“So you asked her to move in with you? Out of nowhere?” Jace asked as his pool stick made contact with the cue ball.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Ben replied. He nestled his beer bottle between his legs on the stool, his thumb scraping at the label as he watched Jace play by himself. He took a quick look around the Players’ Club. Mike Tarino, the club’s owner, nodded to him when they made eye contact. Ben nodded back.

“What’d she say?” Jace asked as he circled the table looking for his next shot.

“At first, she stared at me like I’d lost my mind.”

“Have you?” Jace asked.

Ben shrugged. “I figured that after getting slaughtered at Game Night by a couple who barely knew each other, maybe we needed to do something to speed up the getting to know each other process if my parents are going to buy us as a couple.”

“Dude, I’m pretty sure winning Taboo isn’t a requirement for dating someone.”

“Says the guy who won.”

Jace looked up at him and smirked before taking another shot.

The sound of balls clacking loudly against each other filled Ben’s ears as his mind drifted to Ryan and how much he owed her for doing this for him. He wasn’t stupid. He knew a lot of the draw was probably the money. But he also felt like she was doing it for him too. Maybe thinking that way made him delusional, but he couldn’t help how he felt.

Jace cleared the table and stood up straight, holding the stick beside him with the end resting on the ground. “Come on, play a game with me.”

“No. I can’t take losing again to you this week.”

Jace snorted. “You’re such a baby.”

Ben chose to ignore that. “Torres should be here soon. He’ll play with you.”

“Nah, physical therapy always makes him bitchy,” Jace said as he hung up his stick and sat beside Ben. “So what was the deciding verdict? She moving in?”

“Yup.”

Jace’s brow shot up. “Really?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? I can be quite persuasive.”

“That sounds . . . oddly sexual.”

Ben laughed. “Fuck off.”

“But really, how’d you get her to agree? She didn’t even want you to know where she lived, and now she’s willing to move in? That’s kind of weird.”

Ben didn’t want to get into how he’d cut himself open and let a bit of his soul bleed out. Especially since the reason he’d told her had nothing to do with convincing her to move in. That had happened to be a happy byproduct.

He had to admit, the thought of living with Ryan was a little thrilling. He’d so rarely been reckless in his life—unless you listened to his parents who thought his entire adult life had been punctuated by one reckless decision after another. It felt good to be impulsive.

“Do you need help moving her in?” Jace asked.

“She said she didn’t need help. But she plans to bring her stuff over tomorrow.”

Jace’s eyes narrowed as his forehead crinkled, but he didn’t say anything.

Rolling his eyes, Ben said, “Say it before you explode.”

“I just . . . remember when you told me not to play around with Aly’s feelings?”

“Yeah. But I’m not leading her on or anything. I’m paying her for her time, for Christ’s sake.”

Looking at him for a second, Jace finally said, “It’s not her feelings I’m worried about.” Jace stood. “I’m gonna get another beer. Want one?”

Ben shook his head. Jace walked toward the bar and started a conversation with Mike, for which Ben was grateful. He needed a second alone to mull over Jace’s words. Because while his first instinct was to laugh off what Jace had said, part of Ben couldn’t quite bring himself to do so.

* * *

Ryan sat on the floor as she folded her clothes and placed them into her duffel bag. She heard Camille come up behind her.

“You do know you can stay here as long as you want, right? I know my couch isn’t exactly home sweet home, but I bet it’s a lot more comfortable than a coffin.”

Ryan laughed. Camille had been saying things like that since Ryan had told her about Ben’s invitation. If it could really be called an invitation. It had come across as more of a business proposition, which was good. Their situation was complicated enough. They needed to be honest about where they stood with one another. “He’s harmless.”

“That’s what they said about Ted Bundy.”

Ryan set down her shirt and turned so she could look at Camille. “I appreciate that you’re worried about me. I really do. But I promise you that I know what I’m doing.”

“It’s not what you do that concerns me. It’s what he might do.”

Ryan smiled slightly as she shrugged. “I can’t do much more than promise you he’s a good guy.”

Camille sighed. “I know I’m being annoyingly overprotective. But . . . you don’t live around here for as long as I have without seeing some bad stuff. So you need to promise that you’ll check in and I’ll back off.”

Ryan’s first instinct was to point out that she’d seen her own fair share of bad stuff. A lot of it in her own home. But Camille’s concern was endearing, and it caused Ryan to smile more fully. “I promise.”

“Okay.” She started to walk away but didn’t get far before she spoke again. “So don’t forget to call me regularly, including updates from the wedding. And maybe you could give me his name or address. You know, in case I don’t hear from you and need to send out the National Guard.”

“I’ll have to check on the address thing. But I’ll figure out some way for you to track me down, okay?”

“Okay,” Camille said, looking somewhat mollified.

Ryan turned back to what she was doing, but after a few seconds, Camille spoke again. “For what it’s worth, I’ll miss having you here, and you’re welcome back after your time with him is done.”

Tears pricked at Ryan’s eyes. When was the last time someone said they’d miss me? She took a deep breath in an attempt to rein in her emotions before she swiveled around to face Camille again. “It’s worth a lot. And I’ll miss you too. But now we get to graduate from roommates to good friends. We’ll still see each other.” Ryan doubted she’d be moving back in with Camille, since she’d have plenty of money to get herself a place to live after all of this. But she was telling the truth when she’d said she wanted them to remain friends. Ryan had learned that good friends were hard to find. And even though she and Camille hadn’t gotten extraordinarily close during their time living together, Ryan realized that she did trust Camille to be there if Ryan needed her. And it was a kindness that Ryan would gladly repay if the need ever arose.

Camille looked a little doubtful, but said, “I’d like that.” She gave Ryan a tentative smile before heading to her bedroom and closing the door.

Ryan stared at the closed door for a second, thinking about how symbolic it was: one door closing—a chapter ending—while Ben made her able to open another one. For the first time in a long time, Ryan had a future worth looking forward to. It was a feeling she could get used to.