Get To Me (8th Sin #1) (2 page)

Sophie sits down on her bed. “What time is this party?”

I tease the front of my hair before running my fingers through it. “It’s Finn’s birthday party. It starts at three.”

She drops back on her pillows, her blonde hair falling over her eyes. “Do I have to go?”

“I would like you to. This way my dad will refrain from biting my head off.”

She looks at me. “He still hasn’t cut you off. I don’t think he is going to do anything.”

I shrug, putting the hairspray down. My hair feels as lazy as I do today, and I start work in two days. I slip on my black flats and take one more look in the mirror.

“Do you have tape?” Sophie ignores me, going about her business, leaving me to struggle through her drawers for tape and scissors. “Did I tell you I ran into Ryker the other day when I bought a skateboard for Finn?”

Sophie knows everything there is to know about the friendship Ryker and I had. So I am not surprised when she sits up. ”There is no way you saw Ryker.”

I shake my head. “Well, I did. He signed this skateboard.”

She slips off the bed looking over the skateboard.

“They call him Ryker ‘the jet’ Sosa.” I raise an eyebrow. I still can’t believe Ryker has become an even bigger deal than he was when we were kids.

She slips her phone from her pocket and goes quiet.

I struggle to wrap the skateboard and finally settle on a bow.

“He has a pretty impressive skateboarding career. How come you never knew this?” She hands me her phone.

He was named Rookie of the year, the first pro skater to be sponsored by a big company--not to mention winning gold in the X games several years in a row. I’m not sure what all of that means but I know enough to know he is a big deal.

“After the accident I never saw him again.” I carve a hand through my hair. “I didn’t even know if he was alive. It took my parents a whole month to tell me his parents shipped him off.”

Sophie frowns. “That was a scary year.”

I nod. I almost died. And my parents blamed Ryker. Ever since, they never had a good thing to say about him--ever. I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Thank God, I didn’t have any permanent injuries. And that was all that mattered to me. I never blamed Ryker for the crash.

“He was so into you.” Sophie twirls a strand of blonde hair around her finger and nods when I disagree. “Yes, he was.”

“He was dating Lana Steingrass.” Lana was the head cheerleader. She snatched Ryker up the moment she saw him. There wasn’t anyone at school that didn’t take an interest in Ryker.

“Because you were dating Beau the douchebag.” Sophie raises an eyebrow. “And Ryker was so cute.”

I can’t argue that one. The big brown eyes, shaggy head of dark brown hair and the backwards baseball hats, and that smile he was always shooting in my direction. Once you saw it, you never forgot it.

I gather my things. “I have to go. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Sophie shakes her head. “I’d rather stay here and watch housewives argue about Botox.”

I shake my head and head for the door.

***

I wave at my aunt and uncle coming into the backyard. There is a table for the presents and another table with finger foods and drinks. I set my present and card down and go for the finger food instead of saying hello to my parents. I don’t want another confrontation with them about my life choices.

I take a seat next to some people I don’t know and watch the clown make balloon animals.

“I’ll take an elephant,” I tell him, enjoying acting like a kid. He nods, pulling some balloons free from his belt.

As I wait for my elephant my phone vibrates. I take it out of my pocket. I don’t recognize the number, but there is only one person who calls me Sav—Ryker.

So glad I got to see you the other day. I’m only in town for two more days. We need to meet up.

I can’t fight the smile.
That’s perfect because I start my new job in a couple of days. When and where?

Seconds later I receive a reply.
Tonight. I’ll be at The Love Shack.

The Love Shack is a local sports bar. I assume he is there for another showing, and this makes me nervous.

I don’t know if I want to fight a bunch of girls to get to you. :)

No worries. I’ll make sure you’re at the top of the list. Ten sound good?

Ten sounds fine. See you soon!

Can’t wait, beautiful!

