RYDER (Slater Brothers 4)(15)

I blinked, dumbly. “You’re beautifuler.”

I cringed the second the words left my mouth.

He snorted and asked, “Who’s sweet talking who here?”

Not me, I knew that much, I was talking out of my arse.

I shuddered. “You can sweet talk me, I’ll be quiet.”

There was less chance of me making a complete arse of myself if I kept my big mouth shut.

“I don’t know,” he mused. “I like this. You saying what you want to say then getting embarrassed over it. It’s very cute.”

I flinched.

Ryder blinked at my reaction. “Did I say something wrong?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s just, I call me sister cute all the time and because we look similar it just weirded me out for a second.”

“How old is your sister?” he asked, the corners of his eyes creasing.

“She turns eighteen next month,” I said, and then found myself frowning. “She’s growin’ up very fast on me.”

Ryder raised a brow. “On you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, our parents died when she was nine. I was nineteen at the time and refused to let anyone raise ‘er but me, so I put everythin’ on hold and brought ‘er up. She’s a good kid, too. I think I’ve done a good job with ‘er.”

Ryder was staring at me with his mouth agape, and what we were just conversing about hit me like a cold shower.

Fuck.

I think we had been flirting and I somehow managed to fit in the fact that I was a mother figure to my kid sister and that I’ve spent most of my life raising her. What I should have spoken about was sex related things, not baggage related things. I was really f*cking this up. I felt my cheeks heat up.

Talk about a mood killer.

“I’m so-sorry,” I stuttered. “I didn’t mean to take a huge turn in the conversation.”

Ryder shook his head. “No, don’t apologise, I was just a little caught off guard. So, you’ve raised your sister?”

He was interested in the information that much was obvious. I just didn’t get why. I bit down on my lower lip and nodded.

“All on your own?” he questioned. “No boyfriend?”

I shook my head. “No one serious, I brought a man home once for dinner but me sister—who was eleven at the time—didn’t like him because he couldn’t say her name right. He was from Spain and his English wasn’t the best. She ran him out of the house while I was cookin’ and we never saw him again. I stopped datin’ after that.”

When I finished speaking, Ryder had his head tilted back with the soothing sound of his laughter tangling up with the music. It was alarming how relaxed his laughter, and overall presence, made me feel. He was a stranger, but I felt very comfortable next to him. It was odd, but in a really nice way.

“Your sister sounds incredible,” Ryder said with a big smile on his face after his laughter subsided.

I nodded. “Yeah, she’s me world.”

Ryder used the arm that was over the back of the booth to drape over my shoulders. I went as still as a statue as he pulled me closer until the side of my body moulded against his.

“Where is she tonight?” he asked, his lips almost pressed against my ear.

I swallowed. “At home. She’s probably sleepin’ now, she had a long week at school.”

Ryder hummed. “I’ll have to bring you to my place then, I wouldn’t want to wake her up. She might do more than kick me out.”

I felt my eyes widen and my heart come to a complete stop.

“Branna?” Ryder murmured.

I snapped out of my momentary shut down and turned my head to him and said, “Look, you’re gorgeous, and trust me when I say that I really, really want to go back to your place with you...”

“But?” Ryder offered.

“But,” I swallowed. “I’ve never had a one night stand before, and to be honest, the prospect of it kind of scares me.”

Ryder’s eyes scanned over my face when I finished speaking. “Would you believe me if I said we wouldn’t have to have sex?”

I blinked. “Why else would you want me to come back to your place?”

He laughed and shook his head. “This is going to sound like bullshit, but I like talking to you, and listening to you speak. From what I’ve heard, you sound like an incredible friend and sister. You’re independent and that’s hot, but you know what’s downright sexy?” he asked and I shook my head, not being able to verbally speak yet. “Your shyness and nervousness. It makes my dick hurt. You’re beautiful and have a sense of humour. I haven’t come across all that goodness in a woman in... ever.”

I had to look away when blood rushed to my cheeks. Ryder laughed and placed his hand under my chin, forcing me to look back at him. “Yeah,” he grinned. “That shyness is definitely hurting my dick.”

The pulse between my thighs throbbed so hard I had to rub my legs together to try and soothe the ache. Ryder’s eyes dropped down to my thighs and caught the motion, he kept his eyes lowered, and a smirk slowly curved his mouth. He knew I was aching.

“It’s only fair,” he murmured when his gaze returned to me. “If my dick hurts, I want your * throbbing.”

Oh, Christ.