15. Mila #2
“What?” She grinned. “He’ll be flipping you over, bending you over, having you touch the tips of your toes while he?—”
Knock, knock.
“Mila, you in there?” Ryker’s deep voice interrupted Lara. “Mila?” Ryker knocked again and then opened the door. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked as he looked at us lying on the bed together.
“No.” I glared up at him, annoyed that he looked so handsome and so cocky at the same time. “What do you want?”
“To talk to you.” He winked at me. “Unless you’re otherwise engaged.”
“What do you want to talk about?” I sat up, my heart racing. If he made some sort of sexual innuendo, I was going to scream.
“Stuff.” He shrugged, his eyes crinkling. “Can’t we just have a conversation together? We’re adults now. Friends, even. Can’t friends just talk?”
“Yes, they can,” Lara said, answering for me, and pushed me out of the bed. “Go and talk to the man, Mila. I want my bed to myself.”
“You sure?” I looked over at her. “You going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” She nodded, putting a brave face on.
“Okay.” I jumped off the bed and looked at Ryker. “We can talk.” I walked toward him, and he smiled at me.
“Good.” He stepped back into the hallway. “I’ll see you later, Lara.”
“See you guys,” she said and gave me a smile and a wink before I headed out of the room.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” I crossed my arms and looked at Ryker as we walked down the corridor.
“Not much,” he said, looking amused.
“Just come out with it, Ryker. I know you hired Troy.”
“Troy—your boyfriend?” Ryker looked shocked. “How could I hire your boyfriend? The man that you love?”
“You know I do not love Troy.” I glared at him as we walked into the living room.
“How am I supposed to know that?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Last night wouldn’t have happened,” I said.
“What happened last night that wouldn’t have happened?” he said with a grin.
“You know,” I said, staring at the tip of his tongue and remembering how it had felt the night before.
“I know what?” he said.
“You know.” I shook my head.
“Are you talking about how I made you come with my fingers when we were in the lake or how I made you come with my tongue when we were out of the lake?” he said with a huge grin as his brown eyes sparkled.
“You’re a dog.”
“Not a pig?” he said. “Have I gone up in the world or come down?”
“Ryker Walker! What do you want? And why did you hire Troy?”
“I did it for you.” He smiled sweetly. “You said you wanted your Troy to be here this weekend, and I was pretty sure there wasn’t a real Troy, so I figured a different Troy would do.”
“You made me lie to you.”
“I made you lie to me?” he questioned me. “Or you just continued on with your lie?”
“You’re twisting things.” I sighed. “I wasn’t intending to continue the lie.” I looked away from him, embarrassed.
“So, let me ask you a question.” Ryker’s voice was serious. I wasn’t used to a serious Ryker.
“Sure,” I said, trying to smile but failing.
“What do you think of me?” he asked, his eyes not leaving mine.
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
“What do you think of me?” he asked again. This time, he sucked in his lips, and I wondered where he was going.
“Are you asking me if I think of you?” I asked, wondering if this was some sort of trick question.
“No, Mila.” He let out a sigh and turned away from me. “Just forget it.” I could hear the exhaustion and frustration in his voice, and I knew that I needed to think of his feelings more than my own pride and embarrassment. For some reason, this was really important to him.
“Wait,” I said and grabbed his shoulder. “I’ll tell you.” I bit down on my lower lip. I had no idea what I was going to say to him. I had no idea how honest I was going to be with him.
“It’s fine,” he said as he turned to look at me. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” I said and searched his face. I knew that for some reason what I was about to say really mattered to him, but I just didn’t understand why.
“Okay.” His lips pursed, and we stood there in silence, waiting for what would come out of my mouth.
“So, can I ask you one question before I say what I think of you?” I asked softly.
“I want to know what you think of me because I think that perhaps you’re the only person in the world whose opinion matters to me,” he said before I could even ask him the question.
“How did you know what I was going to say?” I blinked up at him.
“Because that’s the same question that I would have asked.
” He gave me a half-smile. “And you know what, I’ll answer that question for you.
Mila. I think you are like the birds in the morning: chirpy, bright, colorful, full of life, and wondrous.
