A/N: Just thought that I should let you know that I think there will be only 3 more chapters after this one. I may change my mind but probably not. Chapter 23 will be Friday night. Chapter 24 will be the weekend and Chapter 25 will be the party. Enjoy!

Chapter 22

Kirsten checked her watch again. Ryan had called to say that he was running a little late but she knew that he shouldn't be too far away now. She'd suggested that she would wait for him in Starbuck's and she was flicking through a magazine wondering what sort of thing he would want to get Marissa when he came in and sat opposite her.

"Hey. Sorry about that. Traffic was a bummer."

Kirsten smiled. "It's no problem." She quickly pushed a coffee in front of him. "I thought that you would probably need one too." She suggested. "Plus while you drink it we can come up with a plan of attack."

"Attack? I just thought that we were shopping." Ryan replied naively.

"Oh. Ryan. Thanks good ness you called in the help of a professional." Kirsten laughed. "This sort of thing requires careful planning. So what are we looking for?"

"That's what I'd thought that you could come up with. And then I'd just pay for it." He explained hopefully.

"Oh No no no." Kirsten said shaking her head. "That wouldn't do at all. She doesn't want a gift from me ... although that's not a bad idea … I should get her something too." She added as an aside.

"You don't need to." Ryan quickly commented.

"But I'd like to." Kirsten replied. "But that's not important right now. What is important is your gift. But it needs to be from you. I'm happy to come up with ideas but the final decision has to be yours."

"Okay. So what are the ideas?" Ryan asked.

"Well … before I can offer any suggestions, you're going to have to tell me just what this girl means to you … otherwise I'll have no chance of getting it right. It seems that I read everything wrong the other day." She looked at Ryan and earnestly apologised. "I wish I could take it all back. I'm sorry that I assumed that you were sleeping together. You just seemed so …" Kirsten searched for the word and finally added "right … together."

"That's okay. It feels 'right' when I'm with her." Ryan admitted. "And I'm sure that if we'd known one another a little longer then your assumptions would have probably been correct." He admitted sheepishly.

Kirsten frowned. They had seemed so comfortable together that she'd assumed that they had been together for quite some time. "How long have you known her?" she asked puzzled.

Ryan thought for a minute and then replied. "I met her 2 weeks ago and we've been seeing each other since last Monday. So 8 days."

"Oh My." Kirsten replied aghast. "No wonder you haven't slept together yet if you've only been together for that long. I just assumed …" she started and then added. "There I go assuming again. You'd think that I would have learnt how much trouble that can get me into. So you'd only been going out for what? … 6 days when you brought her home. No wonder you weren't sleeping together. You'd have to have set some sort of record if you had done it by then." She added.

Ryan smiled as he thought about the 12 minute record but decided that it was something that he didn't need to share.

"Yeah. So …" he was feeling a little uncomfortable. He knew that he could confide in Kirsten. If he asked her to she would even keep things from Sandy although Ryan would never expect her to do that. But it still wasn't easy for him to talk about his feelings for Marissa.

Kirsten watched the expressions flit across Ryan's face. Over the years she had gotten much better at being able to read him. "But I was right in assuming that you like her?"

Ryan sipped his coffee and nodded self-consciously.

"A lot?" Kirsten added.

Ryan nodded again. "Is it that obvious?"

"I thought that you were both obvious. The way that you looked at one another. The way that you were around one another." She smiled. "This doesn't look like a passing fling." She stated.

"It doesn't feel like it either." Ryan admitted.

"So it's serious?" Kirsten asked.

"As serious as it can be after 8 days." Ryan shrugged. "I just ..." he sought the right words to explain. He looked at Kirsten and hesitated and then said. "When I broke up with Taylor …" he fiddled with his cup and then went on "It wasn't because I didn't like her anymore. I did. We had fun together and I needed that then. I'd sort of forgotten how to. But after a while … it was just …" Ryan thought back. He and Taylor had certainly been sexually compatible. And that wasn't all there was to it but … He started to speak again trying to explain. "Somehow or other when I imagined myself in years to come … I just didn't see Taylor there with me. It was like we were filling in time while we were together. I didn't really know where I expected to be but I imagined her future in France and mine here." He explained. "So it seemed better to finish it before either one of us got too attached."

Kirsten nodded. She didn't want to speak because she was scared that it would break Ryan's concentration. He was obviously trying to tell her something and she wanted to hear him out. She wanted to hear it all.

"But Marissa." He sighed. "Ever since I first met her … I can't think of anything else. When I think of the future she is always there with me. And I don't care where it is. If she told me tomorrow that she was leaving for France then I'd be packing to go with her. Even though I've only known her a short time, I can't imagine my life without her." He looked up at Kirsten. "Is that …." He asked, scared to say the word.

Kirsten smiled and nodded. "It certainly sounds like it might be." She said and went quiet as thoughts of her past flowed over her. She looked up at Ryan and said softly "It actually sounds a lot like how I felt when I met Sandy." She explained. "We were from such different worlds and there was a part of me that accepted that it would be difficult to make it work. But I knew that we would. I couldn't imagine life without him. Hell …" she laughed. "I went from Newport princess to living in the back of a mail truck. What more proof do you need that I was prepared to do anything so long as we could be together?"

