Sicilian Escape with the Forbidden Tycoon - Chapter 4

RYAN

Ridiculous. West had called him ridiculous. It sent something thrumming through him he couldn’t ignore. Sasha had broken up with him for being silly. Ryan didn’t want to change his personality, and his lightheartedness didn't lessen his trustworthiness. He knew there was a chance they’d be matched with different residencies. It was something he was willing to work through. But she hadn’t even asked for any hospitals in California.

Ryan was the guy you called when you wanted to have fun. He was the guy you called when you needed a favor. He was great in small doses. He was great in the ER, joking with patients in a calm voice and making everyone feel comfortable.

But eventually he became too much. His over-the-top personality always pushed his partners away. He didn’t want to push West away. He wanted to pull him closer and tell him about the ridiculous crush he had had on him as a teenager. He wanted to make West smile again.

God, he needed five minutes away from this man before he did something stupid. He reached the door to their room and smashed the key card over the door sensor. It clicked, and Ryan shoved the door open.

“Wait up,” West called from down the hall. “I didn’t bring my room key.” Ryan sighed and swung back around to hold the door open when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his ankle.

He let a slew of curses escape his lips before collapsing against the wall.

“What happened?” West asked, jogging to catch up with Ryan.

“My ankle. Dammit. I stepped wrong or something.”

“Can you walk?” West asked.

Ryan attempted to put pressure on the foot and it held for a moment, but the second he took a step, the pain shot everywhere all at once.

“Here, let me help.” West scooped Ryan up from under his shoulder and helped him over to the bed. Ryan fell into pile of white linens and winced as he propped up his foot with two of the fluffiest pillows. “What do you need?”

“Ice. Can you grab some ice?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, Ryan removed his hiking boot and sock and stared at his angry, swollen ankle. He ran his fingers along the edge, checking for swelling and pressing down directly over the bone. He winced, but it wasn’t unbearable. He pressed along the softer edge of the ankle and yelped. Just a sprain then.

“I had plans, ankle. What is wrong with you? Didn’t you already do enough to me?”

“Umm…are you talking to your ankle?”

“Obviously. It’s the first thing they teach you in medical school.” Ryan held out his hand for the bucket of ice. West handed it over and returned a moment later with a towel from the bathroom, two pain pills and a bottle of water.

Ryan’s heart clenched at the offering. “Thanks. It’s weird to be the one being taken care of.” The reality of those words pierced him even as he hissed in pain. He swallowed the pills and allowed West to clumsily ice his ankle, not at all loving the way West stared at his ankle like it was some kind of broken code.

“You’re the professional. I’m probably not much help at all.”

When West's fingers grazed Ryan’s calf, Ryan felt it everywhere. Heat pricked up his leg and into his chest. Ryan closed his eyes and bit his lip. “On the contrary. You’re amazing. Eighteen-year-old me would be freaking out right now.”

Welp, there went his stupid mouth. Ryan pressed his lips together.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I had this massive crush on you when you were my brother’s roommate. You knew that.”

West huffed out a cough and dropped the ice pack before scooping it back up. Ryan’s stomach swooped as he waited for West’s response. He counted to five and swallowed and counted to five again.

“And…are you freaking out right now?” West asked. He kept his fingertips on the edge of Ryan’s thigh. Ryan looked down and stared at the spot where West’s hand was absently caressing his shin.

Ryan looked up to find a question in West’s eyes. There was a hunger there that hadn’t been there minutes before. Ryan knew what to do with that.

WEST

This was a bad idea. An epically stupid, you’re-going-to-regret-this bad idea. And West would know. He’d had so many bad ideas over the past year. But lately he’d had no ideas at all. His mind was a black void of nothingness where ideas should be.

So when he saw the way Ryan’s entire body clenched tight at his touch when he brought him ice, there was a compulsion to put him at ease. He hadn’t meant to rub his knuckles against Ryan’s shin like a total weirdo. But then he had, and it felt—good. And then Ryan had brought up his stupid crush that probably wasn’t a thing anymore.

“I’m—” Ryan blew out a breath and closed his eyes. “I’m not mad about it.”

West bit his lip and forced himself to return Ryan’s gaze. “Yeah?”

Ryan had dark hair on his legs, and West wondered if he had this much hair everywhere else. The thought spread to every part of his brain, his chest, his entire body. All his thoughts were being hacked by Ryan’s sexy leg hair.

“You’re, um, touching me. You know you’re touching me, right?” Ryan shifted, pressed his leg firmly against West’s hand. It took a minute for West to compute, then he pulled his hand away.

“No.” Ryan placed one hand over West’s and linked their fingers together. “Please.” The pressure of his rough fingers laced through West’s, combined with the hooded stare of Ryan’s warm auburn eyes, made any resolve inside West snap.

West leaned forward and pressed his lips to Ryan’s. Ryan groaned and bit West’s lip. It was pain and want and hotness all at once. And all he could think was, why didn’t I do this sooner?

“This is a really bad idea, isn’t it?” West mumbled even as Ryan continued to kiss into his mouth.

“I know,” Ryan agreed. Ryan reached out and pulled West in close. The scrape of his beard against West’s smooth jaw was a welcome scratch. “But don’t stop, okay?”

That was all West needed to hear. He leaned into the kiss, deepening it as he let out a groan. Ryan pulled him up even more, and West straddled him to maintain balance. God, who even was West right now?

“Your ankle,” West breathed.

“It’s fine. Come here.” Ryan pulled West fully into his lap and wrapped his arms around him. West gave in and pressed his body against Ryan’s. They were chest to chest, and Ryan’s thick thighs perfectly held West.

It felt so easy, so right, to give Ryan control. Ryan rubbed his hands across West’s shoulders and down his back, and West felt the exact moment his brain went completely offline.