Sleeves Flowing in Spring

Ryan’s breath tickled my ear, and I lightly pinched his waist in response.

Honestly, even that felt better than Ethan’s.

I had not expected Ryan to take me to GNR when he said that he would show me a good time.

This place was inconvenient.

After all, this was where my wonderful boyfriend and dear best friend had planned to party tonight.

I tugged at Ryan’s sleeve. “Let’s go somewhere else. It’s too loud.”

However, he would not be Ryan Carter if he listened to me.

“You can go home on your own.”

The dim lights cast an illusion of intimacy.

He reached out and gently pinched my earlobe.

“Besides, it’s quiet in the private rooms.”

…

Who said private rooms were quiet?

All that shouting inside nearly shattered my eardrums.

I got up and stepped into the hallway for some air.

Even though it was the middle of summer, the air-conditioning inside was cranked up way too high.

I was not planning to stop until I passed one of the rooms.

My boyfriend’s voice was just too recognizable.

“Hey, Ethan, why didn’t you bring that straight-A girlfriend of yours? Let us meet her.”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started. She has no sense of style whatsoever.”

“Come on, she just focuses on her studies.”

I was not sure what had gotten into Ethan. Maybe he was drunk.

Anyway, he sounded increasingly agitated.

“Damn, you guys have no idea. She acts all high and mighty. She won’t even let me touch her. Does it matter if she has good grades? Her family’s broke. You think I’m with her for love? It’s just because she looks decent! Girls like that are always putting on an act… You know, I could slap a wad of cash in her face, and she’d come crawling like a dog.”

Standing outside the private room, I frowned.

I heard every word loud and clear.

Just then, a soft chuckle rang out behind me.

Ryan was somehow standing there and eavesdropping just as intently as I was.

I was about to turn and ask Ryan what he was doing there, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a small side room.

It was a storage space that was a little cramped.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and shut the door.

The middle section of the door had a frosted glass panel. So, it offered a clear view of the hallway outside.

Ethan was stumbling out of the private room and partially supported by his friends.

He was still muttering curses under his breath as they helped him along.

Ryan reached up and brushed a stray strand of my hair off my shoulder.

He whispered in my ear, “Tell me. Do you think he would regret it if he knew you were actually the daughter of the city’s biggest real estate tycoon?”

The one thing my dad always taught me was never to think I was better than anyone else.

So, throughout elementary, middle, and high school, he made sure that I had just enough.

It was not too little to lose dignity, but never so much that I flaunted it.

Maybe that was why Ethan never saw me spend money.

He assumed that I was just some scholarship kid who got in on grades alone.

The sound of his cursing eventually faded down the hallway. Only then did Ryan push open the door and walk out holding my hand.

I struggled a few times, but his grip did not loosen.

“Ryan!” I yelled.

He turned around and met my gaze with a smirk. He lifted our joined hands and swung them playfully in front of me.

“What’s wrong? Feeling guilty about holding hands with me behind your boyfriend’s back?”

Ryan was my childhood friend.

However, I was not sure if “childhood friend” was the right way to describe him. We had known each other since we were kids, but barely anyone knew about our connection.

He used to stay with my family when we were little.

My dad was always polite to him, but not in the warm, doting way adults usually were with kids.