After Maddy had replied to my long-winded email that was really more of a frustrated complaint, she helpfully pointed out that her opinion of Ryder had changed and that her and Blake had waited to have sex and it made their first time all the more special.
But my point was that I didn’t want it to be special, I just wanted to have sex.
With Ryder.
The fact that his text that I ignored said something along the lines of, that he’d had a great time and couldn’t wait for our third date, only further annoyed me so I never responded.
I’ve actually been ignoring him all week.
I caught up with Bentley at the library yesterday with the intention of possibly forgetting about Ryder all together and asking him out on a date but I couldn’t do it.
I didn’t want to give up on Ryder just yet.
He’s been on my mind all week and even though I’m being stubborn right now, I still want to date him.
I’ve just walked out of my last class for the week and as I walk across the quad, I see Ryder sitting on a bench and he seems to be in a deep and heated conversation on his phone.
I debate walking right past him but feeling bad that I’ve ignored him for so long, I walk over to him to try and get his attention.
He startles when he sees me and is quick to get off the phone. “You’re jumpy today. Who were you talking to?”
He stands up quickly, “No one but I’m surprised you stopped to talk to me, I thought you were ignoring me.”
I fold my arms across my chest, “I was.”
He steps in closer to me and lowers his voice, “Are you still mad because I didn’t have sex with you the other night?”
Giving him my best glare, I say, “Yes Ryder, I am.”
“Fuck,” he starts running his hands over his head. “I thought I was doing the right thing. You know, showing you respect and all that.”
“I didn’t want your respect Ryder, I wanted you to fuck me.”
“Shhh,” he grabs my arm and we walk further away from the path. “Jesus, I knew you were forward but come on Liv, it’s not that big of a deal.”
He’s right that it’s not that big of a deal and I’m not sure why I’m making it into one but I really wanted Ryder that night and I sort of felt rejected by him. It’s not a nice feeling, at all. “I thought you were forward too but I guess I was wrong.”
He puts his hands in his pockets and seems nervous. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about our next date this weekend?”
“No.” As much as I would love to fuck with him a bit more, I don’t want to ruin the chance of our next date.
Or prolong it even further.
He breathes a sigh of relief, “Good, because I was thinking I could take you to-”
“Meet me at The Roadhouse tomorrow morning for breakfast, eight o’clock.” There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
Don’t need to fuck around waiting days on end just to see each other again.
“The Roadhouse?” he asks looking very confused.
“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”
“No, I just thought we could go somewhere nicer-”
“Let’s save the nicer dates for after you fuck me. I wouldn’t want to waste my time on someone who turns out to be crap in bed.” I smirk at him to let him know that I’m joking.
Well, kind of.
But if he’s going to make me get to know him before we have sex then I’m not going to allow him the chance to wine and dine me.
He’s going to have to take what he can get.
Still looking confused, he says, “Okay, The Roadhouse it is.”
“Great, see you tomorrow.” Walking off before he has a chance to say anything else, I can’t help but laugh.
Poor guy seemed dumbfounded.
But it serves him right, he pretty much did the same thing to me the other night.
Maybe these next three dates will be fun after all.
After accidently sleeping in, I take a quick shower and throw on jeans and a t-shirt before running out the door.
When I make it to the diner, Ryder is already seated in one of the booths and has two coffees sitting in front of him.
He stands to greet me then I take a seat opposite him. “I almost thought you were going to stand me up.”
“Sorry, I overslept. Thanks for getting me a coffee.” I feel like a bit of a dick being late again but this time it was for an honest reason.
He doesn’t seem to mind at all that he had to wait for me again. “No problem. You look nice today, different but I like it.”
“Seriously? I look nice? I’m not even wearing makeup.” After I woke up late, I debated over how dressed up I should be, but in the end I didn’t want him to think I stood him up, so I didn’t bother trying too hard.
It’s not something I normally do when I first start dating a guy but I figure Ryder owes me one.
He claps his hands together, “That’s what’s different about you. I like it.”