Ryan smiled. He'd forgotten about the mail truck stories. "It's a bit like that. So yeah … I need this gift to tell her how important she is to me." he said and then quickly added. "But I don't know how she feels and it's all so new that I don't want to scare her off."

"From what I saw I don't think that's likely to happen." Kirsten replied. "But I get the message. No engagement rings. No love hearts. But something to let her know that you care."

Ryan smiled. "A lot."

Kirsten laughed. "Okay. A lot." She confirmed. "But have you finished there?" she asked, indicating his coffee. "We need to get going. We've got things to do."

"Sure." He said draining his cup and standing up. "Lead on."

---

Marissa was busily trying to get everything ready. It was Wednesday evening and Molly had already left for her shift at the gym. Marissa hadn't managed any alone time with Ryan since his revelations on Monday evening when Luke had wandered in on them. She knew that it had taken a lot for him to go back and revisit something that was obviously painful to him and she needed to let him know that it made no difference to her.

Well it did make a difference she corrected herself ... but only because she now realised why he had wanted them to wait. And she wanted to let him know that she understood. Better than that … she was glad that he had made them wait. Because she knew that when it happened it would mean so much more. But Luke and Molly had been around at lunch times and last night Ryan had insisted that he had other plans. "Shopping" plans he'd reassured her when she'd laughingly accused him of seeing someone else and then he'd readily admitted that he was seeing someone else … he was meeting Kirsten. And since she knew that her birthday was the reason for the shopping trip she could hardly complain.

But that had only led her to invite him to her place for dinner this evening. The time was slowly ticking by until her birthday … and even though she knew that nothing was going to happen tonight she still wanted to spend time with him. Who was she kidding? If she could have it her way, she would have spent all of her time with him. It seemed that ever since she'd met him, her mind could think of little else but when the next time she would be able to see him. Whatever time they did spend together never seemed to be enough. Thinking about it Marissa reached for her phone and dialled.

"Hey?" came the voice that could make her melt with one small word.

"Hey?"

"Please don't tell me that you're cancelling?" Ryan asked. He couldn't wait to see her.

Marissa smiled. "Far from it." She replied.

"Then what's the call for? Because it's only delaying my getting to you. I was just walking out the door." He explained. "Do you need me to pick up something on the way?" he asked.

"No. Dinner's almost ready." Marissa replied. "But I was just wondering …"

Ryan could sense her hesitation. "Wondering what?"

Marissa started to feel anxious. Was she getting ahead of herself for even thinking of suggesting it? Maybe he'd think that she was coming on too strong. "I know that we're not going to 'DO' anything until my birthday." She assured him. She didn't want him to imagine that dinner tonight would be anything like last week. She'd well and truly learnt her lesson from that. "But …"

Ryan wondered where this was going. "But?"

"But I just wondered if you might like to bring your toothbrush with you?" she asked. She could feel the blush rising up her face as soon as the words left her mouth.

Ryan smiled. "You're asking me for a sleepover?"

Marissa blushed even more but she couldn't help but smile. He made it sound like they were going to get together and paint their toe nails. "I guess. If you want to?" she offered. "We don't have to do anything. But we did prove on Saturday night that we can sleep in the same bed and keep our hands to ourselves." She reminded him.

"Maybe that was because Sandy and Kirsten were under the same roof?" he teased.

"From what I can gather, that hasn't held you back before, if what Kirsten told me is anything to go by." Marissa teased back.

Now it was Ryan who blushed. He had no idea exactly what Marissa and Kirsten had spoken about but he was pretty sure that he didn't want to know. It seemed that his love life had been a major topic of conversation.

Marissa smiled sensing her words had embarrassed him. "I gather one of your previous partners was a little … noisy?" she offered up wanting Ryan to know that it wasn't him that she was referring to.

Ryan knew that she meant Taylor. He'd tried to get Taylor to be quiet but it was impossible. He would have needed to gag her to get her to keep the volume down. "I'm not going there." He said wanting to finish any conversations about previous conquests that could only end badly … at least for him.

"Maybe it's just that I wasn't as enticing a bed partner as you've previously had, that enabled you to do it so easily." Marissa suggested looking for a compliment. She certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"You know that's not true." He said truthfully. "You're very enticing. 'Bewitching' might be closer to the truth."

She smiled, happy that he'd reassured her. "So what do you think?" she asked.

"I think that I'd love to spend the night with you." He said, imagining being able to hold her close but knowing that it was likely to take all his powers of restraint to keep his hands off her.

Marissa smiled, she could hardly wait. "So … I'll see you soon?" she asked.

"Just as soon as I can pick up my toothbrush." He answered.

---

Dinner had been eaten, the dishes were done and put away and Ryan and Marissa were sitting cuddled up in front of the television.

"There's not much on." Marissa admitted changing the channel yet again. "Maybe we could find something else to do." She looked at him … raising one eyebrow and making sure that he got her drift.

