24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Emily
I t had been a week since our first official date and what a date it was. Using the car my parents left here for me, I drove over to his place almost every single night for a delicious meal and conversation. Then we would make out like high schoolers, watch a movie, or did both at the same time. I enjoyed spending time with him, during the day at the library as we continued planning Maple Creek Book Festival, and then again at night, getting to know each other.
We hadn’t had sex, yet, but fucking hell, the tension was there. Last night I damn near jumped him on the sofa. Even now, I wanted to take him over to the reference section for privacy, since no one entered that area, and have him fuck me against those damn shelves.
That was the vision running through my head as Ryan waved his hand in my face.
“Huh?” I questioned, snapping out of my horny daydreams.
“I was asking if you were able to secure enough tables?” Ryan said with a mischievous grin.
My cheeks heated, but I turned back to the spreadsheet containing all of the information for the event.
“Yep. Tables and chairs have been secured. I even got a few extra chairs for the lawn, reserved for the elderly and disabled people who may need them.”
“Fantastic,” he said, side-eyeing me like he knew exactly what I was daydreaming about. “So, you’ve been to my place every night this week, how about I pick up food from the diner and come over to yours tonight. Give you a break from the travel while making sure neither of us have to cook.”
I tried to keep my face neutral. He probably didn’t realize how freaking thin my walls actually were. But looking at him, he appeared so hopeful. Either I was going to have to tell him the truth, or talk to his sister. Talking to his sister seemed like a much easier conversation. No brother would want to hear this type of information about their sister.
“That sounds great.”
“I can walk home with you now, I’ll make up the time later.”
“No!” He startled at my shout. I cleared my throat, and made up an excuse, “My place is a mess, I could use an hour or so to get it ready.”
He gave me a bemused expression, before nodding in agreement. Quickly, I packed up everything and snuck in a kiss when I was sure no one would see before I hustled back toward my apartment.
I dropped my bag and purse off inside before I forced myself upstairs to Lacey’s apartment. We haven’t talked more than the one time on the stairs, and this was bound to be a bit embarrassing, but I didn’t want him accidentally hearing anything damning coming from upstairs.
With my own secret smutty occupation, I could only imagine how she’d want her night job kept a secret too. Especially from her older brother, who was coming to my apartment, in a little over an hour.
I knocked on Lacey’s door before I lost my nerve, and after a few seconds there was shuffling noise before she opened the door wide.
How hadn’t I recognized the resemblance between Ryan and Lacey before? Same black hair, same eye shape but with different colors, and a similar smile. Lacey was giving me that smile as I stood in the hall.
“Hey, Emily, right? How are you?”
“I’m good, but um, I kinda need to talk to you?”
“Oh, is it about my brother? You two are dating, right?” She asked as she opened the door wide and gestured in.
“Yes, obviously keeping it a little quiet so the town doesn’t gossip and all that,” I said as I entered and she closed the door behind me.
Her apartment was bright and airy with a mix of gray and blue in the modern style furniture. There were bright colors in abstract art hung on the walls. It was nice, clean, and looked like something out of a magazine.
“But that’s not why I’m here … and there’s no real easy way to say this so I’m going to word vomit. You see I can hear your … night job, and well …”
“Oh god!”
“I know! And it’s none of my business. However, I don’t know if Ryan knows, or if you are even comfortable with Ryan knowing. But I have your back, and well, he’s coming over in an hour or so.”
Her face paled as she glanced back toward her bedroom and then back to me and said, “I’m a cam girl. It’s how I’m paying off student loans ... for a degree I’m not even using. Shit. I have an appointment tonight, and I can’t cancel.”
“Do you want me to see if I can cancel?” I asked, hating to offer it but also knowing I wasn’t quite ready to break this particular news to him.
She waved off the suggestion and said, “No, I’ll figure it out. Maybe I can convince the guy into an ASMR session.”
“Is that a thing?” My eyebrows drew together, creasing my forehead.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to try. Oh my god, I’m so sorry you’ve heard me.”
