Chapter Twenty-One
Ryker
“You wanna make it interesting?” Liam asked as he walked beside me on the sidewalk.
“How so?”
“A hundred bucks.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“You’re prepared to lose a hundred bucks? Are you sure you can afford to spare that now that you have a girlfriend? Women are expensive.”
“She’s not my girlfriend—yet. And I’m not gonna lose.”
We walked up to the sports bar, and I opened the door. “I’m not gonna go soft on you. I’m gonna take your cash and not feel bad about it at all.”
“I’m not gonna feel bad for taking money from you either, rich bitch.”
I chuckled then headed toward the bar. The game was on the TV, and people were gathered around to watch. When I stepped forward, I noticed a familiar face. With deep brown hair and a tight dress, she looked exceptional as always. I’d been meaning to talk to her since my conversation with Rae, and like it was meant to be, she was right in front of me.
But then I noticed Nathan right beside her. He was close to her, his knee touching hers. He was staring so hard at her face that I could feel tension teen feet away. His eyes moved to her lips, his intention evident.
Austen wore the exact same look.
And then Nathan leaned in and kissed her. He cupped her cheek as he deepened the passion, as he felt her soft lips with his own. I knew exactly what he was feeling because I’d kissed her so many times.
She kissed him back, her mouth moving with his like she needed him as much as he needed her.
I felt sick.
I wasn’t the jealous type, so jealousy isn’t what I felt. I just felt like shit.
Liam stopped next to me, watching the scene play out in front of him. “Uh…”
I couldn’t stop watching them, watching the way Austen was still in love with her ex. He cheated on her with her best friend, but here she was, making out with him.
She didn’t owe me anything, so I shouldn’t care. She wasn’t betraying me because we agreed we were just hooking up. She warned me not to fall for her. Liam did too. And now I felt light-headed and crippled.
Liam eyed me with hesitance, unsure what was going on and what I would do.
As much as I wanted to grab Nathan and yank him off of her, I didn’t have the right. She wasn’t my girl. So I turned around and walked out, trying to scrape the image from the inside of my brain.
I walked outside and inhaled the humid air, still feeling ice-cold. I walked past the windows, heading in the direction of my apartment with a beating heart and a raging migraine.
“You okay, man?” Liam kept up with me, still eyeing me uncertainly.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, feeling anything less than fine.
Liam walked with me, silent for a while. “I don’t want to be the guy who says I told you so…but I told you so. Austen is a heartbreaker. That’s just how she is.”
“She’s not a heartbreaker. She never misled me about her feelings.”
“But you fell for her anyway… I’ve seen it before.”
I didn’t fall for her. But witnessing my own reaction, I understood she meant more to me than I realized. “Liam, I’m okay. I’m just…surprised. I didn’t expect her to get back together with him.”
“I know…I’ll have to give her a piece of my mind about it.”
Now I just wanted to be alone, to go back to feeling absolutely nothing. When I left Seattle, I was completely numb. Austen was the first person to make me feel something, to make me feel something good. Now that was taken away from me. “I’ll talk to you later, man.” He started to walk away.
“Are you sure?” Liam asked.
“Yeah.” I kept walking until I couldn’t feel Liam’s presence any longer. I kept replaying the image of Austen kissing Nathan in my head, torturing myself until I understood it was real—not a nightmare.
Over the course of the last three months, Austen had become my best friend. She was amazing in the bedroom, and I actually enjoyed spending time with her when we weren’t screwing. It reminded me of my relationship with Rae—but better. But Austen was still in love with her ex, and now she was going to give him another try.
So she’d never felt anything for me. When she warned me that she wouldn’t change her mind, I should have believed her. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to develop any fondness for her.
But I failed.
I picked a random bar and walked inside, needing booze and a beautiful woman to make me feel less alone. The only woman I wanted in my bed was out kissing some other guy. Once they left the bar, they would probably hook up. They’d probably been sleeping together for a while—she just didn’t tell me.
I walked up to a pretty brunette I found sitting alone. She wore a black dress with her hair pulled back in a slick ponytail. Right now, I didn’t care how beautiful or unbeautiful a woman was. I just wanted someone—anyone. “Hey, beautiful. Can I buy you a drink?”
She smiled once she looked at me, obviously liking what she saw. “How about I buy you a drink instead?”