-Vaughn Blackmore:
Ryland's hand was still around mine when he spoke again, his voice a little quieter now, like he was choosing his words more carefully than usual.
"So," he said, glancing at me briefly, "I know you're not a big fan of… going out."
He paused slightly, like he was remembering every single time I had made that very clear.
"You made that pretty obvious every time I tried to take you anywhere."
I stared at him for a second.
"…Yeah," I said slowly. "That's true."
Ryland let out a short breath of a laugh, like he wasn't offended at all by it.
"I figured," he replied.
Then he shifted slightly closer, still holding my hand.
"But don't worry," he added, tone softening just a bit. "I didn't do anything bad."
That alone didn't exactly calm me down, but it did make me narrow my eyes at him a little.
"What did you do?" I asked immediately.
Ryland just smiled faintly, the kind of expression that already told me he wasn't going to give me a straight answer yet.