“You like the fact that I’m not wearing makeup,” I deadpan. “Who are you?”
He’s like the strangest guy I have ever met. I’m normally good at reading people but so far Ryder has thrown me at every turn.
I kind of like that he is always surprising me but at the same time, I wish he fit the stereotype I have of him in my head.
He throws one arm up on the back of the booth and grins at me. “A guy that knows what he likes and I don’t like all that over the top stuff. Don’t get me wrong, that night I ran into you at Dan Jeffrey’s you looked fucking incredible but you look just as sexy like this.”
I widen my eyes in disbelief, “You’re certainly a strange one Ryder.”
His head is thrown back with the force of his laughter. “Isn’t it a good thing that I keep surprising you? After all, I imagine you are the type of girl who gets bored easily with ordinary guys.”
I eye him warily then grab my menu.
He’s right, I do get bored easily with ordinary guys and if I had tried to date Bentley then I most likely would have gotten bored with him after a few dates.
Luckily I didn’t go there and he can continue to be my study buddy because I actually enjoy our time in the library together.
Not liking the fact that Ryder can see straight through me, I take my time looking over the menu until the waitress comes over to our table.
In a monotone voice, she asks, “What can I get you two?”
Ryder orders first, “I’ll have the house special.”
“And I’ll have the bacon and eggs.” Once the waitress has left, I turn to Ryder, “But I’ll be stealing your hash brown.”
He raises one eyebrow, “You know you could have ordered one, right?”
I smile darkly at him, “But I want yours.”
He starts laughing out loud again. “Okay, I get it, I’m still being punished and fine, you can have my hash brown.”
Smiling cheekily, I say, “Thank you.”
After gazing at me for a few seconds he asks, “What was it like spending the summer in Italy?”
Like a dream come true, I only wish I could have stayed there longer. “It wasn’t the entire summer, just the last six weeks and it was amazing. I’d love to go back someday, there’s so much history there and it’s so different from the States.”
“I’ve never been out of the country,” he admits.
I widen my eyes, “Really?”
He looks down into his coffee in what seems like embarrassment. “It’s not as uncommon as you might think.”
Feeling like a complete asshole, I try to dig myself out of that one. “But you must have seen a lot of the States?”
Mom has warned me on more than one occasion that I should think about what I’m going to say before I open my mouth. I really wish I had taken her advice more seriously.
I’m well aware that my family is more well off than a lot of other people and I’m lucky that I get to go on the type of holidays that I do but it’s easy to forget sometimes.
“Yeah but not like how you’re thinking,” he starts fiddling with the handle on his coffee mug.
“What do you mean? Did you move around a lot?” For someone who asks me a lot of questions, he’s not very forthcoming about his own life.
“Yeah, something like that,” he says vaguely.
On our last date, I was willing to skip all the getting to know you stuff as I was having fun but if he’s going to make me wait for sex then I need more. “Come on, this whole getting to know you thing goes both ways. You can’t just sit there and ply me with question after question. You have to open up too.”
“Fine.” He leans on the table and clears his throat, “My parents died in a house fire when I was nine and I don’t have any other family so I bounced around the country in the foster system until I turned eighteen.”
“Holy fuck,” I gasp in shock.
That is not what I expected at all.
Army brat maybe but not foster kid.
No wonder he doesn’t like to open up about himself.
Uncle Alex and Aunty Ryleigh have taken in a bunch of different foster kids over the years and not all of their stories are good ones. Some have even suffered horrific abuse at the hands of their foster parents and I really hope Ryder wasn’t one of those children.
“Told you my story could put a downer on things,” he glances up and smiles sadly.
I have no idea how to respond to that, I’m such an asshole for pushing him into telling me. “Ryder, I’m so sorry, that’s awful.”
He shrugs, “I’ve had a long time to deal with it but now you know why I haven’t left the country. I haven’t really done much of anything actually.”
“That’s so sad Ryder, I feel like I want to take you on a holiday now.” Weirdly, the thought on going on holiday with Ryder doesn’t freak me out.
