29. Ryker
29
RYKER
“ I know I don’t have to actually say this, but —as you put it at my wedding— this is probably one of those things one is supposed to say in situations like this,” Phoenix explains on the other end of the line, “so whatever you do, please be careful not to hurt her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I would never,” I answer in a rush of annoyance.
“I know, I know. It’s just that she is not always as tough as she’d like people to think she is. And she seems to like you. And it’s been a long time since you’ve actually allowed anyone to get close to you. It would be a shame if you were to just push her away.”
“Well, don’t worry. I am currently rethinking my one-date-perpetual-bachelor-policy, if that’s what you’re referring to. Not sure that’s still working out for me.”
“But haven’t you two been on like a dozen dates already?”
“First of all,” I explain, “no, we haven’t because we didn’t call it that. Secondly, like I said, maybe that isn’t working out for me anymore anyway. Which is why, thirdly, yes, I asked her out on an official date tonight and I wanted to get Olivia’s opinion on it, so can you please just give me your much more helpful wife?”
“Sure, sure,” he grumbles, “but first you’re going to listen to my very insightful advice about romance and relationships and love…”
There’s silence on the phone for a moment.
“Hm,” Phoenix grumbles again, “I really thought something thoughtful would come to me just like that. Doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe just do whatever I did, because I ended up with the best wife anyone could wish for.”
“I knew he had a secret second wife somewhere,” Olivia jokes and takes over the phone. “What’s up, Rykes? Still in love with my best friend?”
“I am not— okay, whatever. I just need your opinion on something, alright?”
Olivia teases me for a couple more minutes, we plan to go on a double date soon, and she more or less approves of my plan for my (kind of) first date with Sienna.
That evening, I pick her up in my grandpa’s car and take her to the destination of what could turn out to be a dumpster fire of date, although, to be honest, I am not all that worried since even a dumpster fire of a date with Sienna would outshine every other date I’ve ever been on.
“That’s a taaaaall building,” she says with tightly pursed lips and crossed arms after we park the car and Miles pulls up next to us.
Robyn, Paige, Guy and Earnest, all dressed in their finest suits and dresses, slowly crawl out of the limousine. I help them to their feet and guide them towards the entrance.
“What are you guys doing here?” Sienna asks with surprise.
“We were invited to a romantic dinner by your boyfriend,” Paige explains as she hooks her left arm into Guy and her right into Earnest.
“Why don’t you guys go ahead,” I say. “They are already expecting you. We might be there shortly.”
I kiss my date and lead her into the lobby of the tallest skyscraper in the city. She observes as her friends get onto an elevator and wave her goodbye.
“Shit,” Sienna mumbles and crushes my hand a little. “You got us a table at Cloud 9, didn’t you? Any chance you brought me a pair of sneakers too?”
“Nope. Plus, our reservation is in,” I check my watch, “thirty minutes.”
“I’m never going to make that.”
“You will if you take this,” I say, press a button and watch as the doors to the elevator open.
“You invited my friends to pressure me into getting in there? You sneaky, sneaky snake, you.” Her hand is still wrapped around mine, still crushing it as the doors to the elevator close again. There are a few people in the lobby. Some checking into the hotel that’s situated in this building, some just leaving the offices on the higher floors.
“I did.” My mouth instinctually presses a kiss to the side of her head. “I figured it might be a good kind of pressure.” I turn towards her and let my hands glide into her hair. “Listen, Sienna. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Your wrinkle of friends will have dinner up there with or without us. I booked a room on the third floor and the restaurant will deliver their nine-course meal to us if we want, but?—”
“We’re going up there,” she says with conviction and presses the button that makes the doors slide open once more. “We will step over this gap, that is clearly too narrow for me to fall through,” Sienna is thinking out loud without moving an inch, “into this metal cage that will close us off from fast access to medical care, should we need it, and it will take us up and away from the safe ground, with what is probably a surprisingly thin metal cable that could snap at any moment.”
“Sounds so exciting when you say it like that.”
The door closes again. We press the button simultaneously.
“Remember, we don’t have to do this if you don’t?—”
“Shut up. We’re doing this!”
“Yeah, we are!”
Sienna puts one foot into the elevator and jumps right back and against my chest.
“That was great!” I say. “Progress. We’re getting there one step at a time.”
The door closes and opens right back up. This time, Sienna makes it all the way in before pushing me out again. We stand in front of the elevator, watch as the door closes once more and opens again as I push the button.
