The next morning I woke up to a knock on my door.
"Yeah" I called still not fully awake yet. The door swung open to reveal Ethan. I could tell he had just woken up too because his short brown hair stood straight up in several places.
"You got a visitor." He said before moving aside to let someone past him. The second I saw his blue eyes enter my room my heart started beating a little faster.
"Thanks Ethan" I said sitting up in bed so that I could see Ryan better. Ethan just nodded his head and then left, shutting the door behind him. We both just looked at each other for a moment before Ryan spoke.
"I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean what I said." He told me as he came over to stand by my bed.
"I know. I'm sorry too it's just Jake is one of my best friends and if this is going to work with us you have to understand and accept that." I told him he just nodded. I smiled at him and held my hand out to him. He took it and I slowly pulled him down next to me. He kicked off his shoes and crawled under the blankets with me. I curled up next to him, my head resting on his chest.
"What do you want to do today?" he asked me his fingers brushing across my shoulder.
"Nothing, I just want to lay here with you." I said sitting up slightly so that I could see his face. He smiled at me.
"That sounds perfect." He said before leaning down and placing a feather light kiss on my lips. I laid my head back down on his chest and after only a few moments fell back asleep. A while later I woke up to my phone buzzing. I had a new text message from Max.
'Hey Jake and me were going to go see a movie you want to go?' I typed him a short reply that I wasn't feeling very well and that I was just going to stay home today and then switched my phone off before turning back towards Ryan's still sleeping form.
His chest moved up and down slowly emphasizing the fact that he was in a deep sleep. Wanting to feel his skin against mine I slowly unbuttoned his black shirt pushing the pieces of fabric away from his perfect chest. I laid my head back down closing my eyes as I slowly traced patterns across his stomach with my fingertips.
"That tickles" he voice startled me a little.
"I thought you were asleep." I said leaning over him more so that my lips were only inches away from his.
"I was" he said before pulling my face closer to his, our lips crashing together. All of my worries and fears from last night vanished the second our lips met. I melted under his touch. He rolled over then so that his body hovered over mine. I pushed his loose shirts off of his shoulders and tossed it across the room. My hands then went down and unbuttoned his shorts pushing them down his legs before kicking them to the floor. Ryan pulled my shirt up off me and was about to unhook my bra when my door swung open again, but this time is wasn't my brother on the other side.
"Dude I'm telling you it looks just like Ryan's car…" Max was saying as he walked into my room, Jake following close behind him. The second they saw Ryan and me together they froze. Jake just stood there for a second before he spoke.
"We thought we would bring by a couple of movies since you weren't felling good, but it seems that you are felling much better now." He turned to leave then, Max following close behind. I grabbed my shirt from where Ryan had thrown it and then chased after them.
"Jake, Max, wait! Let me explain!" I shouted as I ran outside after them.
"What the hell is there to explain Amanda? The guy is a bastard, hell he came after me just yesterday and here you are screwing him behind my back. I thought we were friends!" Jake said as he stood next to Max's car.
"It's not like that Jake, I think I…" I started to say but Jake cut me off.
"Don't you dare say you love him!" he shouted.
"What if I do?" I screamed back. "Haven't you ever cared about someone so much, but never understood why?" he just looked at me for a second before climbing into the car.
"From this moment on we are no longer friends." He said simply his words cutting me to the bone. I stood there frozen to the spot and watched them drive away. I felt my tears start to form again. I swear people have got to stop making me cry. I walked back inside then and headed upstairs to my room.
When I got there Ryan was still sitting on the bed. He looked at me as I walked in, my tears wet on my cheeks.
"You okay?" he asked, I just shook my head no and then climbed back into bed. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked his voice low. I looked up at him.
"No, I just want you to hold me for a while." I told him. He lay back down and then pulled me in tight next to him. I laid my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. I laid there for a while before speaking.
"Ryan" I whispered.
"Yeah" he said just as softly.
"I think I'm falling in love with you." I told him, he was quiet for a moment but then he responded.
"I think I'm falling in love with you too." He said before kissing the top of my head. I dozed off then, a smile on my face.
Have you ever had one of those moments where you felt like everyone was staring at you? Well in my case they actually were. When I walked into school on Monday all eyes were on me, but then again that might be because I was walking hand in hand with Ryan.
