Something to Someone (Someone, Somewhere #2)

Chapter 37

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-FOUR CANDLES

Caroline

Glancing over at the clock above the stove, I hurriedly grabbed the last platter of food from the fridge and placed it on the island.

I rearranged a few plates and switched the music booming through the speakers mounted around the house. Although my friends who were joining me to celebrate my birthday would have been fine listening to my carefully curated early 2000s playlist, my parents and other family members would not.

After event planning for the better part of a decade and putting together my own parties for even longer, I had hosting down to a science. But I still couldn’t shake the nervous energy buzzing through me. It had nothing to do with the party itself, or even turning another year older and had everything to do with the fact that it was the first time I would introduce Ryder to my family as my boyfriend.

It was the natural next step, but he was the first person who had claimed that title since Jaxon, so it felt monumental.

The weeks since I’d shown up at his apartment had been better than I ever expected. Telling him about Daniel and then Jaxon was rough, but I felt like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted in the process.

After our fireworks-filled reunion, he’d asked me about Daniel. What he was like and about our relationship. It had been cathartic to talk about and even more so when Ryder asked to see the scrapbook. We’d flipped through it for a while. I explained the photos and shared a few stories.

When I got home, I’d placed it on the shelf at the top of my closet where I expected it to stay. The past was once and for all truly behind me, and apparently, it had taken Ryder fucking Calaway to help make that happen.

I glanced down at the ring on my right ring finger and smiled. When Ryder found an upgraded option, a silver band with simple, light purple stones that didn’t come out of a coin-operated vending machine, he jumped on the opportunity.

He’d picked it up a few days ago, before my birthday, but he couldn’t wait to give it to me. That night, he’d slid the box across the table at dinner with a clarification that it was absolutely not an engagement ring. Neither of us was ready for that step.

It was the sweetest gift I’d ever been given, and I never wanted to take it off.

The front door opened, and a voice boomed, “Baby, I’m home!”

I shook my head and tried to hide my smile as Ryder came around the corner with the largest bouquet of light purple flowers I’d ever seen. His smile was a mile wide, and his black hair was a mess like he’d been running his fingers through it all day.

It wasn’t until he stepped closer that I realized he was also holding a smaller, white bouquet, too. It was partially hidden behind the enormous purple one. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion but happily kissed him over the armful of flowers.

“Two bouquets?” I asked as he placed both on the counter next to the sink and slid his arms around my waist. He ushered me backward until my back hit the countertop behind me, and I had no choice but to heed his hungry kiss and exploratory hands.

The warmth and fullness in my chest still felt so new to me, but I’d finally stopped fighting it.

Ryder placed one final kiss on my lower lip and pulled back. He smiled down at me and cupped my cheek.

“Happy birthday, pretty girl.”

“You’ve already wished me happy birthday several times today.”

He shook his head and brushed his nose against mine. “And I’m bound to tell you at least ten more times before the day is over.”

He kissed me once more and stepped back. “I left the drinks in the car. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, and he jogged around the corner. Crossing the kitchen, I surveyed the large purple bouquet. It was all my favorite flowers and so large it wouldn’t fit anywhere in the kitchen. It was as heavy as I expected as I moved it to the center of the kitchen table.

Ryder reentered the kitchen with soda and beer in both hands as I turned my attention to the smaller, but no less pretty, white arrangement. He set the drinks on the counter and started organizing them in the fridge.

“So, two bouquets?” I asked.

Ryder slid the last can into place and straightened, shutting the fridge and turning to me. He leaned against the counter next to me and placed his hand against my hip. With my hands wrapped around the clear glass vase, I spun the flowers slowly.

“The big purple one is from me,” he said, tilting his head toward the kitchen table where it proudly sat. His eyes dropped to the white bouquet, and he took a deep breath. “This one, I bought for…Daniel. Or on his behalf, I guess.”

My hands froze and emotion welled in my throat. Immediately, I looked from the flowers up into Ryder’s sincere blue eyes .

“What?” was all I could manage to ask.

