Storm, Meet Raine

Getting Tipsy.

HER.

Somehow, I found myself with Ryker. He's pretty good at popping up whenever he feels like it before ghosting us all over again. The fact that he was on Carson's ass for most of the night made me suspicious, but it seemed as soon as we stepped into the club, his mission changed. I think his mission today was to make Raine giggle like the girl she really is on the inside.

"Seriously, though, you're fucking beautiful!" He flashes me a grin, spinning me in a circle with a glass in one hand, the other firmly gripping mine as he looks down at me.

I couldn't help but blush under his honesty. "Thank you, Ryker," I say shyly, looking up into his dark eyes that are reflecting the dull light within the building, shimmering with unadulterated happiness.

"Anytime," he pulls me back into his hold, wrapping an arm around me as we sway to the music that was upbeat, but slow enough in tempo for us to rock from side to side. The vibes that I get from Ryker are completely different from the ones that I get from Carson.

Ryker is more of a carefree, 'I don't give a damn what anyone thinks' sort of person that just rolls with life. I've seen him flirt, but I don't think he's one that truly has to try to attract females. They would easily gravitate to him because he's pretty mature and sweet...until he starts reading you. I'm not sure if the reason why he doesn't have a girlfriend is because he's not looking, or he scares women away with his psychic powers.

But from what I've seen, he's a damn good friend. Loyal. There for you when needed, and not scared to put you back on the right track by making you aware of your bad decisions. He's an awesome guy.

Though, he doesn't make me burn like Carson.

Carson, from what I'm beginning to see, is conflicted with himself, I believe. Some moments, we're doing good...really good. And then other moments...he's back into dick mode. It's almost as if he wants to make progress with being nice to me, and something triggers him to default. I don't like that very much, if I must be honest. The back and forth doesn't make me feel as secure with him as I do with Ryker, even though I don't know the man. Ryker just screams protector.

It saddens me because as I look up at Ryker, I pout, and as he spun me around once the music picked back up so that we pressed up against each other back to front, my eyes locked on the stupid figure of the panty dropper across the place.

He was shadowed by the lights in the area being pointed to a woman on a small stage—a stripper. He wasn't paying her any mind, however, but he was chatting up with twins, sitting on a plush couch with Hunter on the other side, effectively trapping the two girls between them. I grimaced. I've heard all about their sharing rendezvous.

I'm just glad I haven't been one.

Though, if I had to, I think I'd take a roll with them. Maybe even add the big boy who's rubbing up on me, clearly drunk and wanting to taunt his friend. My thoughts rang true when Ryker bent down to murmur in my ear, "Carson likes you, you know."

I all but scoff, taking his drink from his hand. "I think you've had enough, buddy," I reach around to pat his back before finishing off his rum and coke. He wraps his arms around my waist, walking with me toward the bar so I could be a nice citizen and return the glass instead of leaving it somewhere so that a worker could put it away. We continued to chat as we made our way through the sweaty bodies and dancers.

"It's true though," he mumbles in my ear loud enough so I could hear him over the music. Yeah, he's definitely had more than he needed if he's spitting out words like that. "He can be an ass about it, but it's only because he likes you."