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Ryan and his friends have an early-morning game and they want to be at one hundred percent.
Lacy holds out her hand and waves it until I take it. “I’m happy I have a best friend again. ”
“All right. ” Chris swings Lacy into his arms.
“She’s talking sentimental, which means it’s time to dance. ” With her laughing uncontrollably, he carries her to the crowd dancing near the bonfire.
Ryan’s lips graze my earlobe, sending seductive shivers through my body. “Walk with me?”
Anywhere. “Okay. ”
Ryan jumps off the bed of the truck and when I scoot to the end of the tailgate, he places his hands on my hips to help me down. I don’t need the help. I’m perfectly capable of getting myself down, but I enjoy the feel of his hands on me. His warmth burns through my clothes and onto my skin.
He lifts me and my body slowly slides against his. I want to kiss him and from the hunger smoldering in his eyes, he feels the same way. He takes my hand in his and leads me away from the bonfire, away from other people, into the woods, and into a world of our own.
The moon creates a silvery glow and the babble of the creek gives the moment a mystical quality. The darkness isn’t so frightening with Ryan. With him I can believe that I am a princess with a wreath of flowers and ribbons crowning my head and he is my prince sworn to protect me from the evils in the night.
Ryan releases my hand and turns his baseball cap to wear it backward, a sure sign he’s going to kiss me. My insides flutter. The enduring cockiness that exudes from Ryan fades and he shoves his hands in his pockets while shifting. “I wasn’t going to do the writing competition, but I am now. I talked to Coach today and told him I’m not playing next Saturday’s game. ”
“Why wouldn’t you have done the competition?” I’m confused. Ryan has a gift. Why wouldn’t he use it?
“My dad, he didn’t want…” Ryan shakes his head. “It’s not important. You’ve opened my eyes to a lot of things and I wanted to let you know that you’re a big part of this. A huge part. ” He shrugs and for the first time I see Ryan unsure of himself. It’s an odd thing to watch from someone who is always nothing less than perfection.
“You’ll be perfect. ” Some lives are blessed.
His is. Mine isn’t. I’m not sure how I helped, but at least he’ll have another good memory of me. I have ten days to tuck in as many good memories as I can for the both of us. I don’t want him to hate me forever. I want him to look back on our time together and smile.
Ryan sucks in a deep breath and his continued track down the path of uncomfortable makes me restless. “My parents are going to be out of town for a week starting tomorrow. They won’t be back until next Sunday. ”
Awesome. “I get to use the front door?”
“Yeah. If you want. Don’t get me wrong, I want you to come…I mean I want you to sleep with me…I mean. ” Ryan swears under his breath. “I want you at my house if you want to be there. ”
If it was anyone else stumbling through that awkwardness, I’d laugh, but it’s Ryan, so I choke on the chuckles. “Are you asking me to have sex?”
His eyes widen. “No. I would never ask that.
I mean, I would. Someday. Now if I could. But no. No. We’ll wait. Ah hell, Beth, can I screw this up any more than I already have?”
I smile at the word screw and Ryan catches it. He says a word I thought only pops out of my mouth. Ryan’s cheeks turn red and the blush on his face makes me blush. God, we’re standing here acting like two virgins.
In fact, this whole week we’ve acted like virgins. We do this uncomfortable dance when I slip into his room and climb into his bed. He waits forever to kiss me, no matter how many signals I give. And when we do kiss—the fire between us is hotter than flames in hell. Then we reach certain points where neither one of us seem to want to cross the line. I’m used to guys pushing forward. I guess I could cross the lines, but the thought frightens me. Such a squeamish-little-girl feeling makes me want to slap myself. It’s not like I’ve never seen a guy’s penis before.
Ryan readjusts his hat and I tilt my head as I understand the agony marring his beautiful face. “You’re a virgin,” I say.
I curse internally when Ryan flips his hat back and yanks the bill hard over his face. Go ahead, Beth, embarrass the boy a little more.
Why don’t you ask him if he has a small dick, too? Talk about screwing things up. This is not the memory I want Ryan to have of me, but the knowledge he’s supplied will ensure I can give him something he’ll never forget: his first time.
I close the distance between us. He’s stiff when I wrap my arms around him and press my cheek against his chest. “I don’t care. In fact, it makes you more perfect. ”
Ryan sighs loudly, but his body relaxes under my touch. His strong hands caress my back and weave through my hair. “I’m not perfect, Beth. ”
“Yes, you are. ”
“Ryan!” Chris yells close to the tree line.
“Get your sorry ass over here. Logan took on a dare. ”
