it stop. My scheme isn’t even working. Ryan is not annoyed. He’s still smiling. He’s still staring at me. And he is still the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.
My soul zooms back down into my body when I see my phone light up on the table with a text.
MR. DARCY: Why don’t you just shove your tongue down his throat?
I hurry and rip my phone off the table before Carter has a chance to see the text. I look up and find Ryan’s dark pools searing me. He lifts a taunting brow, and for a split second, I think that maybe I do see a little jealousy there. I glance quickly around the table and confirm that Stacy and Logan are engrossed in Carter’s monologue about his boring job.
JUNE: Don’t text me.
MR. DARCY: That’s fine. I was just trying to see if you saved my number in your phone, anyway.
I immediately flip my phone over like that will keep Ryan from seeing the truth. But my phone buzzes again, and I can’t help but look.
MR. DARCY: Don’t bother hiding it. I already saw that you saved my number. Want to get out of here with me?
Goodness. Has Stacy always kept it so hot in her house? It’s a furnace in here. I’m about to spontaneously combust, and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with Ryan’s texts. Clearly, her AC is broken.
I quickly pocket my phone and shoot up from the table. I guess I did it a little too forcefully, because everyone’s eyes fly to me, wide and alarmed. I smile softly and excuse myself to go get a little more ice for my water, aka stick my face inside the freezer. Part of me thinks that Ryan will follow me, and a big part of me hopes for it. Why? I shouldn’t be feeling this way.
In the kitchen, I stew. Anger is bubbling inside me, and I’m annoyed that no matter what I do, Ryan still has the upper hand. I pace circles like an MMA wrestler waiting for an opponent to step into the ring. Why is he doing all of this? He’s going to be leaving in less than a week.
Ryan was always a wrecking ball in my life, and it appears that nothing has changed. My skin sizzles when he looks at me. My stomach turns a hundred flips when he touches me. And even though I’m trying desperately to push down the hope I feel growing, I can’t seem to smother it.
I wanted Ryan to like me in high school. I wanted him to want me at the bachelorette party. I wanted to dangle a kiss in front of him like a dog bone on a string. And now, it feels like I’ve gotten my wish. Poof. My fairy godmother is somewhere in the world, waving her wand and making all my dreams come true. Now, I just want her to undo it.
Sorry, oops, wrong wish. You thought I said please make Ryan want me? What I said was, Ryan GOSLING. Honest mistake, it’s fine. I’ll wait while you beam him down for me.
The truth is, I’m scared to death of Ryan Henderson. He’s my kryptonite. An arrow that shoots straight to my heart and never misses. I’m too wounded to withstand any hits from him. He’ll be gone in a week, and if I let myself fall for him completely, he will crack my heart wide open. It will never seal back together. It’s why I have my one-date rule. It’s why I pour myself into my work. The game of life is easier when I’m the one moving all the pieces.
After spending a minute gathering my wits, I go back into the dining room and take my seat. Carter smiles his pretty Beach Boys smile at me while finishing up whatever conversation he was having with Logan, and I smile back absentmindedly, because I’m still a little focused on the fact that Ryan was trying to get me to bail on this dinner and go somewhere with him.
“…Yeah, that movie looks great. Maybe I’ll take June to see it this weekend. What do you think, June?”
“Hmm?” I look up, pausing my super-fun game of pushing the steak bites back and forth across my plate and dreaming of what Ryan and I would be doing if we weren’t here. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Carter smiles again and reaches under the table to squeeze my knee.
I suddenly wonder what I just agreed to. There’s no