Chapter 31: Innocent Kiss

PLEASE Read and Review!

* * *


Hope stared at the brown oak door in front of her. She chewed on her lip and raised her hand to the door, fingers facing the wood. Her hand hovered in front of it, as if it had lost communication with the brain. Finally, her fingers drummed quietly against the door.
Big, brown, puppy eyes met hers as the massive piece of wood swung out of the way.

"Hope. Hey what's up?" Ryan asked. An enormous smile overtook his lips but he felt heart beat kick it up a notch. The "Amazonian Queen", as Zeke had described her, stood before him with all confidence surrounding her like attendants.


"Um, this morning when…Anthony chewed you out…I uh, I just wanted to see if you were okay." She asked.


"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. He had every right to be angry."


Hope shook her head. Her black hair rolled into her face. "You're…rather different," she said.


Ryan put a large hand on the back of his neck and his eyebrows met upwards in the shape of a mountain. "How do you mean?"


Hope cocked her head. "Most people would not have taken what he said to you. You were clearly being sarcastic and-"


"And sarcasm always has, or seems to have, an element of truth." Ryan said.


The Queen's pink lips rolled inward. She did not know what to say to this. Hope did not know how to defend someone who did not want a defender. Ryan refuted every argument she came up with, and the arguments were in his defense.

What a man!

He did not have low self-esteem, he simply understood a human beings downfalls, he was humble. Warmth flooded her veins and a smile burst forth. Before she knew what she was doing, Hope leaned forward and touched her lips to his. All the hallways seemed to fill with electric sparks. The picture behind her fell from the wall and landed with a crash. They sprung apart at the noise and looked down at the now ruined masterpiece.


"Ooops." Ryan said.


Hope turned back to him. Her face burned. She smiled a nervous smile. "Sorry..." she said.


"So am I." Ryan replied.


Hope looked down at her feet. But then, she felt his large hands on her shoulders. They closed over them completely and she looked up.


"I'm sorry because I should have done it first." He bent forward.


Hope lost herself in his kiss.