Everyone deserves to go on a nice holiday, even if you don’t go far, it’s nice to relax and reset.
His eyes darken slightly, “I don’t need a pity date Liv, that’s not why I told you.”
Fuck, now I’ve pissed him off. “No, I’m not, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry, I’m kind of fucking this up.”
“I don’t actually tell many people about my parents.” Great, he opened up to me and I ruined it.
Good one Olivia.
“What were they like?” I ask cautiously.
I may be overstepping by asking about his parents, especially after fucking up with the whole holiday conversation but he seems like he wants to talk about it.
His smile is instant after hearing my question. “They were amazing, really loving and caring people and the night our house burnt down, I was staying at a friend’s house otherwise I would have been home when it happened.”
Wow, I can’t imagine something like that happening to someone.
You go to sleep one night, then wake up and your whole life has changed. “How did it happen?”
“Faulty wiring, they were asleep and by the time the smoke alarm went off, it was too late. That’s what the fire department said anyway.”
Reaching across the table, I cover his hand with mine. “I’m so sorry Ryder.”
Our meals are placed on the table at that exact moment and it’s like Ryder snaps out of his trance. “Anyway, what about your family? Your dad’s over protective but what about your mom?”
It’s clear that’s all I’m going to get out of him for now. “My mom’s great, the best actually and she helps reign my dad in. She’s the only one who can get him to change his mind about something.”
She has this strange kind of power over him, it’s like she calms him down or something.
My life would be a lot different without her in it.
I wouldn’t be living in Boston that’s for sure, which means I never would have met Ryder.
He digs into his breakfast eagerly. “Are you close with your family?”
“Yeah super close, sometimes too close.” It’s like I can’t hide anything from them.
It’s great that they are involved in my life and I shouldn’t complain about my family, especially in front of Ryder, but they can be a bit intense sometimes.
“What are your grandparents like?” he asks without glancing up.
“My mom’s parents died when she was a teenager but she has an uncle that I grew up calling granddad and he’s amazing. Dad’s parents, I don’t really know anything about them. I think his mom is dead and that his dad might be in prison. I walked into a conversation about him one day and Dad shut up pretty quickly and got really mad when I asked about it. I can’t even look him up to find out myself as I don’t know his name.” I tried everything I could think of to dig up information about him but no one was talking.
When I got desperate and asked Uncle Kyle, even he told me to leave it alone, just saying that some people aren’t worth knowing.
After that, I gave up. It wasn’t really that important to me that I found out, I think it was only the fact that Dad didn’t want me to know so badly which caused me to seek out the truth.
He pauses with his fork halfway to his mouth and his eyebrows crease together. “How can you not know his name?”
“Dad took Mom’s surname when they married, not really sure why but it’s like he’s told everyone our family is close to, to keep it a secret as no one has been willing to tell me anything over the years.” Ryder gets a funny look on his face. “What’s the matter?”
He clears his throat, “Nothing, I just, you said your dad was a little over protective and I guess I thought you were exaggerating.”
Throwing my head back, I laugh out loud. “Trust me, I’m not exaggerating anything.”
Ryder continues to be quiet for the rest of our meal but just as I finish eating, he slides a hash brown onto my plate. “As promised.”
Grinning in delight, I waste no time digging in to the greasy goodness. “Why thank you, kind sir.”
After I finish, he asks, “Do you have to rush off after this?”
“No, I don’t have any other plans besides working on assignments, why?” It seems that I’m not the only one who doesn’t want this date to end.
He slides out of the booth, “Are you up for a walk?”
“Sure.” Ryder ends up paying the bill again and when we leave the diner, he takes my hand in his. “So, where to?”
Ryder shrugs, “I don’t really care, I just don’t want our date to be over yet.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that I chose a breakfast date then, isn’t it?” I feel like a giddy school girl walking down the street holding Ryder’s hand and I’m not sure what has come over me.
I’ve never been like this around a guy before.