He sighed, and his grip on my hip tightened, his thumb idly rubbing the small strip of skin where the hem of my top met my jeans. “I kind of feel stupid now, but I don’t know. I was picking up the other one and saw the all-white one in one of the display cases. After everything you told me, it felt right for him to be represented, too. I think he would have wanted that.”

“Ryder,” I said quietly, unsure what else I could say in that moment. I turned to face him, glancing from him back to the flowers. My sweet, kind man. And that was just it, he was mine.

He chuckled wryly and shook his head, dragging his hand over his jaw. “I know, it’s stupid, but?—”

“It’s not stupid, Ryder. Not at all. It’s really sweet, and…he would have appreciated it. I appreciate it.” The hesitance in his expression slowly faded. “Although the idea of you also getting me flowers probably wouldn’t have been so popular.”

He cracked a crooked smile, and I kissed the corner that was tilted upward. Finally, he laughed and lifted me up, setting me on the counter next to the little white bouquet. I giggled uncharacteristically as he stepped between my legs and planted his hands on either side of my hips.

He kissed me softly once, then again. He lingered against my lips, and I cupped his cheeks in my hands. I liked the rough feel of his stubble against my palms and the heat of his breath against my lips. It was a balm to my heart as it grew with the love and care I could feel in his every touch and word and action.

“I really hate that so many things had to go wrong—really, really wrong—to get us here, but I’m so fucking happy we are,” he said. “Because all I want to do is love you more than you ever thought a person could love someone else.”

“And I’m so lucky to be loved by you, Ryder. It’s…amazing.”

I sighed, and our kiss resumed. More urgent and hurried than before. A tangle of lips and teeth and tongues, I wrapped my legs around him as he tugged me closer to the edge. I raked my fingers through his hair, and I could feel his need meeting mine as his hands groped at my hips and dragged up my back.

“Oh, holy shit!” A voice—not mine or Ryder’s—bellowed from my left. I startled and pulled back from Ryder as he did the same. Both of us swung our attention in the direction of the sound to find Natalie covering her eyes and Theo directly behind her, trying, and failing, to suppress his smile.

I rolled my lips like it was going to hide my own smile and felt bad for how sweet I thought Ryder’s blush was. He dropped his head against my shoulder as Natalie peeked out between her fingers.

“Is it safe?” she asked.

Theo kissed the side of her head and walked farther into the kitchen. “Yes, baby girl. It’s safe. It was payback for the time he found us together.”

Ryder scoffed and straightened, helping me down off the counter. “If you’d given us another five minutes, then that would’ve been payback. Catching us making out doesn’t exactly make us even.”

“Yes, yes,” Natalie agreed, dropping her purse onto a barstool and skipping over to me. “Anyway, Happy birthday!”

She stretched on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you,” I said, squeezing her back. “Thank you both for coming especially since—” The doorbell rang, and I sighed. “Since my family is going to be here soon.”

Ryder won over my entire family. My sister, mom, and dad already loved him as Natalie’s son, but as my boyfriend, I knew it could be an awkward transition.

But leave it to him to win over everyone. My dad had invited him over to watch football, and my mom was hanging on his every word. Even my niece and nephew thought he hung the damn moon. And of course, Ryder was eating up the attention. He was always the life of the party, and with my family, it wasn’t any different.

I was happy it had gone so well, but I was also relieved when I closed the door behind my mother, who was always the last one to leave. She was going on about how proud she was of me for finally finding a nice man to settle down with and blah blah blah. I’d tuned her out the second she said the word “ finally .”

With a forced smile, I waved to her and shut the door without a second thought. I let out a long sigh of relief and leaned back against the door. A second later, I could feel Ryder in front of me, his hands smoothing down my arms and his lips against my forehead.

“That went really well, right?”

I nodded and opened my eyes. “Better than I could have hoped.”

“I think so, too,” he said with a smile. “Now, if you want to hear it, I have a plan for the rest of your birthday, because as much as this party was for you, it also wasn’t.”

I hummed in the back of my throat and rested my hands on his chest, against the blue T-shirt that matched his eyes and was stretched across the muscles beneath.

“What’s your plan?”

“To take you back to your bedroom and make you come more than you ever have. Over and over and over again. We can shoot for thirty-four times. What do you think?”