I bite my lip and sigh. Nobody knows how much I have wanted to see Ryker again after all these years. I want to know that he’s okay, and I want to tell him I’m sorry my parents freaked out. Most importantly, I want to know how his life has been.

I start over thinking my outfit. Any other day I wouldn’t care so much about what I was wearing. But tonight, it just feels and looks wrong.

“You look hot,” Sophie tells me, adjusting her halter. She drops a fedora down on her blonde hair and slips into a flannel shirt leaving it unbuttoned.

“You look perfect and casual like always.” She is such the trendsetter. She can pull anything off and sometimes it makes me jealous.

She touches my braid. “You totally need to lose the braid. You’re twenty-one now. He needs to see the beautiful woman you have become.”

I pull the rubber band from my hair and rake my fingers through it, and look at her for approval. “Is this better?”

“Much, much better.”

***

The Love Shack.

The place everyone in love with sports comes to drink beer and scream at giant televisions. Tonight was a little different. Tonight, Ryker’s face was plastered on giant signs hanging from the front of the building.

“Who’s Monty Chipman?” Sophie asks as we get closer. “He’s kind of cute. Please tell me Ryker knows him and he’s not married.”

I shrug. “He’s the other skateboarder with Ryker. He signed Finn’s skateboard. That’s about all I know about him.”

I flash my ID and Sophie does the same, and we go through the doors.

“This is a private event,” a man standing at the podium tells us. “I need a name.”

“Shit.” Sophie sighs.

“Savy—

He immediately waves me through. “Go right on in. And enjoy yourselves.”

“Well, that made me feel like a freaking rock star,” I tell Sophie.

The bar is filled to capacity with people sitting around drinking beer and shooting pool, among other things.

I stare down at my heels and suddenly feel overdressed. “Do you think this dress is too much?”

“That dress with your legs is never too much.” Sophie scours the scene. “Where is he?”

I start messing with the bracelet on my wrist.

“Don’t get nervous. We’re here to have a good time.” Sophie flips her hair from her shoulders and moves through the crowd. I follow her.

“Savy.” Ryker stands up from the table where he’s sitting. He’s wearing a red baseball hat, big diamond studs in each ear. Little bits of his dark hair peek out from underneath his hat. He looks great.

Sophie takes me by the hand and pulls me through the crowd and up the stairs, and now I am standing face to face with Ryker.

He smiles at me, and I smile back. Sophie breaks up our awkward reunion with, “Ryker, it’s so good to see you again.” She looks around. “Looks like things are going well for you.”

“Sophie. Everyone’s favorite Brit,” Ryker says, pulling her in for a hug. “How you been?”

“I’ve been great.” She eyes me. “We were just talking about you.”

Ryker looks at me and raises an eyebrow. ”What kind of talk?”

“Good things of course.” Sophie tilts her head back. “I could really go for a drink.”

Ryker smirks. “You always were a wild one.” He turns around, and I shoot Sophie a warning glare. She bats her eyelashes at me playing innocent.

“Monty. Come over here and meet my friend.”

Sophie is grinning from ear to ear as Monty approaches. I can tell it’s the start of an interesting evening.

“This is Sophie. Sophie this is one of my best friends, Monty Chipman.” Monty extends a hand, his blue eyes settle on Sophie.

“Nice to meet you. What do you like to drink?”

Sophie takes his hand. “Anything strong; the stronger, the better.”

“My type of girl,” Monty says. He throws an arm around her shoulder, and they slip away together.

“Four whole years,” Ryker says, taking hold of the railing. He stares out into the crowd of people. “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

I nod. “Yeah. I can’t believe it either.”

“What have you been doing?” He searches my eyes. “We used to be inseparable.”

“We were.”

The people below us start shouting his name, interrupting our conversation.

“I’ll be right back.” He hops over the railing and lands on his feet. Everyone cheers for him. I watch him sign hats and arms and napkins. He shakes hands and takes picture after picture with everyone who asks. I think I would be worn out after a while, but it looks like he doesn’t tire of it.