It’s not even the fact that Ryder is basically the hottest guy I have ever gone out with, it’s more than that. He seems like a really caring, genuine guy and I feel bad that I pegged him as the typical bad boy when we first met.
Ryder grins, “Yeah, it is.”
We end up walking the streets of Boston for an hour or so before ending up back at my apartment where we put a movie on.
Movie watching turns into a make out session that is cut abruptly short by Ryder. “We said five dates remember, don’t go trying to change the rules.”
I may have been hoping that he forgot about that stupid rule. “Yeah, for sex, not for kissing.”
Kissing Ryder is pretty intense, the feelings he stirs inside me should be triggering warnings bells in my head but instead I want more.
In fact, I never want him to leave my apartment.
I could kiss Ryder all day and be perfectly content in life.
He chuckles and turns his head to the side when I try to kiss him again. “But kissing leads to sex and if I keep kissing you then that’s exactly where this will end up.”
Which is kind of the point but right now I would take anything more with Ryder, even if it’s just a bit of heavy petting.
“Kissing can also lead to other stuff which is just as fun.” To emphasis my point I start licking my lips.
Ryder’s pupils start to dilate and he leans in only to end up leaping off the couch. “I’m hungry, do you want lunch?”
“Ugh!” Throwing my hands over my face, I try not to scream in frustration.
How the hell does he have so much self-control? I’m practically burning from his touch and soaking through my panties but it’s like he’s not bothered with the huge boner that’s begging to be released from his pants.
Once I’ve gotten over my tantrum, I stand from the couch and join Ryder in my kitchen.
He has the fridge open and when I stand next to him, he looks over at me, completely horrified. “What do you eat?”
I look into the fridge in case I’m missing something. “What do you mean? There’s plenty of food in there.”
He scoffs, “For a sparrow maybe.”
“Hey, I’m one tiny person. I don’t need a lot of food to fill me up.” Plus I hate buying groceries so I tend to only buy what I need.
Maddy was big on lists and planning meals for the week but I just kind of see what I feel like each day. It’s been working pretty well for me so far.
He shakes his head, “Yeah, but you do need some food.”
Pushing him out of the way, I start taking items out of the fridge. “You’re being dramatic, there’s plenty in here to make a sandwich.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”
“I do say so, now go sit down and I’ll bring you a sandwich.” To prove my point, I end up making one sandwich for myself and two for Ryder. I also grab a packet of potato chips out of my pantry.
Walking back over to the couch, I almost feel smug.
His eyes light up as soon as he notices all the food. “Well, what do you know. The tiny person was right.”
“Told you.” Sitting down next to him, we eat lunch in silence and once we are done, Ryder puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. “This dating thing is kind of nice.”
Looking down at me, he smiles smugly, “Told you.”
“There’s no need to get a big head over it.” I cuddle further into his side and lay my arm across his waist. “You know, we’ve had both breakfast and lunch today, that could almost be considered two dates.”
He glances at me out of the corner of his eye, “Nice try.”
Well, it was worth a shot. “What if you stay for dinner too?”
He raises one eyebrow in question and I get nervous that he’s going to want to leave. “I can stay for dinner but it’s still only going to be counted as one date.”
“Fine.” I’m not sure that I mind his rule anymore.
Especially not if our other dates will be like this, I can’t remember the last time I wanted to spend all day with a guy I was dating.
Normally, I would be happy to spend a few hours with someone and then hang out with Maddy or another one of my friends but I don’t want Ryder to leave.
I like having him here.
It feels like I’ve knowing him for years.
He squeezes me against him, “What about your assignments? I’m happy to stay for the rest of the afternoon but if you have things you need to do, I can come back later.”
Assignments are exactly what I should be working on but if I tell him that then he will leave. It turns out that I have morphed into someone I don’t recognize, because I’m willing to lie to keep him here. “No, it’s fine, I’ll just work on them tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” he asks but the way he asks it is like he doesn’t want to leave either.
“Positive, what about you? Do you have any study or anything you need to get done?” I ask only to be polite.
He leans down to kiss me lightly on the lips. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”