A Reason (A Reason, Season, Lifetime Series) (7 page)

“Yum, garlic bread. My mom buys it in a foil bag and we just bake it. My Gran is an amazing cook, she’s Irish and loves to make most everything from scratch. I don’t get to see her though because of my father. You’ll need to help me with our duffle bags later, they are as long as I am tall, and will be a pain in the ass to carry up your pretty stairs.”

“I’ll get them myself. Do you want me to show you the room you and Eva will be sharing or would you feel better waiting for my mom and Eva to get here?”

“I trust you, Ryan. I think you’ve more than proven that I can trust you.
It’s fine you can show me around, so I can choose what bed I want before my sister gets here.”

We head up the stairs with
me still on his back. I can’t help but think this poor guy is going to be sore later after carrying me around so much. At the top of the stairs you can go right or left. He heads left first. “Down here is my room, a game room with some workout equipment and two bathrooms. One is actually connected to my room, the other is the hallway bathroom. There is an extra bedroom on this side, there, but my mom wanted you girls on her side of the house, so this room is empty.” The game room looks cool. I see a big television, a punching bag and some weights, but we didn’t walk in. We get to the end of the hallway and he stops. “Do you want to see my room, or do you just want to go see yours? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“Seriously, Ryan, you have already done a lot to help me today and if you were going to be inappropriate, you would have tried something when I was just in my underwear earlier. I think I can handle seeing your room when your mom and my sister will be here any minute.”

We walk in and he has a big end room with two windows. One is on the back wall, it’s a bay window with a window seat. I want to just sit there and read so badly. His bed is the biggest bed I have ever seen. “Is that a
water
bed? Holy big bed, mat rat, I don’t know if I want to sit there or your window seat first! Okay, yeah, totally on the water bed. Can I sit on it, please?”

I can
feel him shake with laughter. He swings me around and puts me down on his bed. I fall back so I’m lying down on it. He looks down at me, curses, and walks out. What the hell? Whatever, he must have to do something. I’m going to just enjoy the water bed! I pull myself back a bit and enjoy the motion of it. Oh my God, I have heard of these but I have never been on one. It is so warm, it must be heated! I grab his pillow, and notice it smells like him. I need to remember to look for his cologne later and see what kind it is.

~Chapter 2~

“Emma, sweetheart? I’m worried that you didn’t eat. Ryan told me you had ice cream, but that’s not dinner, honey.” I hear a woman’s voice and I try to wake up. When I go to roll over, I start moving and remember I’m on Ryan’s water bed. I open my eyes and sit up quickly.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I asked Ryan if I could sit on his water bed, it looked so comfortable, I can’t believe I fell asleep! Where’s Eva?”

“It’s alright, honey. Ryan, Eva and Grant are in the game room. Grant decided to come and check on you. Good thing Ryan was downstairs when we got here or Grant may have flattened my son. Those boys are very protective of you, and I think that’s a great thing. Eva and I were a bit concerned why you had changed your clothes, but Grant and Ryan explained about your amazing leg presses and the tub. How are you feeling now?”

“Um, I think I feel better. This bed is amazing, I’ve never been on a waterbed before. It must be heated, my body doesn’t feel as achy.”

“Yes, it’s heated. Since my son works out so much and plays so many sports, we decided a waterbed would be good for him. He of course had to have the biggest one in the store. King sized. Why don’t you try to stand and then you can go eat? We ate a couple of hours ago, but I’m sure Ryan will make you up some fresh garlic bread, and my sauce is on warm in the pot.”

“Hours? Oh my God, how long did I sleep? I am really sorry, Ms. Doyle! You open your home to us, and I crash on your sons’ bed five minutes aft
er walking in the door!” I can feel myself blushing.

“First, don’t apologize for sleeping. You and your sister have been through a lot. She and I have had a long talk. I know how often you stay awake at night while your parents fight to make sure your mom is okay. I know how good your grades are, plus all of your extra-curricular activities. No wonder you were exhausted. Try to stand, and if your legs are still sore, I’m sure the boys will be happy to help you get downstairs. I was up extremely early for an emergency case, so I will excuse myself for a shower and an early bed time, unless you need me for anything?”

I’m up sitting on the edge of the bed next to her now. My legs don’t really hurt at all anymore. I stand up, and I know I can walk fine. I turn to her and give her a hug. “Thank you, for everything. I would love to try your spaghetti sauce and garlic bread. I’m okay for tonight. I may stay up for a while and read now that I slept for so many hours, but I’m fine. No one called? There weren’t any issues with my parents?”

She hugs me back and pulls
back to look at me. “No, no problems. Your sister said goodnight to your mom already and explained you were really tired and sleeping already. Your mom said to tell you she loves you and goodnight. Let’s go get the kids from the game room so you can eat.”

We walk down the hall and
Eva is fighting against Grant on Mortal Kombat while Ryan watches.

