Thank you so much to those of you that have taken the time to let me know that you are enjoying this story. There is no doubt that you comments help to motivate me. I'm really enjoying writing this after the break I took after 'Girl' but there is no plan for this to become anything like that saga that 'Girl' turned out to be. But there is still a little to go.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Ryan held the door open for Marissa to exit before him. He'd showered and changed into jeans and a clean t-shirt and she thought that he looked good enough to eat. But that only made her feel even more self conscious about what she was wearing. She still had on the gym's employee uniform, although she had donned a jacket that she'd worn over it to cover herself up and keep her warm, on the way to work. She pulled it more closely around her as he moved a little closer and asked "Where would you like to go?"

Marissa looked at him surprised. She had no idea. Her brain was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was actually walking along beside him. And when he moved slightly closer to her to speak to her and she could actually smell the fresh male scent of him, then, she could actually feel the goose bumps rise and she shivered slightly.

Ryan was instantly concerned. "Are you cold?"

She panicked. Scared that if she said yes he may get even closer to her. "No I'm fine. It's just my legs are a little chilly." She explained.

Ryan looked down at her gym shorts and noticed the goose bumps on her glorious legs. He'd never felt envious of a goose bump before but it seemed that this girl kept proving that there was a first time for everything. He wanted to rub his hands up and down her long legs and warm them up but he knew it was a bit too soon for anything like that. She really was a puzzle to him. She seemed quite skittish. Almost like a young colt, he thought and smiled to himself at the idea of telling her but instead he just suggested "Well how about we just go to the diner around the corner. Then we can get you out of the cold quickly."

Marissa nodded, thinking that the less time that she spent alone with him the better. The diner was always packed with students so she knew that she'd have plenty of people around to distract her … or him.

---

As they entered, Ryan steered her to a booth at the back and after they'd ordered the silence descended on the table.

Marissa was feeling awkward. She knew that she was way out of her depth with this guy. She should never have come.

Ryan on the other hand was just enjoying taking in the pleasure of being in her company. He hated girls who seemed to have to fill every quiet minute with noise. He'd swear that some of them could talk about nothing for hours … and they often did. Whereas Marissa it seemed, only spoke when she had something to say. He was liking her more and more by the minute.

"So are you studying here?" Ryan finally asked. He'd been enjoying the silence but he needed to know more about her.

Marissa nodded. "Yeah. Literature and Creative Writing." She replied. "You?" she asked.

"Architecture." He replied simply.

"Do you like it?" Marissa asked wanting to know more about him.

Ryan nodded. "Love it. I never had to make a choice." He shrugged. "It's all I've ever wanted to do." He explained.

Marissa smiled. "You're lucky. I really had no idea for a long time. Even now, I'm not sure if I've chosen the right thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing. There's nothing I love more than burying myself in a good book. But I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with it when I finish. Whereas you know exactly where you're headed."

"Yeah. Newport." He replied smiling at the thought of her with her head buried in a book.

"Newport?" she queried.

"Yeah. I've got an internship lined up with a development company there for when I finish here." He explained.

"Wow. You really do know where you're headed. I … on the other hand … have no idea."

"What would you like to do?" Ryan asked.

"You'll laugh if I tell you." She stated.

"I won't. I promise. Although if it involves wearing a Ronald McDonald outfit and changing you hair colour to bright red then I can't promise that I won't snigger a little." Ryan suggested light heartedly.

Marissa laughed. "I assure you that it doesn't involve changing my hair colour."

"Good." Ryan said and he slowly reached over and picked up a few strands of her hair and gently entwined it in his fingers. "It's perfect just the way that it is." He said softly.

Marissa had never realised that there were nerve endings in her hair but she would swear that she could feel him touching her through the tips of her hair. Her breathing became laboured as he continued to twirl it through his fingers until he suddenly dropped it.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have …" Ryan said embarrassedly. How could he lose himself in a lock of hair? He really needed to get a grip.

Marissa took a moment and then relaxed a little now that the connection had been broken. "It's fine." She said, still amazed at the effect that this guy had on her. "I'm glad that you're not in to bright red." She teased as she realised his discomfit. It was good to know that he was at least a little nervous too.

