AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My brother groans. “Cute? That's a dude's worst nightmare.”
I fire at the skeet, hitting it just in time to hear Ryan's response.
“You're cute as a button,” she teases. “Shooting a gun like what we're doing makes you hotter though, if that helps.”
Faintly, as I take my next shot, I wonder if she means that with me as well. “Don't tell my brother lies, Ryan,” I say as I walk back over to them. “I'm the best looking man in the family.”
Gramps laughs louder than everyone else. “If you were, you'd be married by now. You and Owen are the only ones left who aren't married. Owen's too young, so he doesn't count.”
“Maybe he wants to play the field,” Owen says. “Y'all are stuck with one chick for the rest of your lives. Maybe Gabe doesn't want to settle down yet. I wouldn't. Although, with the way Ryan looks, it wouldn't be too bad to have her for the rest of my life.”
“Owen,” I chide in disbelief, but Ryan laughs.
“Leave him alone, Gabe. That was a compliment. Suggestive for a sixteen year old, but still. Can you blame him?”
Before I can answer, Owen bursts, “You've already slept with her?”
God, what is wrong with him today? He's acting worse than usual. All eyes are on me, waiting for me to confirm or deny. Especially my father. He's been quiet, but he's been listening. Ryan watches me, waiting as well.
“Don't y'all know it's rude to talk about this in front of Ryan?”
“Better you say it in front of me than behind my back. Topic doesn't matter,” she inputs.
“Yes, but we're supposed to be gentlemen.”
Before anything else can be said, my father clears his throat. “Enough. We're out of ammo and skeets. Time to pack up. My wife is fixing supper as usual, if y'all want to head there.”
That's my father's way of testing me. To see how serious this thing is with Ryan and if I'm ready for her to meet my mother. “We already have plans. Thanks, though.” Everyone here, regardless of if we have plans or not, knows what it means for me to decline. Including Ryan. I almost feel guilty, like I announced, not to just her, but to everyone that she isn't good enough. It isn't that though. With my mother, I want to be sure it's something serious before she meets the girl. Her opinion matters to me and if it isn't serious, there's no point in them meeting. Yet. Plus, I think Ryan has had enough of my family for one day.
Ryan is quiet as we all get everything together. Once that is done, we start saying our goodbyes, Ryan being polite with everyone. She seems to mean it when she says it was nice to meet them. With the exception of my father. I honestly wasn't expecting him to behave as he has, and I'll have to ask him about that later. Everyone starts getting in their vehicles and driving away. Ryan is leaning against the passenger door. I walk over to her.
“You know, you looked really hot earlier.”
“And I don't now?”
She laughs. “Oh, you most certainly do. Thanks for today. I had fun, but next time, I think I rather it just be us the entire time.”
“Okay. We can arrange that. Are you ready?”
She nods, so I open the door for her. We're going to make a stop by my place, so I can put the guns away. I realize that Ryan's never been there before, and I wonder if she'll like it. We pull into my driveway of my one story brick home. It's a simple two bedroom house, just big enough for me. Nothing special about it except it's mine. I ask Ryan to unlock the door for me as I gather everything. She holds the door open for me, and I go into the spare bedroom, where I store my guns. I'll have to clean them later.
I thought Ryan followed me, but when I turn around, she isn't in the room. Once I put everything safely back in it's place, I go looking for her. She's in the living room, running her fingers along the mantel over the fireplace, looking at the pictures. There are some of me from high school in my football uniform, some of me with family, and some from when I graduated. I lean against the frame of the wall and watch her. She picks up one, the one with my family, and runs her fingers over a figure.
There's a small smile on her face as she sets it back, perfectly in place. Ryan turns then, sees me, and jumps.
“Oh, I, uh, didn't know you were standing there. You have a nice house.”
“Thank you.”
She seems nervous for some reason. She clasps her hands in front of her, lightly rocking on her heels. Her eyes jump from me to down at her hands. “Do you,” she starts, but stops abruptly. Her hands fidget and as if she realizes she looks nervous, she yanks them apart, stuffing them into her pockets. “Are you ready?” She finally asks.
“What were you going to say?” I'm curious as to what made her anxious.
Ryan narrows those green eyes, folding her arms over her chest defensively. “Nothing.”
I push off the wall and walk over to her, resting my hands on her hips. “Tell me.”
“No.”
