The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,72

better looking I was in person,” Ryder corrected in a smug tone.

I shrunk into my seat, praying for an earthquake that would open the ground beneath my feet and swallow me whole. That was possible right? A freak earthquake and quick demise? Ugh.

“So how long have they been waiting to meet me, Ives?” Ryder asked in a softer tone, but none the less dangerous.

“Since yesterday morning,” I winced as the confession came out of my mouth. “Exie saw you yesterday when she dropped me off at school. So, obviously enough time for her to get worked up about meeting you.” I shoved sarcasm into each syllable as I spoke, but it was only a weak attempt to salvage what was left of my pride.

“Wow, yesterday morning, huh?” Ryder pressed, addressing me only. “You must have given her a pretty nice impression of me to get Exie so worked up.”

I peeked up at him, hating how he was lording this over me, but he was looking at Exie and sharing some kind of secret smile with her. Instead of mortification, jealously bloomed bright and fast inside my chest and soon my cheeks were painted red with the emotion. There was no end to how this boy affected me.

“I told her you had a girlfriend,” I snapped before I could stop myself.

Great now I sounded jealous too.

Ryder’s smile only grew. “I do have a girlfriend.” He turned his attention back to me and held my gaze this time. “So why are you and your friends here?”

I took a breath and tried to come up with an appropriate response, er… excuse, but the gray of his eyes had melted to silver and I couldn’t think straight. He tilted forward a little, closing some distance between us and waited for me to speak.

“For coffee,” I finally whispered after what felt like an eternity of silence.

“For coffee,” he echoed in a velvety voice.

More silence stretched out between us while we continued to stare each other down. We were bordering on inappropriate by now, but there was something about him that drew me in. He stared at me like an equal, like he could look away if he wanted. Like it was his choice to fall into this tractor beam between us.

And that terrified me. And then I felt like the worst person ever.

“I really like Kenna,” I announced and then sat up straighter.

“Good,” Ryder snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat trying to come back to himself. “I like her too.”

I barely heard him. “I’ve never really had like a girl friend before….”

“Hey!” Exie and Sloane interrupted together.

So I amended my statement, “at school. I’ve never really had a girl friend at school before. But Kenna has been really, really nice.”

Ryder stared at me for another thirty seconds, his expression turning to quizzically annoyed. And then he swung around to look at my two friends who were also giving me the evil eye. “Exie, Sloane, it’s been…. fun. But I have to get back to work now. You ladies should come with Ivy Wednesday night. I’m in a band and we play the Slowdown for their smaller house shows. You’ll get a chance to meet Kenna, my girlfriend. You already know Ivy likes her, so I’m sure you both will too. Have a great night.”

He stood up and stalked around the corner and to the back room, ignoring his coworker as she tried to welcome him back from his shift. I shivered against the completely unnecessary words that still hung in the air over us. What was that all about? He had seemed polite to my friends, but there was a hardness to his tone that even I couldn’t ignore.

I took a quick breath and met the curious stares of my friends. “I don’t know what that was about,” I admitted before they could start the twenty questions. He was going to be back out here in second and I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of a discussion about him.

“Ivy are you still doing that concert thing?” Sloane gasped instead. Her eyes were pained and her mouth set in a grim line. “I thought you quit.”

“I quit because I was out of state,” I reminded her softly. “I’ve only been back once.”

“Because you’ve only been here for one Wednesday,” Exie lectured in a snippy voice.

“It’s not like that,” I said weakly. “I’m not like that.” When they both continued to stare hard at me I mashed my lips together, wetting