I waved my hand, “I’m a support-women woman, so it’s no big deal. I only wanted to warn you so you didn’t out yourself if Ryan was over. I’ve kept it a secret and wouldn’t dream of telling anyone.”
“I appreciate it. I’ll see what I can do. Hopefully this won’t end badly for all of us.” Lacey groaned as I made my way to the door.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” With my words she gave me a look like I couldn’t possibly know that, and well, she was right so I added, “Hopefully.”
A few hours later, I had a movie playing on the TV while Ryan and I were talking on the couch. I didn’t dare try to move this into the bedroom because … awkward, and, thankfully, he seemed content to cuddle on the sofa. At least he was until a loud noise came from upstairs startling both of us. When passion filled shouts came from above, Ryan blinked up at the ceiling with a horrified expression.
“Who the hell does she have up there?” He questioned more to himself.
I slowly slipped out of our cuddled position, and said, “Well, she is a twenty-six year old woman.”
His eyes meet mine. “Is this why I wasn’t invited over?”
“The walls are really thin in this building.”
Suddenly, a clear shout of a name bled through the ceiling and I winced. Ryan shuddered and jumped to his feet.
“No, absolutely not. Pack a bag.”
“What?” I gasped.
“How the hell do you get any sleep? I will talk to her tomorrow but you’re spending the night with me because I am not cutting this date short over … whatever the hell my sister is doing.” He pointed up to the ceiling, wincing when another shout came from upstairs.
“You really don’t need to talk to her about it, it’s fine really.”
“This is not fine, is she waking up her other neighbors too? It’s rude, and oh, god, I cannot hear this anymore. Pack a bag right now, we need to go.”
Loving the slightly bossy tone, I jumped up from the sofa and went to my bedroom where I quickly packed an overnight bag with my shower supplies and everything I would need. Walking back out into the living room, Ryan was plugging his ears as he stood by the door, a painful expression on his face.
“Ready?” He asked and I gave him a sympathetic nod.
He flung open the door and guided me out before giving me time to lock the door. He took my hand before he marched down the stairs, taking me to his car and opening the door. Once inside, he shuddered and I giggled.
“This isn’t funny,” he barked.
“It’s kinda funny.”
“You’re an only child,” he pointed out, and I began laughing.
“Lacey can’t help that the walls in the building are really thin, and she’s always quiet by ten. This really isn’t something you need to talk to her about.” I tried to reason with him.
Ryan glanced at me, then back to the road, before he looked at me with suspicion and my eyes widened. Had I said too much? Was he growing suspicious about what Lacey was doing for work? Shit! Had I just outed her?
“She does this often? It’s a small town. Who the hell is she seeing?” He asked.
“I actually don’t know. I’m the neighbor that minds her own business.”
“Right, which is why you didn’t know she was my sister.” Then his eyes widened, “You didn’t know she was my sister! The walls are thin! You saw me leaving her apartment!”
“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”
“Did you think I was the guy she’s seeing?”
“No?”
“You were jealous! That was why you acted weird that day before you and Meghan went to that one bar in Fairwood. You heard us moving furniture and when you ran into me in the hall you looked like a deer caught in headlights. Ew! You thought I was the guy?”
“I didn’t know she was your sister! You were making a lot of noise up there!” I defended myself.
“I’m simultaneously thrilled, because you were jealous, and appalled because you thought I was up there … doing things … with my sister!”
“You punched a guy for talking to me!”
“I punched a guy for being shitty toward you!”
“You and your little buddies drove all the way out to Fairwood because you wanted to check on me. You got jealous too!”
Ryan laughed, as he drove toward his townhome. Glancing over at him, a smug smile spread across his face. Reaching over, I placed my hand on his thigh and his hand dropped from the steering wheel to cover mine. A smile spread across my face at the dual stupidity that we were absolutely crushing on each other at the same time but were both too awkward or nervous to approach the other.