Don’t you dare break my heart, James.
“How are you doing, Victoria?”
She cringed, recognizing that voice instantly. Though it’d been a while since he’d approached her.
“I’m doing well, Ryan. How are you?” She kept her words polite and her gaze on the water.
Ryan leaned back against the railing, but faced the crowd on the patio instead of looking out at the view.
“Good. It’s about to be even better.”
Lord, she hadn’t missed him and his sleaze. Once her relationship with James had come into the open, he’d backed off. Shockingly. Guys like that seemed to have a problem taking no for an answer.
“Hey, Victoria, are you still a gamer, by any chance?”
It took a minute for his words to sink in, and when they did, the world started to spin. She could feel the color leach from her face.
He knew.
Chapter Nineteen
Every muscle inTori’s body froze. She literally couldn’t move as her thoughts began to race.
How? She’d been so careful.
She should’ve realized that, at the baseball game, he’d been onto her.
“I’m going to spell this out for you.” He kept his voice quiet. Casual. “There’re a lot of people at Wright and Williams who might not be too thrilled with your former extracurriculars.”
Bile rose in her throat.
This isn’t happening.
She was at such a good point in her life. She was happy. Financially stable and with a job she loved. She was pretty damn sure she was falling in love with James—if not there already.
And now this asshole was going to... what? What exactly was his end game?
He turned then, so they were both facing out, looking over the water. He was so close his hip brushed hers.
“I can make your life very unpleasant. Where you won’t just lose your job here, but will have a hard time getting employment anywhere else.”
His words were soft and calm. To anyone else up on the roof, it’d look like they might just be having a casual conversation.
She pressed her lips together and gripped the railing. “I’m not sure what exactly you’re implying—”
“Don’t you, Victoria? Or should I call you ‘Elfish_girl_18’?”
The air rushed from her lungs, and she struggled to fill them again.
“So weird, because I don’t recall seeing that on your resume.”
“What do you want, Ryan?”
“You know what I want,” he rasped and gave her a sideways glance.
Gross.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m in a pretty solid relationship.”