---

The time passed quickly. Too quickly. They talked about all sorts of things and it seemed like they'd only just arrived when the waitress came to tell them that they were closing in a few minutes.

They were both surprised when they looked around and realised that they were the only ones still there. Neither of them had noticed when everyone else had left. They had been too enthralled in one another.

Ryan knew that he wanted … no NEEDED … to see more of this girl. He wanted to spend more time with her. She was like a drug that he couldn't get enough of.

Marissa knew that she was completely confused. She'd never enjoyed herself more with a guy than she had in the last couple of hours and yet she was still petrified by the thought of what he might expect from her. She knew that she wasn't ready for him.

"I guess that we'd better be going before they throw us out." Ryan suggested as he stood up.

Marissa nodded. And went to slide out from behind the booth and Ryan held out his hand to help her.

Marissa kindly accepted it and as their hands touched for the first time they both were shocked by the jolt of electricity that shot through them.

Marissa pulled away as if she had been burnt and Ryan didn't know what to say. He'd never felt anything like this before.

He quickly covered his shock by pulling some bills from his wallet as his heart raced. Placing them on the table, he turned to escort her from the diner, making sure to keep his distance and still wondering about what had just happened but trying to appear cool, calm and collected. No girl had ever had this sort of effect on him before.

Marissa was still quietly flexing her hand contemplating the effect that touching him had brought on. She'd read in romance novels about sparks between people but she'd thought that they were merely a figment of someone's over zealous imagination. She'd never believed that they were a physical fact. She was sure that the current that had shot between them was so strong, that it could have lit up the room. Her heart was still pounding and she just knew that she had to get away from him as quickly as she could. She needed time to process this new and profound discovery. She glanced at him but he seemed to have taken it all in his stride. Obviously this was just something else that proved that she really was no match for him in any way, shape or form.

The thought depressed her.

They made their way back to the car park of the gym, both lost with their own thoughts. They kept a safe distance between one another as they tried to come to terms with what was happening between them.

Marissa unlocked her car and was about to hop in when Ryan asked. "Would you like to do something tomorrow?"

She looked at him and he could see something almost like panic in her eyes.

"I can't. I have work." She explained and proceeded to get in to her car.

He was holding the door of her car open and he tried again. "Tomorrow night? After work?" Ryan suggested, not prepared to take no for an answer.

Marissa could see that he wasn't going to let her go easily and yet she knew that she couldn't get into something with him yet. Not until she'd sorted her self out.

Marissa shook her head again. "I'm sorry. Not yet." She said and started the car.

Ryan stood there stunned. He'd thought that things were going so well.

Marissa closed the door and wound down the window. She could see that he was disappointed and yet she knew that she had no other choice. She looked at him and he was sure that he could see the regret in her eyes. It seemed that she was silently pleading with him to understand and he wondered what it was that was preventing her from saying yes. He'd swear that the attraction between them was mutual and yet she still wouldn't go out with him.

"I'm sorry." She repeated. "It's too soon." She looked like she was about to cry as she started the car and drove off. Ryan stood perfectly still as he watched the lights from her car disappear into the distance.

Eventually, turning to his car, he tried to run over everything that had happened between them. It had all been going so well. Or at least he'd thought it was. Why couldn't she go out with him? Did she have a boyfriend? It was the only thing that he could think of.

Or maybe she had recently broken up with someone and she thought that it was too soon to get involved again.

As he ran that idea over in his mind he found it much more palatable than the idea of her with another guy.

But if that was the case then he just needed to let her know that he didn't want to rush her. He was prepared to take all the time in the world as long as they could still spend time together.

After spending just a few hours in her company, the thought of even a day without her in it seemed to stretch before him like a lonely wasteland.

---

After another restless night, Marissa got ready for work at the library with a new resolve.

After fleeing from Ryan the previous night (and she had decided that 'fleeing' was the only thing you could call it, such was her haste to get away from him) she had spent the first few hours in bed thinking about the time that she'd spent with him and running over everything that he'd said in her mind. She had never been so attracted to a guy before in her life. He was everything she'd ever wanted.

