6. Mila #5
“That’s a first. You never hoped for that before.”
“Well, you never showed me the rings of Saturn before. All you showed me before was the moon and told me I should go and live there.”
“That wasn’t me. That was Parker.” He laughed. “And I think I remember you telling him that he should go and join his friends on Mars. And told me to go there as well.”
“Yeah, well, I was young. Now that we’re older, I wish I’d had a chance to look at Saturn and her rings. Or his rings.” I laughed.
“Maybe I’ll bring it next year.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” I nodded.
“And even if we don’t get to view the stars here, we can view them somewhere else.”
“Huh?” I turned to look at him. “What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t we get to view the stars here?”
“Nothing,” he said gruffly, and then stood up. “Want to go for a swim?”
“I don’t have my bathing suit on, so no.” I shook my head.
“Be adventurous, Mila. Let’s skinny-dip.”
“Ah, yeah, no.” I shook my head again and laughed, though my heart was racing. Should I do it? Should I go skinny-dipping with him? Why would he even ask me to go skinny-dipping if he wasn’t interested in me? Was he just trying to shock me? There was no way he was being serious, was he?
“That’s what I thought. All talk and no actual game.” He grinned.
“Um, I never talked about going skinny-dipping,” I said. “So, that’s not exactly true.”
“Five years ago, you said that you secretly wanted to go skinny-dipping, but you were scared that people would see you, so you’d only go late at night.
However, the caveat was that there would have to be one person there with you, so that you wouldn’t feel alone and you’d have someone to cover you if someone else happened to come out while you were in the lake. ”
“How do you remember that?” I asked, looking at him in surprise. “I barely remember saying that.”
“I never forget when a girl tells me she wants to go skinny-dipping.” He winked at me.
“You’re a pervert.”
“Not quite.” My heart stilled as his face turned serious. He opened his mouth, and I waited to hear what he was going to say next. It looked like it was something important. “We should go to bed,” he said finally, and reached out for my hands to pull me up.
“I’m not ready for bed.” I shook my head, disappointed. Unless you want me in your bed. Of course, I didn’t say that out loud, even though I wanted to.
“Mila Kunis, it’s time for bed.” He grinned at me, and I punched him in the arm.
“You’re a jerk,” I said and yawned. I ignored the knowing look on his face as he stared at my mouth. “And Barbie isn’t the brightest bulb in the shed, either.”
“Now, now, Mila, no need to be rude.”
“You love it, don’t you?” I glared at him. “You won’t be loving it if she screams out ‘Brad Pitt’ or ‘Ashton Kutcher’ in bed.”
“Why would she scream out either of those names?” he said as we walked back toward the cabin.
“Well, she is apparently obsessed with Mila Kunis, so maybe she wishes you were Ashton Kutcher?”
“I think I’m a bit better than him, don’t you think?”
“What would I and my big hips know?” I joked, and he laughed. “It’s not funny, Ryker.” I shook my head. “She’s horrible.”
“I will neither agree nor disagree with your statement,” he said, and I wanted to punch him again. How could he not call her out for being the big bitch that she was? “However, I will say that a girl with a brain and some meat on her bones is worth ten girls with no brains.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I gave him a quick hug as we walked into the cabin. “Night, Ryker.”
“Night, Mila,” he said and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”
I walked toward my room with a smile on my face before I realized that Ryker hadn’t exactly said what I thought he’d said.
He said a girl with a brain and some meat on her bones was worth more than ten girls with no brains, but he hadn’t said ten skinny girls with no brains.
Did that mean he preferred super-skinny girls with no brains to average girls with brains, or a few extra pounds girls with brains?
Who am I kidding, more-than-a-few-extra-pounds girls with no brains.
I paused at my door and turned around to go back to talk to him and find out.
However, I saw that Ryker was standing where I’d left him, with a weird expression on his face.
He hadn’t moved since I’d walked away. He’d watched me walking to my room, and he was still there.
I blushed, and all thoughts of asking him if he preferred skinny girls or not went out of my mind.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, and part of me was scared to find out.
I took a deep breath, trying to build up the courage to walk back to him.
I wanted to grab his shirt, push him against the wall, and kiss him—hard.
I wanted to press myself into him and tell him that he wasn’t going to be sleeping with Barbie tonight; he was going to be sleeping with me.
I watched his chest rising and falling, and my whole body was on high alert with want and need.
I wanted so badly to take charge of this situation.
But because I’m all talk and no action, I let my shyness overtake me.
I lifted my hand, waved, and said, “Night, Ryker—sweet dreams of me.” I groaned under my breath at what I’d said, and he laughed.
“All night long, Mila. All night long,” he said, and gave me a small wave back. I turned around abruptly, opened the door, and hurried into my room, my skin tingling in happiness. I had no idea what had just happened, but I knew I was going to bed with a smile on my face.