The Hookup Handbook(35)
“I could definitely eat,” I admit. “Ryder, could I somehow talk you into a burger instead of your usual rabbit food?”
My brother considers it for a second, then shrugs. “Fuck it, I don’t have any clients till Sunday, so I can have a cheat meal. Burgers and beers sound good to you, Case?”
“I don’t know. I just ate out last night,” Case says, looking directly at me.
I shoot him a puzzled look, then it clicks and my cheeks flush. Oh. He means me.
Oh my God.
He’s actually flirting with me right in front of my brother? I suddenly feel a little feverish.
“C’mon, dude. I’m paying. And you’re not even seeing clients right now. You can have a brew or two.”
“Well, Sienna and I did skip lunch.”
The sound of my name on his lips sends that familiar electricity up my back again. Fuck. I thought we were supposed to get all of this out of our systems last night.
“Then it’s settled.” Ryder jingles his keys in the air. “Let’s hit it. I’ll drive.”
Case and I shut down our computers and follow Ryder out to his car, where I make a point of calling shotgun. This way I can keep my attention on the road, not on Case. Much safer that way. I can already tell he’d be a really easy guy to fall for, and I sure as hell can’t have that happening. Not to mention, watching a six-foot-plus Case fold himself into the back seat of Ryder’s car was hilarious.
It’s a quick drive to Ryder’s favorite burger joint, and by the looks of the parking lot, we just beat the dinner rush.
“This is my go-to booth,” Ryder says, leading us to a spot in the back. He slides in first, meaning whichever side of the booth I pick, I’m stuck sitting across from Case.
Shit. I opt to sit next to Ryder, hoping that maybe Case will slide all the way into the other side of the booth, but instead, he sits directly across from me.
Shit again. It feels like Ryder is chaperoning me on a date, the way Mom used to make him do back when I was a freshman in high school.
The waitress comes by, and Ryder orders us a round of whatever’s on draft. Hopefully a beer will calm my nerves a bit and keep Ryder from picking up on how uncomfortable I am.
As Ryder guides me through the menu, pointing out his favorite burgers, I can feel Case’s stare burning through me, just like my first day in the office. That day, I spent too much time analyzing his stare, wondering if it meant he hated me. Now I know it’s just the opposite. He’s eye-fucking me across the table.
“Sienna? Hello? Anyone home?” Ryder raps on my head and makes a hollow knocking sound with his tongue. “I said, ‘Does anything look good to you?’”
Oh, something looks good to me, all right. But it’s not on the menu. It’s across the booth.
I look up in time to see Case’s mouth twitch with an amused smile.
Ugh. Why does he have to be so sexy?
Chapter Fifteen
Case
“I’ll have the bison burger with white cheddar instead of American, and uh, hold the onions, will you?”
I hand my menu to the waitress, meeting Sienna’s eyes and giving her a wink. She blushes, giving me a nervous look and jerking her head to Ryder, who’s been fully absorbed by the menu for the past several minutes.
I smile warmly, giving her a look back that makes my thoughts clear—Ryder doesn’t have a clue, so we can have all the fun we want. And after last night’s performance, followed by the encore this morning? I’m already itching for another round, no matter how wrong it might be.
“What about you, sweetheart?” the waitress asks, turning her attention to Ryder, who’s been deliberating over his order since the moment we got here.
After staring at the menu for another few seconds, he slams his hands down on the table. The waitress flinches, taking a step back in surprise. Sienna and I, on the other hand, know this kind of outburst is normal for him, especially when a cheat day is involved.
“Give me the double-bacon cheeseburger, extra special sauce, and make sure that bacon is extra crispy.”
The waitress nods along to his order, scribbling furiously on her notepad to keep up with his demands. Finally, she takes Sienna’s order for a mushroom swiss burger, and leaves us.
“Extra crispy? Really, Ryd?” Sienna gives him a sidelong glance, her brows knit together in amusement.
“He’s a man who knows what he wants,” I say, raising a slightly suggestive brow at her. She scoffs, but I can see in her eyes that she knew what I meant. I’m a man who knows what he wants too.
“He’s right, Sienna. You said it first. It’s cheat day—I might as well make it count.”
Sienna rolls her eyes and changes the subject, asking Ryder about his new gym routine, which really gets him talking. It’s a smart move on her part because it’s hard for me to slip innuendos into a conversation that Ryder is so invested in—but somehow her intelligence only makes me want her more.
It’s strange how much my body reacts to hers. And it’s not just her looks either. She’s smart and funny, and so put together. I don’t know what I was expecting, with her a few years younger and seeming so innocent, not to mention being my best friend’s little sister. But from the moment she arrived, she’s pretty much all I’ve been able to think about.