I can’t describe the adrenaline that coursed through my veins as Ryker took his place in the driver’s seat of his car. If he was here nearly every weekend, then obviously there was nothing for me to be worried about, but that didn’t stop my wildly beating heart. The crowd swarmed as they cheered out his name, and it only solidified what I had figured out on my own. This was a regular Friday night for him; and boy, was I in for a hell of a show.

His competitor lined up beside him and they both began to burn their back tires against the asphalt. I couldn’t make out what type of car the man drove; only that it was foreign and electric blue. Its rev sounded more like a whine than a roar, and the look on Ryker’s face was completely unusual from what I was used to. This was his element, the thrill of it was a story across his wicked smile.

The girl between the two cars bent over to talk to each of them individually, but only they could hear her. She backed up to the spray-painted line on the road and raised her green flag out of her back pocket. Looking back and forth between both, she dropped the flag and both cars took off with a terrifying screech that made me jump.

Once they turned the first corner, they were out of sight, but the sound of their engines echoed off the bricks, whining and grinding. Just as quickly, people began turning from one person to the next, placing their money on whoever they believed were going to come back around that corner and win the race. Most bets were placed on Ryker’s name, but there were a few stragglers that placed with his opponent, hoping to win big with their odds. When a guy approached me and asked me if I wanted to place my own bet, I politely declined.

I wasn’t much for gambling, unless I was betting on myself.

The sound of the engines died away as the distance of their course took them further away from the finish line. I caught myself looking around through the people in my brief boredom of waiting to hear the purr of the race coming back. I found Abraham standing beside the driver’s side door of a car, leaned up against it. He didn’t drive it here, so it wouldn’t be his car, but he could be driving for someone else. He was surrounded by a group of girls wearing too tight shorts and lacy tops that could be mistaken for bras. I rolled my eyes.

He was so full of himself.

He briefly looked up from their adoring faces to look straight at me and he winked. He was annoying at the least. Before I could think of any other choice words, I would use to describe him, the familiar roar returned, and everyone’s attention was directed to that one corner. Ryker’s mustang came drifting around the corner, tires screeching their displeasure against the rocky surface, his competition right on his heels.

The crowd lost it. Overhearing more conversations in one night than I had in a very long time, it was known, apparently, that if you made it around that corner first, you were home free. It was a guaranteed win with very little space to maneuver around an opponent. I watched with bewildered eyes as Ryker flew through the finish line, the checkered rag floating to the ground. The fans cheered for him as he stepped out of his car and wiped his face on his sleeve, everyone diving for his attention and to offer their congratulations. I remained where I had been, a small smile on my face at his accomplishment, but decided it was probably time to head home after all the excitement.

When I reached home, after making at least three different wrong turns, curtesy of my dwindling signal on my GPS, I used the spare time before Ryker would be back to shower and redress in comfortable clothes that covered all my exposed markings. Shaking my hair with a towel, I exited the bathroom in a cloud of steam to Ryker just walking through the door.

“Hey.” His voice was laced with surprise.

“Hey.” I paused and gave him a once over.

He was covered head to toe in sweat, despite the midnight chill, loosely holding onto his coat and kicking off his shoes. He had smudges of grease here and there and smelled like he had just come out from under the hood of a car. It masked the natural smell that came along with him and my nose crinkled.

“You smell like a sweat shop.” I snickered playfully.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the shower just opened up.” He sized up my comfort ware and smirked. “You’re going to sweat in that.”

“Who says?” I raised a brow.

“I do.” He chuckled. “I’ve been sleeping next to you nearly every night, and you sweat in your sleep when you wear shit like that.”

“I do not.”

The thought of him sleeping next to me inspired a slight ache in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t let him know the direction my thoughts had went, but I could see the glint in his eye that he knew. He knew very well how close in proximity we had been over the last few weeks; how every morning we seemed to be more entangled in each other than the morning before. My sheets smelled of him, and he had finally just left his pillows in my room for when the nightmare set in, he would already be prepared. I was sure at some point he just knowingly set his alarm for the exact time he knew I would start screaming. If I could stop, I would. If praying did any once of good, I would.

“You do.” He breathed beside me. “You’re already sweating now.”

“Well, maybe if you would stop adjusting the thermostat, I wouldn’t be.”

He laughed. “Like it’s not already set on ice.”

“I’ll buy a fan then.” I concluded.

He got dangerously close to my face, closing in where I felt the need to step back. “I highly doubt now has anything to do with the temperature of the room, Jaylyn.”

I swallowed hard. The tension in my waist spread into a deep burn. His nose trailed the length of my jawline as he hovered over me and my breath caught in my throat. I could feel the wisp of his fingertips on the outside of my sweater, and I had to force myself from leaning into the brief touch. The moment his fingers entangled with mine; I lost my focus. His lips skimmed across my cheek and when they found mine, he pushed into me.

Our bodies fit together like the jagged edges of the last two puzzle pieces in a fresh cut board. His tongue explored the inside of my mouth before he nipped gently at my bottom lip. Just as quickly as it started, he withdrew and pulled away. I kept my hazardous emotions in check as he finished putting his stuff away and grabbed the towel out of my hand.

“I’ll be just a bit.” He smirked. “Should I just go to bed with you tonight?”

My lips parted on a sharp inhale.

“Waking up in the middle of the night isn’t a hassle. It’s knocking my feet into everything on the way to your room. It might just be easier, hm?” He smiled that wicked smile.

I tried to respond but nothing came out besides the quiet squeak of my voice cracking.

“It’s just sleep, Jaylyn.” He said over his shoulder before he closed the door behind him.

