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“It’s nothing like I imagined.” Marcy and Aunt Felicity have been listening to me ramble on about my first day for the last hour while we prepare supper. “And the best part is I didn’t even see Coben Rothwell.”
“Well, let’s hope that lucky streak sticks,” my aunt says over her shoulder as she stirs the pasta sauce.
“What is this beef between you and the Rothwell’s anyway?” Marcy asks. “You never said anything when I started dating Dyl, and you knew he was best friends with Ryder.”
My aunt turns and looks between the two of us. “Well, Ryder wasn’t anything to worry about until Ash started dating him. And all you two need to know is that the Rothwell’s and I have some sour history I don’t want to revisit.”
Marcy shrugs it off, but I get that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach again. What could my aunt be hiding?
After dinner, Marcy and I walk over to Dylan’s house to watch movies with the guys. When I spot Ryder, I rush toward him and when he opens his arms, I jump into them, wrapping my arms and legs around him.
“Glad to see you missed me too, kitten.” I pull back to look into those gray eyes that see into my soul.
“You have no idea.”
My lips smash against his. All the hunger I feel is poured into the kiss. I never knew I could need someone the way I need Ryder. Like the very air I breathe, like the blood in my veins. He holds me closer, and tighter as he deepens the kiss, our tongues tangling greedily together, searching for more, for it all.
“Get a room,” Dylan laughs.
Breaking our kiss, we laugh along with him.
“He may have a point,” I whisper.
Dylan swings Marcy over his shoulder and carries her inside his house, which we have to ourselves since his parents are away.
Ryder doesn’t set me down but carries me inside wrapped around him.
Halfway through the movie, Dylan and Marcy disappear and Ryder turns down the volume, tugging me in his lap. He kisses my lips softly, then lingers there.
“I’m glad you had a good day, kitten.” While we prepared snacks earlier, I filled him in on my day, and it felt good to have something positive to say.
“So am I. Maybe it had something to do with not seeing your father,” I laugh.
He pulls me against him. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
“I know I’m bound to run into him eventually, but I’m taking small mercies. Are we good? You and me?”
His fingers run through my hair. “Yeah. We are.” His smile widens, and I straddle his lap.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving in a month.” We’ve skirted around the topic of him graduating.
Ryder’s eyes meet mine. “You could always change your mind and let me sweep you away from here.” His wicked tongue swept over my bottom lip. I opened for him willingly, letting him devour me. Ryder’s kisses make my thoughts hazy, and I need to think clearly.
Breaking away, I place my palm on his cheek. “You know it changes nothing. We’ll be apart for a few weeks at a time, but we’ll still be us.” Even as I say it, my heart squeezes in my chest. Ryder will be away for two months, in New York then London, then God knows where his art’s success will take him. And as much as I can’t be prouder, the thought of being away from him scares me.
“Hey, what’s going on in that pretty mind of yours?”
I smile, “Nothing. I’m just gonna miss you.”
He grabs the back of my head and draws me closer.
“Don’t think about that now. Besides, I’ll be back before you know it.”
Our lips connect and the way his mouth devours me, has my thighs clenching. When he pushes his tongue into my mouth, I groan at the taste of mint and Ryder, my favorite combination.
There is no doubt in my mind that this man will be my undoing.
* * *
