Right around six, Orange County truly deserved its name. The sun was melting slowly beneath the horizon and tainted the once hazy blue sky with its deep tangerine dye.
The orange glow of sunset had always been Ryan's favorite time of the day.
Back in Chino it meant that all the other kids went into their homes and he could have some peace and quiet. With the Cohens, it was his time to be alone in the pool house and just stare out the windows. Solitude and sunset – two words that described his happiness.
But now, the sky was a deep orange, as if the sun was burning its surroundings, and Ryan was not alone. Inches away, a beautiful brunette sat nestled amongst the cushions of his couch, fidgeting with the toy between her fingers.
"You know, if you're not careful, you're going to hurt Bobby." At the sound of Ryan's voice, the girl let go of the doll. He smiled at how a woman his age could look so comfortable playing with a four year old's toys.
"Bobby?" Summer repeated, in confusion.
"The doll," he pointed out.
"Uh, I think you're confused. Like, this is so obviously a Barbie." She enunciated both syllables of the last word to an extreme. As if it were a foreign word that Ryan would have to learn.
If that was indeed what she thought, she was deeply mistaken. He was a father. Not only that he was a father to a daughter. A daughter that loved Barbies. A daughter that loved all things pretty. He not only know a Barbie, but he knew all of Barbie's friends, her boyfriend Ken, her little sisters, her dream house, car and Princess outfits.
Not that he was going to tell Summer any of that.
"That was Ella's first Barbie. She couldn't say her R's when I got her the doll." He smiled. "The rest of them are all named Barbie though."
"Aww..." Summer cooed. "That's so sweet."
Ryan made a face. He hated sounding "so sweet" to people. Just because he had a daughter (who was a complete angel) it didn't mean that his persona had changed much. The monotonous clothing, the worn wrist cuff and scuffed boots were still him. There may be a soft fluffy center to him now, but Ryan still enjoyed being rough around the edges.
He wondered which part of him Summer saw. Apparently, she was peeking into the soft fluffy part now and that began to worry him. He certainly wouldn't mind if Summer peeked other parts of him... Oh Ryan, mind out of the gutter. He liked being tough, he liked people knowing he was tough. He was the protector – not the one needing protection. He wanted Summer to see that.
He wasn't sure why, but he really wanted Summer to see that.
XXX
If someone had bet her a million dollars that she would ever see the boy who punched Luke talk about Barbies, she wouldn't have taken it. Gladly, no one ever made her that bet.
Summer, holding Barbie-Bobby, in between her French manicured fingers, stared intently at Ryan. His eyes were fixed on the doll between her fingers. It was his daughter's favorite. Ah, Summer. He has a daughter. Why are you still staring at him with your heart beating that quickly?
"Does Bobby have a Ken?" Summer asked innocently, unconsciously batting her eyelashes. She couldn't tell, but she felt Ryan notice the flirtatious gesture.
"No," he shook his head in reply, lips twisted in a half smile.
"Yeah, Ella probably shouldn't be learning about men yet." Summer rolled her eyes. "She has, like, another eight years to figure out that they suck."
"Eight years?" Ryan replied in surprise.
"Yeah, you know. Twelve years old is the time that it all starts happening. The hormones, the growing, the becoming a woman. Woo hoo!" she explained, smiling.
He clasped his hands over his ears. "Shut up, that's my baby you're talking about!"
"Whatever, Chino. I know what you were doing when you were twelve!"
"What?!" His voice said he was surprised, his blue eyes told of guilt. She saw the guilt instantaneously and began to giggle to herself.
Years ago, Marissa had told her that Ryan had a lot of sexual experience- Seth may have mentioned it before too. Summer always suspected that Ryan had been getting it on before he was old enough to really understand how "getting it on" worked. Her suspicions only heightened with his pregnant girlfriend from Chino. And now, she finally had confirmation.
Twelve. Twelve! At twelve, Summer had her first kiss with Theo Michaels behind the bleachers of the Junior High Gym. It was awkward and slobbery and at the time, she never wanted to do it again. It was wrong for kids to have sex at twelve. Sex had yet to cross her mind at that age.
It was crossing her mind now.
That was wrong too.
XXX
A whimpering sound escaped from the bedroom, causing Ryan to jerk up in recognition of his daughter's presence.
Ella. How had she slipped his mind? She never slipped his mind. Wasn't that impossible for fathers? Ryan wanted to hit himself. He had been nothing but purely selfish this whole day. For the first time since she was born, she wasn't his top priority. He felt like he betrayed her.
"Is that-?" Summer looked nervously behind her towards the hallway that lead into Ryan's room.
"Yeah, I should get her." He didn't want to tell Summer how badly he felt at that moment. He didn't have to though, because whether he knew it or not, his eyes revealed it all.
"I should go, you need time with her." She said quietly, reverting into someone shy and meek, a side of Summer Ryan had never seen before. He felt as though he had somehow caused it. But as quickly as he began to refocus his thoughts on Summer, they shifted back to his daughter.
He moved to stand up and Summer followed suit.
They were standing directly in front of the other. Despite her platform shoes, he was still a good deal taller than she. It was an automatic ego boost for him. The Atwoods were short- it was a fact. His girlfriends were usually pretty tall, which annoyed him slightly. Summer was a great height for a girlfriend.
No, he was meant to be thinking about his daughter.
Just as he moved to step forward, Summer began to move as well. They collided briefly, chests bumping slightly."Sorry," she squeaked automatically.
He looked down at her wide Bambi brown eyes. She was staring upwardly at him, through her thick eyelashes. They closed slowly as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. But just as quickly as the kiss had come, it was over. Ryan pulled away, eyes wide in shock at what had just happened.
Looking at Summer, he knew it was the wrong move. Her brow crinkled in confusion. He scolded himself silently. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
"I..." she stammered. "I gotta go." Turning away from him she scampered through the living room and out the front door before he could say good bye.
What had he done?
Sighing, he headed into his bedroom where at least one beautiful brunette loved him.
XXX
In a BMW downstairs, a brunette sat in the driver's seat in shock. Not knowing whether to be happy that he kissed her or devastated that he pulled away so quickly.
What had he done?
She could feel her emotions entangling themselves around one another. Confusion mixed with longing which clung onto hope that coiled around lust.
Sighing, she drove off. But promised to come back. She needed to figure out what that kiss was about.