Chapter 16
I can’t believe I just asked him out. It was like word vomit.
I couldn’t help myself. I was starting to freak out when he went silent for a minute.
But then he said yes. Holy moly. He said yes!
I smile at him and press a kiss to the pad of his thumb when he caresses my face.
The smile he gives me in return detonates a bomb inside of me.
That familiar stomach flip returns with a vengeance.
Shivers of excitement tickle up and down my skin, causing tiny epidermal fireworks to explode everywhere.
We’ve been dancing around this undeniable attraction to each other for weeks.
Ryder is so handsome. But it’s not just Ryder’s devastating good looks, that I find myself staring at more often than not, that have me hooked.
He’s also caring and supportive. He doesn’t push.
He doesn’t try to make me be someone he used to know, or to fit a preconceived mold of who the old Elizabeth was.
When I’m with him, I’m happy. I feel free and alive, more comfortable in my new skin.
Every moment I spend with him makes me even more attracted to him, and I fall just a little harder.
And right this second, I would give anything for him to kiss me.
“When would you like for me to take you out on our first date?”
His question breaks me out of my daydream.
“Next Saturday?” Please say yes, please say yes. I would have suggested tonight; I am that eager for our first official date together. I know Fridays are a no-go because of his races.
“Saturday it is. I’ll make up some excuse to tell the guys.”
I frown. I hate that we have to keep this a secret from Jayson and Julien, but like I told him, it’s no one’s business but ours
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, frown now gone and my excitement clear as day.
“Hey, Elizabeth.” Meredith pops up at our table causing both me and Ryder to startle. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?
“Not at all.”
Meredith happily sits down, completely unaware of the intimate tension arcing across the table between me and Ryder
“Are you solo today?” I ask her.
She gives me a look. “Just because Trev and I are twins, doesn't mean that we are joined at the hip. I was heading over to the bookstore when I saw you guys through the window. There's a new romance series my favorite author just released that I want to buy.”
“Not an e-book fan, then?”
“I like to have both,” she explains.
“We were planning to head that way once we finished here. Want some company?”
“Sure! Oh, and we're starting that Marvel movie marathon on Wednesday.”
“I thought you guys were supposed to be doing a study group," Ryder says, dipping a cold fry into his ketchup.
Meredith winks at him. “We do. We also take lots of breaks. Why? You want to come?”
I perk up at that. Spending more time with Ryder during the week? Yes, please. “You should come. I can text you when we're done studying, or you can come and study with us. I mean, you’d be able to get some homework done while we do our English assignments.
“You wouldn't mind?” he asks.
“Not at all,” Meredith and I say at the same time, then we both burst out laughing.
The waitress comes over and Meredith orders a soda. “So, how did you two meet?” she asks, flicking her finger back and forth between me and Ryder. I let Ryder answer this one.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
“Seriously? That’s cool.” Meredith keeps talking, still not noticing the deep stares Ryder and I can’t stop giving each other, or the fact that our feet keep touching under the table
We finish eating, pay the bill, and go with Meredith to the bookstore. Ryder and I peruse the shelves while she's trying to find the book she came in for.
There's a display of classics on a table that catches my interest. I pick up a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows and leaf through it.
“That was our book,” Ryder says beside me.
“Tell me,” I implore him, wanting to hear another story about the two of us as kids.
He scratches the back of his neck. “Alright. I transferred schools when we moved to Fallen Brook, so school had already been going for a few months by the time I showed up in your class. You volunteered to be my class buddy.” He starts smiling at the recollection, and I love that his memories of me do that for him.
“Jacinda and Samantha were being mean to me because I had grease stains on my shirt from helping Dad change the oil in mom's minivan that morning. They refused to move over on the reading rug so I could sit down. You literally punt-kicked them off it. It was awesome. My own tiny fierce warrior.”
“Wow. I really haven't liked those two since elementary school?”
“Trust me. You aren't missing anything by not being friends with them. They aren't nice girls.”
“Where does the book come in?” I ask, wanting him to continue the story.
“I was so nervous that day, and you were trying so hard to get me to relax and come out of my shell.
You teased me unmercifully until I cracked.
Then the librarian—I can't recall her name—gave you a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows.
You had been waiting to read it for ages.
I mentioned that I was interested in reading it too, and without a second's thought, you gave it to me and told me to read it first. That was the first day we met, but it was also the first day we became best friends.
My heart melts at his recollection and then melts even more at the softness in his eyes as he looks at me.
For the second time today, Meredith suddenly appears, scaring the mess out of us again. “Found it. Thanks for coming in with me, but I've got to get back. Mom wants me home for chore duty.
We wave bye to Meredith, and I turn to Ryder. “What do you want to do now?”
“I have an idea. Do you trust me?
I want to tell him that I trust him with every fiber of my being, but settle for a simple, “Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”