I laughed, and he covered his smile with our intertwined hands, pressing them against his mouth. “I think I’d very much enjoy you trying to get to thirty-four, but that’s a lofty, likely unattainable, goal.”

“But we’ll have so much fun trying. What do you want first then? I think my mouth and fingers would be a good place to start.”

I moaned and kissed him soundly although quickly. “Yes, but I have to put away all the food first.” I stepped around him, and he groaned as he followed me into the kitchen .

“How about a compromise?” he offered.

“What’s your compromise?” I asked as I started picking up plates and cups left scattered around the kitchen and living room. Proof that people were too busy having fun to worry about picking up after themselves. It was a good mess. One I liked seeing.

“I’ll pour you a glass of wine, you can watch me clean up, then we go to your bedroom. You shouldn’t have to deal with this on your birthday.”

Ryder crossed the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator door, retrieving the bottle of rosé Natalie and I had started earlier. It was on the tip of my tongue to argue, but he leveled me a serious, sincere look.

“Please,” he said, and I had to nod. He poured me a healthy glass as I leaned against the counter.

He handed me the glass, and I took a long sip.

“So…speaking of parents, I got a text from my dad earlier today,” he said, collecting more plates and consolidating the leftovers behind me. “He said that he and Jessica want to have lunch with us sometime next week. I didn’t commit to anything, though, before I could talk to you.”

I cringed and took another large gulp. Mark was not a bad person at all—he and Natalie had just grown apart, and it had turned out for the best. But he wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea anyway. It was remarkable that he’d contributed to creating his son who I cared about more than almost anyone else. But I guess officially meeting the parents was necessary in every relationship.

“I know it’s going to be awkward and weird, but like your parents, I think he just wants to feel included and make sure we’re… real.” He came back around the island and dropped a few plates in the sink, looking at me with raised brows and an apologetic look in his eyes.

“That’s fine. Wednesday or Thursday work best for me, and if necessary, I can move my Sunday meeting.”

With a wink, he kissed my forehead and walked back around the co unter to gather more dishes. “I promise it won’t be too bad, and I’ll make sure I have an excuse ready, so he doesn’t try to extend the meal. I know spending a ton of time with my dad and his girlfriend isn’t high on your list.”

“Yeah, but I love you, so—” I didn’t think. I didn’t contemplate the words before they were out of my mouth. Realizing what I said, I froze and waited for Ryder to say or do something.

But a long-extended silence followed. Still behind me, I was nervous to turn around and look at him, so I stood still and considered maybe I hadn’t just said what I think did.

I barely heard his soft steps on the tile floor and waited with bated breath as he rounded the corner and came into my periphery. He stopped directly in front of me with three stacked trays in his hands. His jaw slack, he narrowed his eyes.

“What did you just say?”

I had two choices in that moment—pretend like I hadn’t meant it and try to change the subject or cop to it. Several weeks ago, I would have been sprinting the other direction. Running from feelings I refused to name or share. But standing in front of Ryder now, I couldn’t imagine waiting to say it a second longer.

“You heard me,” I said. Energy buzzed through me as I waited for his next move. With a neutral expression, he stepped forward and set the trays on the counter next to the sink. He was so much closer now, I felt the need to hold my breath for some unknown reason. Likely to cover up how hard I was breathing or how rapid my heartbeat was pounding in anticipation.

“Say it again,” he said, looming over me and wrapping his hand around the side of my neck. His thumb slipped over my jaw and paused on the center of my chin, just beneath my lower lip.

I wetted my lips and finally breathed again. His eyes bounced from mine to my mouth which he watched in wonder as I admitted, “I love you, Ryder Calaway.”

Shock then elation crossed his face, and I’d never seen a smile so wide or proud. In the next second, he was gripping beneath my ass and lifting me into the air. I fumbled to set my wineglass on the counter right before he strode down the hallway and toward the bedroom.

“Fuck cleaning up,” he muttered against my neck. “Say it one more time.”

Smiling, I leaned down, positioned my mouth right next to his ear, and whispered in a low voice, “I love you.”

He groaned and kicked open the double doors to my room. “Fuck, my dick is so hard right now.”