"Exactly what are you suggesting? I thought that we were going to be well behaved?" Ryan asked.

The smile on Marissa's face grew. "Who said anything about being well behaved? I just said that I knew that we weren't going to do 'IT'. I never promised to be well behaved." She teased as she moved on to his lap and began covering his face with tiny kisses. "You know … things are clear again so I thought that maybe we could practice a few of the tricks that you showed me last week?"

Ryan chuckled. "I've never thought of them as tricks." He admitted. "And I do have to admit that I wasn't expecting this but …" he shrugged. "Far be it from me to deny you the chance to practice. Although I have to admit that I'm a little scared about being able to hold out if you insist on playing around."

"Maybe I'm not playing?" Marissa suggested, the playfulness momentarily deserting her.

Ryan was stunned. He wanted her so much. But they'd waited this long. Surely he could last a little longer. "So … What do you have in mind?"

"I thought that maybe we could get ready for bed." She stated sounding oh so innocent.

"And how do we do that?" Ryan asked, suspecting that there was more to it.

"By having a bath?" Marissa suggested. "Together." She added watching the look on his face closely. "Just to relax us before we go to bed."

Ryan could feel his dick spring to attention. He suspected that sharing a bath with her would be excruciatingly painful and yet glorious all at the same time but he told himself that he would survive. He smiled trying to get himself under control. "I'm not sure about the relaxing part but a bath sounds good." He said softly kissing her.

Marissa moved on his lap feeling his body's reaction to her proposition through the fabric of his jeans. "Maybe I can find a way to relax you." She suggested as she moved off his lap, took his hand and pulled him behind her. "Let's go see what we can do about it then?"

---

Much later they lay entwined in Marissa's bed. Ryan had insisted upon clothes much to Marissa's dismay but he had assured her that he couldn't be held responsible for his actions if he woke up in the middle of the night with her naked beside him. At least if he had to rid her of her clothes then it may slow him down enough that he would have a chance to get himself under control. After waiting this long he wanted to make sure that they both remembered the occasion and that it didn't happen in some sleep befuddled dream.

And so Marissa was dutifully dressed in her flannel pyjamas with Ryan in boxers and wife beater … but that didn't keep them from holding one another close. Marissa was on her side, her head resting on his chest and her arm lying over his torso holding him. His arm was around her holding her tightly to him and he could smell the scent of her shampoo as it filled his senses. He would never tire of it. A feeling of togetherness enshrouded them.

Marissa had never felt more at peace. She was sure that the 'activities' in the bath had helped her. A post orgasmic lethargy had invaded her being and she wanted nothing more than to stay entwined with him. "This was a good idea." She said thankful that she had decided to make the call to invite him to stay.

"Definitely one of your best." Ryan agreed.

"Maybe you could stay over tomorrow as well?" she suggested, thinking that if she had her way he would never leave.

Ryan hesitated. "I have a few things to do tomorrow." He replied knowing that he still had a number of items that he needed to pick up to complete Marissa's surprise. There were a few things that he'd chosen not to buy while he was shopping with Kirsten, as they may have brought on another bout of questions. He'd figured that Kirsten didn't need to know ALL of his plans. "Plus didn't you want to finish off your assignment?" he asked.

Marissa had an assignment that was due on Monday morning that she wanted to hand in on Friday because she didn't want to spend the weekend worrying about it. "Yeah. I did. But I'd rather be with you."

"I'd like that too but sometimes we need to do these things." He pointed out. "Maybe you could keep Friday night free and we could do something?"

"I'll have to check my schedule." She said pertly, knowing that there was nothing more important than spending time with him.

"You do that." He smiled as he replied, aware that she was teasing him. "But it would be good to get you assignment out of the way. Then you can have the weekend off in peace. It will be worth it." He reasoned.

"I guess." She replied. But she couldn't help but wish that things could be different. She would miss him.

She could sense that he was close to sleep. She could feel that his whole body had relaxed and his breathing was evening out. She still hadn't spoken to him about what he'd revealed to her on Monday night and now seemed as good a time as any to bring it up, before he fell asleep and it would be too late. "You know how you wanted to wait?"

Ryan pulled himself back from the edge of sleep wondering where this was leading to. "Yeah."

"Well I just wanted to tell you that you were right." She said.

Ryan didn't reply. Partly because he was too tired to string the words together and partly because he didn't think that there was much to be gained by him saying anything.

"What I was trying to do was wrong. I do want it to mean something. And it will. As long as it's with you." She stated plainly. "And … it doesn't have to happen on my birthday if you're not ready." She added.

Ryan tensed a little. Had he waited too long? Was she changing her mind?

She went on. "I know that my being a virgin is putting pressure on you. I understand that now and I'm happy to wait for you until you're okay with it." She explained. "For as long as you want." She added and then explained "Because I don't want to do it with anyone else." She said and silently added 'ever' in her own mind. "I just want you to know that I'm ready whenever you are."

Ryan pulled her even closer if that was possible. Her words were like precious gifts. They were what he had been waiting to hear all along. She wanted him and only him. "I'll be ready." He said softly.

He would do everything in his power to make things perfect for her.

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