Chapter 8 #2
She nodded her head as he placed his arm around her shoulders, gently guiding her back to the family outside in the back when a Jeep pulled into the driveway. Her neck craned to the right, and she slowed down, looking out the window before Ryan could get her to the kitchen.
“Who’s that?” she asked as Thea pulled up to the front.
He waited for the engine to stop. He heard a door shut and then another.
Disappointment settled as he walked toward the door. “I invited Thea to join us surfing today.”
A smile widened across his mother’s face the minute Thea’s name was mentioned. “That’s a wonderful idea!”
She rushed to the front door, and as he braced himself to see who Thea had brought to the party, the man who had her heart, his mother swung the door open to Thea and a young woman.
“Hi, Cece!” Thea greeted his mother in an embrace right away. She turned to the girl who clearly resembled her. “This is my niece, Arielle.”
“Arielle!” his mother said in delight clapping her hands together. “Aren’t you just as beautiful as your aunt. I’m Cece.”
The teenager waved her hand but didn’t say anything, hiding behind her aunt.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” he said, opening the door wider.
“I figured I’d bring Arielle.” Thea placed a hand on her niece’s shoulder. “She’s better at surfing than me.”
The brunette waved a second time, but this time it was directed at Ryan’s younger cousin, who was probably around the same age. His cousin was like most men on his mother’s side, very athletic, good-looking, and stupidly confident.
“I’m Jordan,” he said, reaching out his hand to Arielle.
She took it right away, forgetting her aunt as fast as Jordan forgot Ryan.
“Do you go to BC?” he asked, pointing to the shirt she wore over her swimsuit, which was cut up too much to really be considered a shirt.
“Yeah.” She tilted her head, allowing all her hair to fall over her bare shoulder. Jordan was salivating at the mouth as she answered, “I’m on the cheer team.”
“Wow.” Jordan looked as though Arielle had said the most interesting thing in the whole world. “Let me take your bag.”
He reached out and removed the bag off Arielle’s shoulder and gestured toward the back of the house. “C’mon, this way.”
“Are you also in school?” she asked, walking with him to the back of the house.
He nodded. “I just finished my junior year at Ohio.”
“Are you an athlete like your uncle?”
He shrugged. “I play a little football.”
This impressed the girl as expected. His cousin played better football than Ryan had at his age, and he was just beginning his career. Ryan couldn’t wait to see where Jordan would end up.
“Are you hungry?” Jordan asked her.
She nodded, and before Ryan knew what was happening, his cousin and Thea’s niece had taken off toward the food. Thea and Ryan stood behind, watching the young couple forget about their families.
“Well, they seem to be hitting it off,” Thea said, watching the two now outside by the table of food. Jordan gave Arielle a plate, and they began to pick at the antipasto.
Jordan had more game than Ryan felt at that moment, standing there with Thea.
He wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked but didn’t want to come on too strong.
He wasn’t a boy trying get a girl’s attention, but a thirty-eight-year-old man trying to woo an intelligent woman who happened to be gorgeous and smell really good. What was that? Vanilla? Rose?
It also struck him as awkward that up until last night, he’d had a girlfriend.
“This is quite the party,” she said, looking out at the back. More than twenty of his family members stood around eating and talking. Their usual chatter probably sounded more like shouting and yelling to an outsider. Ainsley had always asked why everyone seemed so angry.
“They’re very passionate people,” he said. His mother’s family were a mixture of their Spanish grandfather and their Italian grandmother. “They only argue about food.”
“Is your, um, friend, Miss…? Did she leave?” she asked, looking around the room.
“You mean Ainsley? Yes, she left,” he said, wishing he could take the time to really explain the situation so he didn’t come off as a jerk. “She and I…didn’t really work out.”
He decided less was more and left it at that.
“Right. Well then, who’s all going surfing?” she asked, looking out at the crowd who seemed more interested in the apps on the table than the boards waiting for them on the beach.
He whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Who’s going surfing with me?”
Almost all of the little children’s hands shot up into the air. None of the adults even acknowledged him except his mother, who told him she wasn’t going anywhere near the water.
“Isn’t the water freezing?” his cousin Billy whined, whose three children all wanted to go.
“It’s not that bad,” Ryan said, but Billy laughed at the idea as his wife shook her head.
“Sorry, Ry,” she said, holding up her margarita. “I’m going to stick with the pool.”
As Ryan asked his guests one by one, everyone continued to decline and the adults encouraged the kids to stick with boogie boards close to the shore.
Not even her niece or his cousin were going out; instead, they sat on the edge of the pool dangling their feet into the water, talking about school and sports.
“You must love playing for Ohio,” Arielle said, impressed.
“It’ll be long hours being part of the spirit team for Boston College,” he said, just as impressed. “Division One is never easy. All the travel, routines, rules, and practices. It’s not easy for any full-time student and athlete, but you’ll love it, too.”