Resist Me Not

14

Ryan turned around to see me fully clothed. Almost looking disappointed at the sight.

"I don't know what it is about you, Vicky, but you drive me in fucking sane."

"I drive you insane?" I asked, pointing at myself with my index finger.

He kept going, completely ignoring my commentary. "No one has ever put me in my place, the way you have. Sure, other girls have called me an asshole and a spoiled brat, but none have ever said it in a way that has really made an impact on me. But your words, your words made me furious, hurt, and happy all at the same time.

"Vicky," he continued, looking sheepish. "You see who I am. You see me beyond my money or my family. You see that I am miserable. I've been miserable for too long and taking my problems out on everyone. Especially you. You had nothing to do with what Eric did to me in high school."

"You don't say?" I huffed, guiding an irritating, strand of damp hair, behind my ear.

He ignored me again. "And us having sex, the other night, really had nothing to do with him either. I know I told you that I was excited to take advantage of you when I saw that you were my assistant, but that wasn't true. The feelings I had for you freshman year came flooding back when I saw you that first day at the office. And it wasn't feelings of anger or revenge."

A huge part of me wanted to believe what Ryan was saying, but most of me was still keeping up my defenses, as I wasn't sure how much of his words were just words.

I felt the weight of the conversation sink in. I grabbed one of the pillows and sat with my back pressed against the headboard, with the pillow resting on my lap. Ryan also moved to sit on the bed, but I shot him a "don't you dare" look, and he moved to sit on the pale-green, cushioned chair in the corner instead.

"I'm sure Mrs. Turner has told you how all the assistants that have worked for my brothers have hooked up with them." His gaze was fixated on a thread sticking out of the chair's arm and didn't look up at me for confirmation. "It's almost like a long-running game or tradition for them. To see how many assistants they can bag. 

"I was initially excited to be part of the company for that reason. I know it sounds sleazy, but if I was going to cave and work for the family business, I at least wanted something to keep me entertained. But when I saw it was you, the fear of you rejecting me came with it, which is why I wanted Mrs. Turner to fire you.

"After our first executive meeting, when my brother's and I stayed behind briefly, they were giving me their approval and urged me to just go for it. They said that you would be easy and my perfect 'first' assistant since you were fresh out of college. Though, they didn't know I knew you. And they certainly didn't know you were with Eric either."

I stared over at Ryan with disbelief. His brother's thought I was going to be easy? Just because I was new to the corporate world didn't mean I was naive. They were the definition of a chauvinist pig.

"So did they still encouraged you to go after me when they saw that I was with Eric?" I had to know, as my anger was rising inside once again, and I didn't know if I was madder at Adam and Peter, or Ryan.

"No! When they saw that Eric was your boyfriend, I mean fiance, they told me to stay away from you." Ryan scratched his gelled hair, making it lose it's perfect form slightly. Though he didn't seem to care at that moment.

"I guess you didn't do a good job of listening to their advice, huh?" I said snidely. I looked down at my chipping nail polish and wished I was back at the nail salon right then, instead of having to sit through this dreadful conversation. Though part of me was also glad to be finally putting the puzzle pieces together, that was Ryan Herman.