But spending time with him had just confirmed her earlier suspicion. He was the guy that she wanted to be with. But not just for one night. He was the guy that she wanted as a boyfriend. And she wasn't prepared to risk losing him just because she was inexperienced. The memories of her time with Spencer Wyatt were still much too vivid in her mind.

And so she had then spent the next few hours in bed deciding what she should do.

Having her plan firmly fixed in her mind she set off for work, prepared to ask the first half decent guy she saw to go to Steve's party tonight. She hadn't quite worked out how she could guarantee that he would want to sleep with her but she figured that if she borrowed one of Molloy's 'slutty outfits' (as Molly liked to call the couple of items that she had that were especially chosen to make a guys eyes pop out), and made sure that he had a few drinks then she should be able to close the deal. After all she reasoned, weren't men supposed to be interested all the time?

---

It was nearly lunchtime and still Marissa hadn't found anyone to ask. It seemed like today was 'couples day' at the library and any guy half decent was already attached to a girl. And a couple of others were attached to guys, she noted.

She wondered if she was being too fussy. But she didn't think so. She knew that no one was going to measure up to Ryan and so she had never expected to find someone like him.

She had ruled out one guy because he was so big that she figured that he would crush her if he was on top. And some how she imagined that was the way that they'd do it. She thought that it was the 'normal' position and she didn't imagine for a second that she would be adventurous – at least not for the first time. When/if she ever got together with Ryan then she could imagine all sorts of things. She blushed at just the thought. But she really needed to learn to walk before she attempted to run.

She had also ruled out a guy that had bad skin. She shivered just thinking about it. He was all lumpy and bumpy and she didn't know if it was confined to just his face but she'd decided that she didn't want to investigate the rest of his body just in case.

And then there was the scruffy guy with the greasy hair. He wasn't bad to look at but she'd ruled him out because she figured that if his personal cleanliness was bad then no doubt where he lived would be just as bad if not worse and the since the other decision that she'd come to, was that they would do the deed at his place, he wasn't a possibility either.

Her plan was that she would pick him up in her car and take him to Steve's party. There, she'd make sure that he had a few drinks to loosen up while she of course had none. (She had no intention of a repeat performance of the Spencer debacle.)

She would then drive him home where she would accept his invitation for coffee. They would do the deed and then she could drive home to her own place whenever she felt ready. (Which at this point she thought would be very soon after.)

The other alternative of them doing it at her place was unappealing on many levels. Firstly, he would leave his mark on her sanctuary and she didn't like the idea of that at all and secondly, she had no idea what she could do to get rid of him once she was finished. She hated the idea that he might think that he could stay the night. She only wanted him for one thing and once that was over she didn't want him to get any ideas about them being 'a couple'. No, she thought it was much better that she be able to leave whenever she wanted.

She already knew that she wanted Ryan. She just needed to get ready for him. Okay so she'd still be a novice but at least she would know exactly how the pieces fit together. She would have some idea of what she was doing. And ultimately, she wanted to be able to please him. She didn't want him to be disappointed in her.

---

Ryan had had another restless night. He kept running over Marissa's words in his head and wondering exactly what the reasons were behind them.

He'd state his life on the fact that the attraction was mutual and yet she'd basically run away.

She had said 'not yet' and 'it's too soon'.

Why 'not yet'? he wondered again for the umpteenth time.

Whatever or whoever was stopping her from spending time with him, he knew that he needed to find out the whole story. Maybe then he'd be able to come up with a plan to change things.

He decided to head off to the gym again. She had said that she had work today and even though he knew that Molly didn't work on Saturdays, he figured that maybe Marissa was filling in for Mia for some reason.

If nothing else, he figured that this obsession he had for her was certainly going to help his fitness. It seemed that the gym had become his second home ever since he'd met her.

---

A short time later, Marissa was shelving books in the IT section when she noticed a guy sitting on his own, working on a laptop. She walked around the table to get a better look at him and found nothing offensive. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up and after checking her out, he smiled.

