, but I can honestly say I didn’t f*ck anyone during that time.”

I held up my hand, halting him. “Okay, I don’t want to know the details.”

“Unfortunately, I know you can’t say the same. What’s up with you and Colin? I know what I saw at the airport and he didn’t look at you like you were just a friend.”

Closing my eyes, I laid my head back on the seat and took a deep breath. “I was going to bring this up. I knew you would want to know.”

He scoffed, “Let me guess, he wants you back.”

I looked over at him and nodded. “And he’s not backing down. I talked to him this morning and told him you and I were back together. I don’t know what else to do. I have to know that you’re not going to let him get to you.”

He gripped the steering wheel tight, his stare hardening on the road. “He’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t touch you. There’s nothing he can do to get between us, unless you let him. You’re not going to hang out with him are you? I know Gabby’s messing around with his douchebag best friend.”

“And that’s going to be the problem. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be hard to avoid Colin; he’s persistent. He also hates you, which will make him want to try harder.”

Ryley snorted. “The feeling’s mutual.”

The tension in the car grew thicker by the minute. I could see it now, Colin was going to be a huge problem until I found out the baby wasn’t his. I just couldn’t explain all of this to Ryley. “On a brighter note, I applied for a new job. If I get it, I’ll be teaching Biology, along with a couple of Marine Biology classes for advanced students.”

His lip tilted up in a small smile and his eyes brightened. “That’s f*cking awesome. What made you decide to teach instead of actually doing the scientific research?”

“Well,” I began, “if I went out into the field I’d have to travel a lot. I wasn’t exactly ready for that quite yet.”

He furrowed his brows and glanced at me quickly. “It’s not because of me, is it? I don’t want to ever keep you from your dreams.”

Little did he know he wasn’t keeping me from them . . . he was fulfilling them. “I admit your part of the reason. I just got you back and the last thing I want to do is leave for weeks and weeks at a time. Gabriella and I were going to travel together, but she chose her own dream of fighting. I lost my partner in crime. Besides, I think teaching high school will be fun.”

“Oh hell,” he groaned giving me a wink. “Now I’m going to have to worry about pubescent high school boys.”

I laughed. “Oh, whatever. If they saw you, I don’t think they’d go anywhere near me.”

“I might need to come eat lunch with you then,” he teased, but then turned serious. “And since we’re talking about things coming between us, I want you to stay away from my brother. He’s into some bad shit now and once he finds out about us I don’t know what he’ll do. I already warned him to stay away from you.”

Camden was capable of anything, but I already knew to be on my guard. “Do you think he’ll listen?”

Ryley scoffed, “Fuck no. He’s most likely going to play mind games with you. Whatever he does or says just don’t believe him. The only problem is, I can’t avoid him.”

“We’ll be fine,” I assured him. We actually had bigger concerns than his dumb ass brother. “You can always stay with me tonight instead of going home. That way you don’t have to deal with him.”

He flashed a sly smirk. “How can I say no to that offer? We still have a lot of making up to do.”

Yes, we do.





OUR MAKING UP took all night and into the morning; I was exhausted and I could barely walk. Being pregnant definitely had an effect on my body—my hormones were completely out of whack. Even though we made love numerous times, I still wanted more. Sadly, when I woke up, Ryley was gone. My alarm clock said it was ten-thirty. No wonder he was gone, he had to train. When I walked into the kitchen, there was a note from Gabriella.



Ash,

I’m sure you know that Ryley had to leave early. He didn’t want to wake you. I fixed you some boiled eggs and bacon for breakfast. Make sure you eat. It’s not much, but I figured the blander the better. I didn’t want you getting sick when you came to the gym.

Now get your lazy ass here. Just because you have a bun in the oven doesn’t mean you can slack off. Now you have even more reason to keep that tight ass in shape.

Love you,

~ Gabby.



And then it dawned on me. Ryley was going to be surrounded by beautiful women while I gained baby weight. Would he still find me attractive? The better question, was he still going to be around after he found out? I had to have faith that he would.