Jourdan Mathews has a secret, and she knows she needs to take this one to the grave.
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Her life was never complicated: a college student with a close family, good friends, and a plan for her future as a doctor. Had that night had never happened...
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I admire Ryder over the edge of my laptop, resisting the urge to laugh as I watch him struggle to make his bed. In particular, he is having trouble with his fitted sheet, which continues to pop off on the left side of his bed just as he gets it over the right side. Despite being comical, I also can't help the way my eyes wander across the expansive muscles of his chest, which flex and tighten as he fusses with the bed sheet.
He'd been doing laundry when I arrived earlier, just having gotten his bedsheets out of the dryer before he let me in, and we went up to his room. Now I am supposed to be finishing up the work Savannah and I didn't get to before, but I'm too distracted at the moment.
The bed sheet pops off the left corner of the mattress for the third time and Ryder grumbles, making a noise in the back of his throat as he plants his fists on either side of his hips in frustration. He's only dressed in a pair of dark sweatpants, which hang low enough for me to get a nice view of the hard muscle outlined in a 'v' at his lower waist.
Laughter spills out of me, and I gasp when he glares at me, his head turning towards me and where I'm seated at his desk. I cover my mouth with one hand, biting my lip to try and stifle my laughter.
"I'm sorry," I manage, still laughing a bit. "Sorry, it's just funny."
"Really?" He asks, turning fully towards me with his eyebrows raised.
"Well, it is," I manage weakly, and he shakes his head, narrowing his eyes, a wolfish smirk spread across his face.
"I think you want to take that back." He states, advancing on me slightly and I sit upright, moving my laptop from my lap back to his desk.
"What if I don't feel like it," I tease him and his eyes glint. "Like I said, it was funny,"
"It wasn't very funny to me." He insists, stepping closer to me.
"Awe, someone's feeling sensitive." I continue and he gapes, laughing a bit as he watches me with humor dancing in his gaze. A shriek flies out of my mouth when he lunges for me, but I duck away, sliding out of his chair and dashing for his door.
But he's a lot faster than me, and I scream when he picks me up from behind, his warm hands wrapping around my waist. I struggle in his grasp, but he's a lot stronger than me, and before I know it, he's flipped me around and has me over his shoulder.
"Wait," I cry. "Wait, I'm sorry I didn't mean it."
"Too late for that now," he chuckles, spinning us around and I watch his bedroom door get farther away as he marches across the room. "Say your 'goodbyes' Mathews, it's over for you."
"No!" I play along, whining. "Put me down, please, I take it back."
"Huh uh," I feel him shake his head. "I'm going to have to punish you."
