When forty-year-old Chicago podiatrist Matthew Pepper is approached in a bar by college student Ryan Meade, he figures hooking up with the handsome twenty-one-year-old might be just what he needs to help him get over his recent breakup.<br><br>But the hookup doesn’t go as planned and Matthew writes the evening off as a failed one-night-stand. Ryan, however, views things differently. To him, a failed hookup is nothing more than an opportunity to try again.<br><br>Ryan pursues Matthew, not just because he wants to be with the man, but because he wants something ... and he’s determined to get it. Will Matthew find out Ryan isn’t as transparent as he claims to be? Does Lyin’ Ryan live up to his nickname?

Lyin' Ryan

“Better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don’t. Besides, I don’t think you really want me at your place, Dr. Pepper. You’ve never even invited me to stay the night.”


“Oh, come on. You’ve spent the night at my condo.”


“But only because I asked. You’ve never invitedme to stay. I’ve never heard you say ‘spend the night with me, Ryan.’”


I was ready to call bullshit on his statement, but when I tried to remember if I had ever invited him to stay the night, I couldn’t think of a time. It wasn’t because I didn’t want him to. I just figured if he wanted to stay the night, he would, and if he didn’t, he wouldn’t. I didn’t think I had to extend a formal invitation. Apparently, I did.


“I’m sorry,” I told him. “It’s been a while since I’ve dated someone, so I don’t know the protocol anymore. When my ex wanted to stay over, he just did. He never waited for an invitation.”


“Why am I not surprised?” he asked in a particularly snotty tone.


Chapter 29