“Can you two just get the fuck in that elevator?” A man says behind us in the most annoyed way possible while dragging a suitcase behind him.
“Can’t you see we’re busy here?” Sienna and I shout at the same time, startling him.
Shaking his head, he turns around and gets onto one of the other approximately eleven unused elevators.
For a while, Sienna remains bolted to the ground, staring angrily at the ‘metal cage of death’ , as she seems to whisper to herself. I keep my finger on the button and my eyes on her, wondering if this was a good idea.
“Well, you’re not helping by just standing there,” she finally says when she notices me staring.
And she’s right. “You’re right,” I say and get into the elevator.
When the doors close, Sienna reopens them immediately. Slowly, I take off my suit jacket and hang it on the handrail next to me. Behind Sienna, a lady steps off the opposite elevator and watches for a second as I start to unbutton my shirt.
Both her and Sienna’s mouth drops open.
“You can’t do that,” she says from outside still. “Remember what happened the last time you walked around naked in public? You’re gonna get yourself into trouble.”
“Well,” I say and start to also undo my pants once I have done away with my shirt. “Then you better make a choice: either start throwing tomatoes, or get in here and have dinner with me and your friends.”
Nervously, Sienna checks behind her. Then, right as my pants drop to the ground, she jumps inside and into my arms. Her face nestles into the nook of my neck and her hands hold on to my butt. The door closes behind us and I quickly press the button that will take us to the top floor.
As the elevator begins to move, Sienna’s hands quickly glide into my boxer briefs and she releases a long breath. “Yeah, that helps.” Her head pulls back a little to look at me. “This isn’t so bad,” she says, as if she’s not entirely sure of it yet. It takes another moment for her to look around with a hesitant smile. “Babe, I think I’m doing it. Who knew that all I needed to ride an elevator was an emotional support butt?” She squeezes me tightly.
I place a kiss on her nose and notice how ridiculous this must look. Here I am standing with the biggest grin on my face, my pants down, while my date touches my butt to distract herself from riding the elevator. “Do you think we should tell the medical professionals about this miracle cure?”
“I’m afraid we can’t.” Her hair waves through the air as she shakes her head. “Because I do not intend to share it with anyone.”
“Good,” I say as we approach the top. “You can have it all to yourself then.”
We kiss for a second before Sienna withdraws her hands and reaches for my shirt. “In that case, you should probably get dressed again, otherwise everyone will get a glimpse of,” she stops speaking and instead gently bites into one of my nipples, “this.”
I pull my pants up, throw the shirt back on and manage to close almost all the buttons before the doors open. Sienna jumps out first. Relief washes over her and is immediately replaced by excitement as she spots the sign above the door.
“Cloud 9.” She takes a few steps towards the giant glass panels that stretch from the ground to the ceiling to look out. “Jesus, seems like they should add a few clouds to that name of theirs.” Careful, she walks back to me and reaches around my chest with both arms. “Remember how I considered throwing you off the balcony at Olivia and Phoenix’s wedding to cushion my fall?”
I nod.
“Yeah, you better eat a lot today because you need to gain a few pounds to achieve proper cushioning properties.”
“I hope that won’t be necessary,” I answer and think about what I have planned for later on.
The two of us are guided towards a seat with the O-Team in sight, but not so close that they could overhear us. They’re already munching on the first course enthusiastically, and raise their glasses when they see that we actually made it.
Our nine-course tasting menu starts off with an avocado tartare and Sienna excitedly shaking her booty in her seat. The smile is plastered on her face and doesn’t even stop when she puts food in her mouth. The second course has her wave me off when I try to talk to her. Apparently, she is too involved with the meal to have a proper conversation. Which I don’t mind at all because I adore seeing her like this. I love seeing her this happy.
It takes another three courses until she actually snaps out of her food trance. “So sorry,” she says and wipes her mouth, “but this is… just… wow. It’s almost as good as making out with you. Not quite, but close.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I’m enjoying you enjoying things.”
“So, what did you want to talk about? Words left your mouth earlier, I think.”
“Oh, I just wanted to ask how it went with the lawyers. Could they help with the whole Haven situation or do I need to consider other options?”
“They’re still working on it. Right now, according to them, it doesn’t look good, but also not desperate yet. Which is probably something people say who don’t worry about losing their home next week. They did say we would be entitled to stay at a hotel which Harmony would have to pay for, but we still would be out of a home. All of us would eventually have to move somewhere else. A lot of the old folks would lose their community, their support system.” Sienna gasps. “But we don’t know yet. I still hope they’ll be able to come up with something.”