Whatever I had wanted to say to protest the idea had long since died, but I still stood there like a fish out of water. I pointed my finger gently at the door and turned away, only to turn back, and then away again. Did he really just insinuate? That I? Wanted to? I could feel the burn on my face as I tried to deny exactly what Ryker had suggested I had concluded with his question. Intimacy was strange. Sex was obvious, but actually just sleeping next to each other. The whole night? That seemed far more intimate than I was capable of. It was one thing to let him stay when I was half-asleep and in no shape to argue or fuss, but to make the conscious decision to let him be next to me? That was a whole different ballpark.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, gulping it down gracelessly. There was a rock of panic forming in the spot where desire had been, causing a wave of nausea to threaten against the back of my throat. Ryker was just going to sleep next to me. Like it was completely normal. I shook myself out of my head and dumped the remaining water in the sink and headed for my room.

I sat on the edge of my bed where I usually slept and looked around. I looked at my pillows and decided instantly that they weren’t in the right position for sleeping next to a man and fluffed them accordingly. I fixed the edges of my sheets where they were coming off of the mattress, and straightened out my comforter. I pulled my sweater away from my chest and aired out by shaking it back and forth. It was silly to panic over something as trivial as sleeping.

When he finally came into my room in nothing but a pair of loose-fitting gym shorts, I could have died on the spot. He may be a mystery, but over the past couple of weeks I had caught myself memorizing the lines in his face, his jawline, every curve of muscle, every small scar, every sun spot, everything that made him, him. I laid down shakily and covered up, curling inwards on my side and he slid in on the other side easily like he had done it a billion times before. At first there was silence, besides his slow breathing and my erratic one.

“Jaylyn.” His voice was low, not much higher than a whisper.

“Yeah?” I asked the wall, refusing to look at him directly.

“Just get over here.”

I turned, curious. He had his arm open wide and inviting.

“I’m fine.”

“Would you stop being so stubborn for once?” He smarted. “Just get over here, so we can go to sleep.”

I mumbled under my breath as I huffed and turned over, wiggling into the open space that he offered. My head rested in the crook of his arm, my arm draped over his chest, one leg tangled into his. I closed my eyes and burrowed in deeper.

“Now, was that so hard?” He murmured.

“This doesn’t mean anything.” I growled.

“Of course not.” Even though he agreed with me, the tone suggested otherwise.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Elsie munched on a granola bar as we changed out of our uniforms after the game. “You’ve been doing what now?”

“Sleeping next to Ryker.” I tried to say it closer to her to avoid eavesdroppers, but that didn’t help much. Two girls on the other side of Elsie turned and openly stared at me in amazement.

Elsie turned towards them. “Mind your business, ladies.”

“Are you out of your mind?” She asked when she turned back towards me. “Not that I’m not totally pegging for you two to end up together, because I definitely am. But what about Emma? Or the fact that Aiden still messages you at least ten times a day?”

“It’s just sleep, Els, I promise.” It felt weird wanting to talk to her about it.

“Well, if that’s all it is then…” She perked up. “Is he an annoying sleeper?”

I smiled and she started giggling. I knew she wouldn’t give me a hard time over it, even if some of those hard truths I needed to hear.

“He snores a little. But not nearly loud enough to wake me up. But he’s hard to wake up sometimes. He’s so stubborn and usually doesn’t want to get out of bed.” I explained, trying not to laugh.

“Oooooh.” She waggled her eyebrows at me and I batted her arm.

“It’s not like that.”

“Of course, it isn’t.” She teased as we grabbed our duffle bags and left the locker rooms.

“Isn’t what?” Ryker rumbled beside us, causing us both to jump.

He was leaned against the wall, holding his own bag. He pushed away from it to join our walk back to the dorms.

“Nothing.” Elsie squeaked.

“Hey.” Ryker changed the subject, letting Elsie off the hook. “I’m having some people over tonight, is that cool with you?”

“Like a party?” I asked.

“I mean, if that’s what you want to call it, then sure.” He smiled.

“A bunch of strangers in my house?”

“They’re not strangers to me, and I invited Sarah and Giovanni too. That way it won’t be completely awkward for you.” He said.

“Oh, how sweet.” I mused sarcastically. “I guess I have to be okay with it, unless you need me to leave?”

“No, I don’t.” He chuckled. “Els, you want to come over too and have a couple drinks with us?”

“Sure. I don’t mind. Sundays are my lazy days, remember? That’s enough time to cure a hangover.” She giggled.

“It’s nothing big. Just hanging around and drinking, shooting shit, you know?” He explained.

“That’s fine. I’ll go change and I’ll meet up with you guys later.” She waved and broke away from our trio to head to her apartment.

I watched her all the way until she disappeared around the hedge that blocked her building from view before I felt comfortable enough to walk away. Ryker said nothing, and I think he just knew. He might not know the whole truth about me, but there were times when I knew that he could feel my instincts, even if he didn’t understand the reason behind them. I might not be able to control my emotions or even really feel them much, but I took pride in my job and I decided that I really did care about Elsie’s well-being. She was sweet to me, even if I was being a brat, or being too stubborn for anyone else.

She wasn’t afraid to be herself around me, even though she was a total goof. It was refreshing. When Ryker and I made it back upstairs, he watched as I set my stuff down and carefully observed everything I did.

“Are you okay?” I asked, trying to keep the accusation out of my voice.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m going to go change before the cavalry arrives.” He was absolutely confusing.

I closed my door behind me and leaned against it. My pulse had quickened, and my breathing was coming in short quick inhales. I don’t know what it was about him that made me act like a love-struck teenager, but I hated how I couldn’t even control the way my body reacted around him. Hopefully, the alcohol would soothe the tension in my shoulders and in my stomach. It would be nice to perhaps not feel anything, just for one night.