Page 62 of Power Play

“Men like you?”

His jaw shifted. “Poor kid. Foster kid. Brown kid. Barrio. Tattoos. Hockey instead of family business. Pick one.”

“Ryan.”

“I’m not asking you to defend him.”

“I was going to say he doesn’t know any of that.”

“He’ll find out.”

There was no bitterness in his voice, and that made it worse.

“You think he’d care that you’re Chicano?”

“I think rich white fathers who plan their daughter’s résumé before she graduates usually have opinions about who belongs beside her.”

Anger moved through me immediately. “You don’t know that.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You’re judging him before he gets the chance to judge you.”

Ryan nodded once. “Probably.”

The lack of defensiveness caught me off guard.

He dragged one hand over his jaw. “I don’t give a fuck if I make Lance uncomfortable, Charm. I care if making him uncomfortable becomes another thing you have to carry.”

My anger loosened.

Ryan looked at me with something more vulnerable than I had ever seen on him.

“This already stresses you out,” he said. “You defend him before anybody attacks him. Your whole body changes when you talk about what he expects. I’m not interested in becoming another fight in your life because I couldn’t keep my dick under control.”

Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.

Ryan’s mouth twitched.

“That was almost romantic.”

“I had better wording until the end.”

“I’m sure.”

He stepped closer again, and this time, I touched his shirt first.

“So what happens now?”

Ryan looked down at my hand against his chest. “We keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Which is?”

“Books. Coffee. You insulting my apartment.”

“Kissing?”

His eyes returned to mine. “Definitely kissing.”