“Ryan, would you make Emma some of your amazing garlic bread now, please? She is hungry, I can hear her poor stomach growling while we talk. I’m headed off to bed.  Grant, you are welcome to use the extra bedroom next to Ryan’s. Goodnight everyone! I’ll see you bright and early for a big pancake breakfast!” She waves and walks down the hall towards the other wing.

“You slept for hours. I’m glad you like my bed, it’s comfy, isn’t it? Let’s go grab food while your sister kicks Grant’s ass at Mortal Kombat.” Ryan says with a laugh.

“Um, I want to freshen up a bit, brush my teeth and see how bad my hair is. Do Eva and I have a certain bathroom to use?”

“Yep, you can use this one in the hall. Eva and Ma already set up your stuff in there. Do you want a shower while I bake your bread?”

“That sounds nice, but the bath earlier was heaven. My hair is naturally curly, and if I shower at night, it
would be a mess in the morning. I’ll shower when I wake up if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, come on, let’s get you food. Eva, did you want some dessert now since you skipped it earlier?” Ryan asks her.

“No, thanks. I’m going to crush Grant here. Since I don’t stand a chance in real life, I can beat him in the game.” She says with a giggle.

“Seriously, this girl is kicking my ass. I may have to beat up your boyfriend later to feel like a man again.” Grant says with a nod at Ryan and a laugh.

Ryan snickers and I walk towards the bathroom to get washed up. The bathroom is pretty, everything is done in pastel blue with a few touches of purple. It’s very soothing. Even the soaps are purple and smell like lavender. I see a bag on the counter with my name on it, Eva has her own as well. It has a toothbrush, deodorant and even some makeup in it. I see my favorite hair stuff and wonder if Ms. Doyle took Eva shopping for the stuff. How would they know what I need for my hair? I spray some leave in conditioner and pick my hair out to get the curls looking a bit better. I must have slept like a rock, because my hair was only a little flat on one side. I brush my teeth, spray some deodorant and I’m ready to go downstairs. I open the door and head down to the kitchen. I can smell the spaghetti sauce and my stomach growls. I walk into the kitchen and see Ryan is getting butter out of the fridge.

“I’ll show you how to make garlic bread if you want it, or you can just have buttered Italian bread. Which do you prefer?” He asks me.

“Um, I think I’ll skip the garlic today, but thanks. You can show me another time. Italian bread with some butter sounds good with it actually. The sauce smells amazing.” I walk over and lift the lid on the stock pot. I can see Italian sausage and a lot of ground meat in the sauce. It’s a really thick meat sauce and it smells like heaven! There goes my stupid stomach growling again.

“Bowl or plate? Do you want the pasta too, or just sauce and bread?”

“Oh, just the sauce and bread sounds good actually, and a bowl, please.” He grabs a bowl and walks over to the stock pot. He grabs a big spoon and scoops a bunch of sauce into the bowl.  We get set up at the table and he sits down with me with his own bowl and some bread.

“I have some sweet tea, water, milk or coffee. We’re out of soda, though soda should be illegal to have with spaghetti anyway.”

I just laugh and nod at that, I completely agree with him. “Yeah, I’m not big on soda anyway. I think I’ll try the sweet tea, thanks. If you tell me where the glasses are, I can get it.”

He raises an eyebrow at me, then shrugs. “Okay. The cupboard to the right of the sink. I’ll take the tea too.”
He says and laughs a little, it’s more like a snicker. Am I missing a joke?

I walk over to the sink, and realize I can just reach the knob to open the cupboard, but there is no way I can reach the glasses on the second shelf. I’m too short. I look for a step stool and realize both Ryan and his mom are pretty tall. Crap. I feel Ryan’s arms go around my waist and he puts his head on top of mine.
“Kind of short, aren’t ya, little Bambi? I guess you’ll just have to let me get it for you, or ask for help.”

He has been really nice to me, so I won’t put an elbow in his stomach, yet. “It’s not funny to tease short people. It sucks not being able to reach stuff! I help my mom go grocery shopping, do you have any idea how often a four foot eleven inch girl needs to ask tall people to reach stuff?”

“Do you have any idea how much torture it was to see this beautiful, short girl that I have dreamed about for months, sleeping in my bed?” He’s now whispering in my ear and I feel my body react to him.

He turns me around, and picks me up so I’m sitting on the counter, which makes me almost even with him.
He has one hand on the counter, and reaches the other one to the side of my face. His eyes are the most amazing shade of green, but being this close I see there are specks of brown and blue. I wonder if his eyes change with his moods. Brenda’s do that, she says it’s her German side. I’ve never looked this close into Ryan’s eyes to really notice. I want to ask him, but I’m having a hard time forming words. I lick my bottom lip, and then bite it, debating if I can ask him, when he groans.

“You are always licking and biting your bottom lip when you’re thinking. Do you know how often you do that? I see you in school, when you’re concentrating, and I just want to suck that bottom lip into my mouth and nibble on it myself.”