Everyone knew that I was, or had been at least, Jake Tyler's best friend. Speaking of Jake he and Max just turned the corner in front of us. The second they saw me they stopped. Jake had a look of disgust on his face, but Max gave me a sympathetic smile and then followed Jake when he walked away.
I instantly felt bad again. Ryan must have noticed my mood change because he just squeezed my hand lightly and then continued down the hall. Lunch was worse though. I used to sit with Jake and Max everyday but now I couldn't and unfortunately Ryan didn't have the same lunch as I did today. So I just went out and sat on the bleachers overlooking the football stadium.
"You okay?" I heard a familiar voice ask me, I turned to see Baja walking towards me.
"Not really" I said smiling slightly.
"I heard about what happened." She said as she sat down next to me.
"What should I do? Jake won't even look at me." I told her.
"Just tell him the truth. He's probably more upset about the fact that you hid it from him."
"How about you, did you talk to him yet?" I asked trying to change the subject.
"Yes and I'm glad I did." She said smiling. I was about to say something else but the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. We both left the bleachers then and slowly made our way back into the school.
"Promise me one thing." Baja said before we had to go our separate ways.
"What?"
"Talk to Jake" she said smiling before she headed down the hall. I pulled out my phone then and typed a quick message to Jake. 'Meet me by my car after school. We need to talk' I hit send and then headed off in the direction of my next class. The rest of the day felt like it drug on but finally the bell rang signaling the end of school for the day.
I was one of the first ones out of the classroom but I didn't make it very far, almost as soon as I had walked out of the classroom a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist.
"Hey baby, how was your day?" Ryan asked his voice deep and seductive.
"It was okay I guess." I couldn't help but smile at him.
"You want to come back to my house. Some of the guys are coming over."
"I'm sorry baby that sounds fun, but I have something I have to do." I didn't go into much detail knowing he would be upset about me going to meet Jake, but it was something I had to do. I could tell he was bummed by my answer so I smiled at him and then added to my answer.
"But I could come by in like an hour." I said. He smiled this time.
"Okay, I'll see you then." He said before pressing his lips to mine once before heading towards the parking lot. I had parked on the other side of the school so I turned and headed in the opposite direction.
When I reached my truck I threw my books on the backseat and then walked around and lowered the tailgate. I hopped up onto it and waited for Jake. He showed up after about ten minutes and just stood there looking at me for a second.
"I'm glad you came." I told him.
"Max told me I would have to ride the bus from now on if I didn't." he said as he moved to sit next to me on the tailgate.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out about me and Ryan that way." I said looking down at my hands.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked looking at me.
"I guess I was afraid of how you would act." I said laughing at the irony of my statement. Jake laughed too.
"Why Ryan?"
"Honestly I have no idea. There is just something about him."
"Like that he is insane?" Jake asked laughing.
"No, that's not what I meant. I feel different with him, but a good different. Like I found my other half kind of different." I said.
"I can't understand what you see in him." Jake said.
"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to accept it." I told him as I reached up and rested my hand on his shoulder.
"Well I guess I could do that." He said, he checked his watch then and hopped down off the tailgate, I did the same.
"Hey, Max and I were going to meet up with Baja and go get something to drink. Do you want to come?" he asked smiling at me. I checked my phone I had maybe twenty minutes left before I was supposed to meet up with Ryan.
So if I went with Jake I would be cutting it really close, but I did want to go. As long as I didn't stay to long I would be okay. I told Jake I would go but that I couldn't stay long. I followed Max to the coffee shop and then followed them inside. Baja was already there and she had a friend with her.
We all sat down and talked for a while before my phone rang. I answered it without looking at the number.
"Hello" I answered still laughing from something Max had said.
"Where are you baby you're twenty minutes late?" Ryan's voice said on the other line. I quickly left the table and walked over to the counter.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry baby I lost track of time. I'm leaving right now okay I'll be there in five minutes."
"Okay I'll see you when you get here." Ryan said before ending the call. I was about to turn around and head back to the table to say goodbye when Max walked up next to me.
"Hey could you tell everyone bye for me I have to go." I said but Max wasn't paying attention to me his eyes were glued to his phone. "Earth to Max" I said waving my hand in front of his face. He looked up at me then a huge smile on his face.
"What?" I asked. He held his phone up so I could see the screen. It was an anonymous text saying the beat down was tomorrow night at club zero. My heart lurched. My eyes went straight to Jake and then to my phone. Ryan would know by now to.