She decided that, just maybe, this would be the one. He seemed fairly clean cut, no braces that she could tell, a bit scrawny but at this point she remembered the old saying that 'beggars can't be choosers.' All in all he was definitely the best that she'd seen so far and she was running out of time and so thinking only of Ryan, she took a deep breath and approached the guy.

"Hi. I'm Marissa." She introduced herself.

He smiled. "Um. Hi. Greg." He answered.

Great. Definitely no braces, Marissa thought to herself. So far, so good. "Would you like to go to a party tonight?" she asked.

He quickly looked around, thinking that her question must have been directed to someone else. Was this hot chick really talking to him? When he realised that there was no one else about he looked back at her. "You mean me?"

"Yeah. If you have nothing else on." Marissa replied.

He looked blankly at her for a moment and Marissa all of a sudden realised a flaw with her plan that she needed to clear up straight away. "Unless you have a girlfriend." She had no intention of splitting up some couple just to fix her own problem.

He shook his head. "Me? A girlfriend?" he asked almost as if he found the idea ridiculous.

"Or boyfriend." She added, feeling that the holes in her plan were quickly surfacing.

He quickly shook his head again to reassure her. "No. Definitely no boyfriend … or girlfriend."

Marissa took that as a very good sign. "Okay then. So. Will you come?" she asked again.

"Um. I guess so." He replied hesitantly. "Are you just looking to rent a crowd?" he asked.

Marissa realised that he probably thought that she was some poor pathetic loser that needed to get strangers to come along to her party otherwise no one would turn up but that wasn't the case. (Well maybe the poor pathetic loser bit was right, she thought, but he didn't need to know that.)

"No. A friend's having a party and he told me to bring someone." She explained.

"So … I'm actually going to be going … with you?" Greg asked for clarification. He'd thought that maybe she actually had some ugly friend that she was going to be ditching him on to. He couldn't imagine why Marissa wouldn't already have a boyfriend. She was obviously way out of his league. That is if he even had a league. "Not just going … going?" he asked. Maybe he was just making up numbers.

Marissa nodded. She realised that she hadn't explained herself very well at the start. "Yeah. If that's okay?"

Greg couldn't believe his luck. He was tempted to ask to take a photo of her on his phone just to show his friends because he didn't think that they would ever believe him. And he was scared that she'd change her mind. "Sure. Um. Where should I pick you up?" he asked.

"You don't. I'll pick you up." Marissa instructed. She knew she needed to be in control. "Just give me your address and I'll see you about 8." She said feeling very pleased with herself that at least the first part of the plan was taken care of.

---

Ryan's visit to the gym had been a complete waste of time. Mia had no idea who Marissa even was. And … she'd tried to come on to Ryan as well … suggesting that if he was looking for a date for the night then she'd be more than happy to oblige.

Ryan quickly killed that little idea on the head but she certainly didn't give up easily and he had ended up making a hasty exit, taking note to remind himself not to frequent the gym on the weekends ever again.

So, Marissa must have some other job.

He was kicking him self that in their discussions last night, it was never mentioned. He was sure that he would have remembered it, if it had been. He had no idea how else he could get in contact with her.

And he didn't want to wait until Monday evening.

The only other possibility was that she might go to Steve's birthday party tonight. She obviously knew some of the gym staff. And they were all fairly friendly (Mia more friendly than most, he thought to himself shuddering at the memory). So Steve and Shannon would probably have invited Marissa along as well.

Of course whether she intended to attend or not, he had no idea. She certainly hadn't mentioned it when he'd suggested seeing her.

But Ryan was supposed to be going to another party with Luke tonight; To Jake's - one of Luke's water polo friends. And after not turning up to the game last Tuesday when he cried off to go in search of Marissa, he knew that he had to at least make an appearance or there would be hell to pay.

But Marissa was more important. He decided that he'd make an appearance at Jake's – stay for a couple of hours and then sneak out and head over to Steve's. It was worth a try if there was a chance that Marissa would be there.