My mouth drops open. I’m now looking at his mouth, thinking about that. I had no idea he had been thinking about me this way, when I had daydreamed, and had night dreams, about him too. My dreams are weird, they come true, a lot. I often dream about my father hurting my mom, then I wake up and it really happens, just like I dreamed. I try to move my mouth, to form words, and my eyes go back up to his. He moves his hand to the back of my neck, in my hair, and pulls my mouth to his.

Now, I’m a small town country girl, there isn’t a lot to do around here. I’ve dated a few guys, but I had been dating Danny for almost a year. We didn’t really kiss much, and never like this. This kiss is like we’re both starving. He does just as he promised, and nibbles then sucks on my bottom lip.
His other hand is now grabbing my ass and pulling me into him. I wrap my legs and arms around him, pulling him into me. My left hand is on his neck, massaging, my other hand on his shoulder, then I lower it down to his chest. As our mouths communicate without words, my hand is enjoying the feel of his muscles. Holy shit, this boy can kiss! I have never been kissed like this, and I almost don’t want it to stop.

He pulls away first, breathing heavily, and leans his forehead against mine. “Holy shit, Emma, where did you learn to kiss like that? You’re dangerous.”

“Me? I was thinking the same thing about you! Your mouth is pure fucking sin, and I was ready to sell my soul to the devil if you kept kissing me.” I say back to him, breathing just as heavily.

“You have such a sailor’s mouth for a sweet little country girl. I once heard or read somewhere, that on the eighth day, God created red heads and man was fucked. Boy was that accurate. You’re a weakness for me, Emma. But I refuse to rush this too much. I’m not going to hurt you, ever. I want to take this slow and see what we have, okay? I just, I’ve thought about you for so long. Being with you today, seeing you sleeping in my bed, then seeing you still half asleep, and knowing you just crawled out of my bed.
Fuck.  I’m not a saint, I’m just a guy. I’m trying to be good here, and treat you the way you deserve, considering everything you’ve been through. Let’s eat, and try not to sell our souls to the devil quite yet. And I was so wrong about you being Bambi, though looking at you, it fits. Once I kissed you, I knew you were the most dangerous thing in the forest, because you can bring a man to his knees with just one taste.”

Yeah, he was so getting more kisses for comments like that, later. “I’m not really a redhead. I have red highlights. My mom and sister have the real red hair.”

“The darker hair is like a camouflage. It hides the true red and the danger within. Grab two glasses, then hold on so I can get you down off of the counter.”

I laugh at that, grab two glasses and close the cupboard.
He helps me down and kisses my forehead. It’s crazy how much I like this guy already. I mean, we’ve been kind of friends for almost a year, since he and Danny are good friends. We talk to each other sometimes, but since I was so attracted to him, I tried to keep my distance. Suddenly everything has changed, so fast, but it just feels right.

We sit down to eat, and the sauce is really good. It’s so thick with ground beef and Italian sausage in it.
There is parmesan cheese in the sauce, I can taste it. We sprinkle some more on top. The bread is crusty on the outside but soft in the middle. It’s so good I don’t even need butter.

After we eat,
I wash and he dries the dishes. “Do you want to practice blocking tonight or do something else?”

“Well, it’s only eight and I just slept for several hours, but I think I would rather not sweat just before bed. Can we shower in the morning and work out a lot tomorrow?”

“Yep, that works for me. How about we have our first date?”

I laugh and turn to face him, taking the dish towel out of his hands to dry my hands on, now that all of the dishes are done. “Our first date? Now? What would that date entail?”

“I’m thinking a movie. I have the perfect movie, and I vote we bake something to snack on. Do you want a cake or cookies? We always have stuff to bake with here.”

“You like to bake, really? Guys bake?”

“Yes, are you questioning my manhood, little Bambi?” He raises one eyebrow and crosses his arms over his broad chest.

“That depends, what’s the movie?”

He is trying so hard to fight a big laugh, so he gives me a crooked grin, then bites down on his lip. Have I talked about how he even has big sexy teeth? It’s like he has canine teeth or something, they are pointy in the four corners, making me think of the Dark Shadows reruns that I love to watch. “The 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet.”

“Oh my God, you embarrassed Danny in front of the whole school and you’re gay? So unfair, Ryan! That wasn’t very nice! Not that there is anything wrong with that.” He picks me up, wrapping my arms around his neck, and my legs around his waist with a
growl, crushing me against the refrigerator. We hit it so hard it rocks back a little. I’m too busy to care. His mouth is assaulting mine, and it’s like heaven. He licks his tongue against my bottom lip until I surrender and open my mouth to his with a moan. Our tongues, lips and teeth dancing a forbidden dance that doesn’t need music. I’ve never been kissed like this, but I think I’m catching on quick. My hands lift on his shirt so I can feel his bare back. So muscular, so broad. I have decent nails, without really thinking about it I lightly scratch my nails against his back as our mouths continue their dance, and I feel him shiver.