I should come up with a contingency plan in case my lawyers don’t find a satisfying solution.
“I’m sure they will,” I say and see Guy lift his beer in my direction. Even Earnest gives me a small, acknowledging nod. “And how about the work you’ve been doing? I know I told you I didn’t need you to work on my image, but whenever I look at you in the office, it always looks like you’re diligently slaving away.”
“Oh, no, I’m just on Pornhub the entire time. Haven’t you noticed, or do I need to throw my laptop against the bathroom wall to make it more obvious?” She thanks our server for the next course, who disappears quickly while trying to hide his laugh.
“Were you eavesdropping on me?”
“On you jerking off in the bathroom with me next door? No, I told you I’m busy on Pornhub all day. And if I’m not busy with that, I am still looking into that horrible blog that’s dedicated to you. There’s just something weird?—”
“Let’s not talk about that,” I interrupt, trying not to think about it tonight. “Let’s just have a nice date. Just the two of us… and your somewhat eccentric friends.”
We look across the room and both have to laugh as Robyn throws her scarf over her shoulder and Earnest lets a piece of baguette disappear in the pocket of his jacket.
“So, this is a date, huh?” Sienna teases and flutters with her eyes. “The last time I used that word, you seemed very uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, well, maybe the author of Ryker Rumors will need to come up with a new theory, because this is definitely a date. And —I’m not sure about the rules on this— but I’m thinking all the other times we had dinner, went for walks, fucked each other’s brains out and then spend hours cuddling could retroactively be counted as dates as well.”
“No, I say this is our first date. But I’ll let you take me out again, maybe… I’m undecided for now. Depends on if you’re a gentleman or not.”
“Because you don’t date gentlemen?” I ask.
“Exactly.”
“You know, I even asked Olivia for permission.”
“Permission for what?”
“To take you on a proper date.”
Sienna laughs. “How very 1950s of you. Did she tell you to not hurt my feelings while fumbling around with a shotgun?”
“Actually, her husband did that. Not the shot gun bit, but the other thing.”
“Ohh, your best friend threatened you not to hurt me? He’s such a marshmallow.”
“Yeah, a bit too grouchy for my taste, but if that’s your thing…”
Sienna smiles, reaches over the table between us and lets her thumb graze my lips. “Well, your grouchy ass is in luck because, as it turns out, I am not opposed to it.”
A few courses later, the server brings us one shot of whiskey and one champagne, and explains that the table ‘with the entertaining seniors’ bought them for us. I make sure he puts both on my tab as well. “I’ve kind of gathered a little about it when I was at the Knitwits, but what is the deal with Paige, Guy and Earnest anyway?”
“They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Sienna starts explaining. “Short version? Paige was married to Guy first and Earnest was Guy’s best friend. Then Earnest had a streak of bad luck and lost his insurance and I’m not entirely sure what else happened, but apparently that’s when the three of them grew even closer than they already were and so Paige and Guy got divorced and Paige married Earnest for medical reasons. And now they’re one big, happy throuple… senior’s edition.”
“That’s as sad as it is heartwarming.”
“I was suspecting you had one of those. A heart, I mean. Well, actually I was suspecting you didn’t, but it’s nice to be proven wrong in this case. I like sweet Ryker.”
“I do feel a little bad for Robyn now. Maybe I should have invited an eligible bachelor in his thirties. I don’t want her to feel like the… fourth wheel on a tricycle.”
Sienna laughs. “Don’t worry about her. If anyone can take care of themselves, it’s Robyn. If she wanted to, she could walk out with the most attractive man in this restaurant within five minutes. She’s not a wheel on a tricycle, she’s what will one day replace the wheel altogether.”
“So she’s a jetpack. I know what you mean, but I have to disagree. There’s only one person I’m leaving with tonight.”
Sienna erupts in laughter. “Oh, you cocky son of a— you know, you might have to leave alone tonight.”
“I don’t think so,” I say with a smile as we finish our last course.
We’re right on schedule for the next part of our date, so I get up, walk around the table and extend my hand. “Come on, we gotta go.”
“Ugh, can’t we get a little more drunk before getting back into that death trap? Can’t you at least already start taking some of your clothes off?” Sienna pouts as I pull her from her seat.
“There’s champagne in the helicopter. Though you should probably take it slow, so as to not puke during the skydiving.”