"Jake man come here." Max said getting Jakes attention. Jake stood up and walked over to where we were standing.
"I have to go." I said before rushing out to my car and speeding off in the direction of Ryan's house.
When I got to Ryan's house I noticed that there were at least six cars, if not more, parked out front. I walked up to the front door and just let myself in. I heard laughter coming from out back so I headed out the back doors.
When I finally found everybody I noticed that there had to be at least twenty people there. Most of them were girls in there barely there bikinis and several of them we staring at Ryan. Who was working out with Eric and Aaron, I think that's his name, over near the bar.
"Hey baby" I said as I walked over to Ryan. He stopped his workout long enough to pull me to him and capture my lips with his. After we broke apart Ryan went back to his workout while I walked over to the bar. There was an older man probably around fifty mixing drinks and I would bet my life savings that he was Ryan's dad. Not two seconds later Mr. McCarthy offered Aaron a drink, which he politely declined.
"Come on, don't be a sissy, have a drink with me…" he started but Ryan cut him off.
"Dad, I think we're good." Ryan said stopping his workout again. I watched then as Ryan's dad got right up into his face. I couldn't hear what he was saying but I did see him smack Ryan. He said something else and then went inside the house.
I walked over to where Ryan was. He just stood there, like he was lost in thought. I moved closer to him and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. He looked at me then. I smiled at him and then kissed his cheek where his dad had slapped him. He put his arms around me then. He held me for a few seconds before Eric opened his big mouth.
"You guys hear about Jake Tyler dropping out of the beat down." Ryan pulled away from me then.
"What, why?" he asked moving towards Aaron and Eric.
"Probably doesn't want to get his ass beat again." Aaron said laughing.
"Not the word on the street." I heard Eric mumble under his breath.
"Oh really, well what is the word on the street?" Ryan asked his words harsh. He emphasized his point by hitting Eric on the chest after every word. Eric didn't say anything instead a girl sitting at the bar did.
"Word on the street is that he can kick your ass." She said smiling, but her smile vanished the second she saw the look on Ryan's face. He was beyond pissed now. A few minutes later Ryan led me inside, and then out to my car.
"Me and the guys are going to be training tonight and most of tomorrow so I doubt you want to be here for that." He said smiling at me.
"Okay will you do something for me though?" I asked him as I leaned back onto my car, pulling him close to me.
"Anything" he said his lips inches away from mine.
"Since I won't get to see you tonight…." I said putting emphasis on the word see, "will you at least call me?" I asked before leaning as close as I could to his lips without touching them. He smirked at me.
"Yes mam" he said chuckling softly before pressing his lips to mine. My hands ran down his amazing skin. He broke the kiss after a few minutes.
"Talk to you later baby" He said before kissing my lips once more and turning to head back into the house. I watched him walk away and then climbed into my truck and drove home. I spent the rest of my day doing my homework and then cleaning up my room. At about eleven I finally called it a night and climbed into my bed.
My head had only just hit my pillow when a pair of bright lights shone through my window. I climbed out of bed and walked over to look outside. I smiled when I saw Ryan's black suv parked outside. I ran over to my dresser and grabbed the new lingerie I had just bought and the matching silk robe.
I ran into the bathroom and changed quickly. I fixed my hair and threw on a little makeup before heading back out into my room. Thankfully my brother was gone for the night. I went to lie down but decided to instead meet him downstairs. I walked halfway down the stairs but stopped when I saw him walk inside. He was wearing his white shorts like he had been earlier but this time he was wearing a black shirt as well. He smiled when he saw me.
"Took you long enough" I joked. Then slowly untied the belt that held my robe closed. His eyes locked on mine and I watched him as I let the robe open and then slide off my body only to pool at my feet. I knew the black lace had been a good choice because I could see the desire etched across his face.
I watched him as he walked up the stairs towards me, his eyes still locked on mine. When he reached me he swooped down and picked me up bridal style before carrying me to my room. When we reached my bed he laid me down carefully before pulling his shirt off over his head and kicking off his shoes. He lay down on top of me then our lips only inches apart.
"I love you Ryan" I told him.
"I love you too Amanda" he said before pressing his lips to mine. That night was the most amazing night of my life. If only I had known what tomorrow would bring.