The birds remind us that we are alive, they make us happy, they sing their hearts out with nary a worry, and they deliver us gifts of love and joy without asking for a thing back. ”
“You really think I’m like that?” I asked him with a laugh. “I don’t know how many people think I’m delivering gifts of love and joy in the morning. I think Parker would beg to differ with you.”
“Parker wouldn’t know a gift of love if it hit him in the face.” Ryker grinned. “He’s your brother. Most brothers don’t see what the rest of the world sees in their sisters.”
“Or their sisters’ best friends,” I said, and I felt a pang of pain for Lara. Parker had ripped her heart out and didn’t even seem to care.
“Parker is a fool.” Ryker made a face. “I’m sorry for Lara.”
“It’s fine.” I pursed my lips. “She deserves better than him. I’m sorry for you.”
“Why are you sorry for me?” He frowned.
“Because of Barbie?”
“Ha.” He shook his head. “Barbie was never mine, and I never wanted her to be. She was my Troy.”
“She was your Troy?”
“Are you trying to make me forget the question I asked you?” Ryker said with a small smile. “Do you want to go down to the lake?”
“We can go to the lake.” I nodded. “But I wasn’t trying to change the subject.
” I looked at him thoughtfully. I wasn’t sure why Ryker wanted to know what I thought of him.
I didn’t know why it was so important to him.
His mood seemed different, more intense and less teasing.
We took the path to the lake, and I listened to the birds whistling as I tried to think of what to say.
I grabbed his sleeve to stop him before we got to the deck chairs and looked up into his face.
“So, Ryker Walker. You wanted to know what I think of you?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “I do.”
“I think you’re handsome,” I said with a smile, but instead of grinning back at me or making some smart quip, he stared back at me intently.
“I think you’re fun. I think you’re a good friend to Parker.
” I paused, my heart racing as I wondered how honest to be with him.
“I think you’re pretty sexy.” My voice croaked; I was so nervous.
“You think I’m sexy,” he said, finally smiling.
“Yeah,” I said and nodded, my face burning. “I think you’re a bit of a jerk, but underneath it all, you’re a really nice guy.”
“What if I’m not a really nice guy underneath it all?” He stepped closer to me. “What if I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing?”
“Are you?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’re a good guy,” I said, and he grabbed my hands. “I think you’re the sort of guy I’d like to get to know better.”
“Even better than you got to know me last night?” he asked, his voice deep and gruff.
“Yes.” I nodded, staring up into his eyes.
“Show me, then.”
“Show you what?”
“That you want to get to know me better.”
“How?” I said, wondering what he expected me to do. He shrugged in response. I wanted him to kiss me; I wanted him to pull me into his arms; I wanted to feel his hands on my skin, his tongue on my tongue, and his cock inside of me. I could barely breathe; my anticipation was so high.
“Mila,” he said, my name a lullaby on his lips.
“Yes,” I breathed out, ready to say yes to it all. Yes, Ryker, I want you. Yes, Ryker, you can take me. Yes, I will take my clothes off. Yes, I will let you make love to me. Yes, I will do anything you want me to do in this instant. Yes, yes, yes.
“I’m going to go inside now,” he said, and my heart sank. “I’m going inside, but tonight I’ll be waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” I breathed out.
“Waiting for you to show me exactly what you think of me and exactly what you want.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine for a few seconds and then stepped back. “The next step is all yours, Mila. The next step is all yours.”
I could hear every creak in the floorboards as I made my way to Ryker’s room.
The house was eerily quiet, and I wondered if everyone was ready to leave the next day.
I’d not seen anyone else all day, only Lara and Ryker earlier in the morning.
Parker, Barbie, and even Troy had all been inconspicuous.
Not that I cared. I hadn’t wanted to see any of them.
Not Parker, not Barbie, and definitely not Troy.
I was worried that he really thought he had a chance with me now, and I didn’t want to have to explain that I’d only been flirting with him because Ryker had been there.
I mean, even I knew that that had been immature, and a part of me was worried that I’d gotten Troy’s hopes up.
I didn’t want to be responsible for hurting anyone else’s feelings.