Chapter 16

At lunch, Raven pulled Ryan outside, toward the trees. She finally broke the silence. “What’s going on with you?”

He walked to the rail and gripped the top. Raven joined him, her brow arched.

“O’Neil is cool with you knowing we’re together.” He turned to her and smiled.

She nudged his shoulder. “Good. So, when will we all go on the yacht?”

He groaned. “Here’s the thing with that. I always invite Luke, and I want to bring Shannon.” He blew out a breath. “I don’t know how Luke will take the truth.”

She sighed. “You should tell him.”

“What does it matter now?” Ryan glanced back toward the building. He didn’t want to damage his friendship. And that kind of secret could.

“He’s your friend. He’s not going to care that you’re gay.”

He rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t know. I think if we go and I don’t invite them, it’s easier. At least for now. I need to think this through, figure out how to tell him who I’m with.”

“He’s not going to care.”

“Yeah, well, when he learns I wanted him for ages, that could fuck with everything.”

“You never know. It might go better than you expect. He’s never struck me as closed-minded.”

“Yeah, shit. I need to think this through. But if I figure out what to say to Luke, can you be there for moral support in case it all goes wrong?”

She caught his arm and looked him in the eye. “Does O’Neil know you had a thing for Luke?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and he’s fine with that. I’m just worried how Luke will react.”

She smiled. “It would be fine, but if you’re worried, don’t tell him that one detail.”

“I don’t know if I can tell him without telling him all of it.” Ryan glanced back at the building to watch Luke and O’Neil make their way to them.

And the only one he had eyes for was Shannon. Just Shannon. No one in the past ever made him stop looking at Luke the way he did.

He filled the hole with someone who seemed made for him. God, that felt good. Then one corner of his mouth tipped up as he looked at that with another perspective, but quickly shut that down.

Last thing he needed was a boner in front of Luke with O’Neil right there. Not to mention, Keenan and Alexa walking their way.

Luke nodded as he stepped up beside them. “Leona wants us all, including O’Neil to go to Minae’s. She wants to ask him a few questions about life as a SEAL. She has an idea for a book.” He grinned. “She won’t tell me anything about it other than it involves special military forces.”

“I’m happy to help any way I can,” O’Neil said, watching Ryan.

“We should all go,” Alexa said. “That way I may be able to convince O’Neil that mixing business with pleasure is a damn fine idea.”

“I don’t share,” Keenan warned in a low tone.

Raven shook her head. The whole reason she avoided actors in their circle was to avoid similar drama to what she ran into with her first costar dating incident.

What a mess.

“What time?” Ryan asked.

“How about eight?” Luke asked. “It’s after her interview. Should give us all time to get there.”

“Sounds good,” Raven answered.

“We can’t go,” Alexa said, pouting. “We have a prior engagement.”

Ryan curbed the snark. “Sorry to hear that.”

Keenan lifted a shoulder. “Another time perhaps. There are a million things I think to ask when I drive home, but then forget when we get here.”

“Write them down, or put them on a voice memo or something,” O’Neil offered.

“Good plan.”

Alexa leaned into Keenan’s side, watching O’Neil. Apparently, while fucking Keenan, she still wanted Shannon. Ryan couldn’t blame her, but at the same time he wanted to stake a claim, which he couldn’t for more than his own career at that point.

Stupid clause kept him from admitting it to her.

* * * *

Ryan had cracked O’Neil’s shell and got him to open up about his family. Now Ryan was shutting down, too quiet.

Shannon wanted to know what was going on in Ryan’s head. Needed to understand why there seemed to be distance now.

And with the audience they had, he couldn’t ask. He wasn’t sure what Ryan thought about all of them going to Minae’s, but he had to pretend there was nothing between the two of them during training, so he should have been used to the idea.

Should have been. He wasn’t.

And why couldn’t Alexa see he wasn’t interested? He gave her no hint, and yet, she was trying so damned hard, clearly aggravating the man she was currently sleeping with.

He shared a look with Ryan, searching his gorgeous blue eyes.

Ryan offered a smile, but only concern hid in the depths of his gaze.

Okay, they needed to talk. Hopefully, going to Minae’s with him and others wasn’t going to be an issue. They didn’t need to know what was going on behind closed doors. Besides, he normally was all business while in public, no matter who he was with, so this was nothing new for him. Couldn’t be for Ryan either.

What was the problem? Or was he jealous of a woman he had already shut down repeatedly?

Instead of focusing on the distance, he glanced at his watch and nodded for the building. “We should get back to work. I understand there will be explosives in the movie, and I want you to have a good understanding.”