As I am about to find something else to do, he finally returns to our table.

“Sorry about that.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” I lie. It’s not fine. It’s almost annoying.

“Let’s sit down.” We both look around. There isn’t anywhere to sit that could provide us any privacy. Just a bunch of eager fans looking for their piece of Ryker.

“So,” I tilt my head to the side, “when did this all start?”

Ryker shakes his head. “What do you mean?”

“You’re even more a big deal than the last time I saw you.”

“Oh. So you’re telling me you
did
think I was a big deal?” He grins, one hand on the railing the other sliding into the pocket of his jeans.

“That’s not what I am telling you at all.” Of course, he was a big deal. But I didn’t want him knowing I thought he was a big deal back then.

“I was always into skateboarding. I guess I finally took it seriously, and I just met the right people.”

He moves closer. “What about you?”

“What about me? I have no story anywhere near as exciting as yours.” I release a breath. “I was going to school to become a lawyer, but I decided it wasn’t for me, and I quit. Now I’m about to start working for no pay at a homeless shelter.”

“That’s something I could see you doing.” He smiles. “You always liked helping people.”

We both go quiet. I think back to the days when I helped him as he struggled with life at home. His parents were just as hard on him as mine were on me, but in a different kind of way. What my parents did constructively, Ryker’s rarely kept things civil when he pissed them off. Sometimes it got to him, and I was the only person willing to listen to his problems. Everyone around him only wanted him for his fun side--nothing else. They didn’t care if he had any problems.

“You were always the same way,” I tell him. “Just like that night I broke up with my boyfriend.”

Ryker looks away. “I failed miserably that night.”

“That doesn’t matter. You were doing the right thing.” I touch his hand. “And let me tell you, it feels so good to be able to tell you that in person.”

His friends at a table yell his name. He sighs, “I swear this is endless sometimes.”

“How often do you come back?” I force a smile, disappointed that I can’t hold his attention for more than five minutes at a time.

“Wait a minute,” he leaves me there, going back to the table and shaking hands with another fan. But he quickly returns. “Let’s go.”

I take his hand, and we slip through the crowd. “Where are we going?”

“Someplace quiet.” He slips behind the bar and opens the door that leads to the back room and storage. There’s one exit and a small bathroom with the door halfway open.

“What are we doing?” I look around at all the boxes.

“I always wondered if you were mad at me for what happened.” I take a seat on one of the boxes and look up at him.

“I was never mad. I missed you. One minute you were there the next you were gone, and I didn’t know what happened to you.” It feels good to admit.

“I missed you too, Sav.”

I smile, getting that same giddy feeling in my stomach like old times.

“Sucks that you’re only here for two days.”

He nods.

“I feel like there’s so much we have to catch up on.” There are so many questions racing through my mind.

He turns on the light and turns to face me. “I like that dress.”

I smirk, and he smirks back. “You always knew just what to say.”

He steps closer. Suddenly I realize I want to kiss him, and when he pulls me up and grabs me by the waist, I know he feels the same way.

It’s the moment I have been waiting for--for years. I’ve always wanted Ryker to kiss me. The closer he gets to me, the faster my heart starts beating. Ready and willing, I bring my hands to his chest and close my eyes.

His phone rings, and I open my eyes. “You can answer that if you need to.”

“I don’t need to.” He moves in pressing his lips into mine. I snake my arms around his neck. As our lips become more familiar with one another, he takes me by the chin and deepens his kiss.

His hands creep up the back of my dress, and he frees me from my bra. I press against him when his hands reach my breasts. I have never been so turned on by a boy’s touch before.

I work on his neck as he slips his arms and head out of his shirt. Once his shirt is removed, he turns his attention back to my lips where he catches my bottom lip between his teeth.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” he says against my mouth. “I don’t want you thinking I brought you here for this.”

I shake my head, “I don’t.”

His fingers dig into my thighs, and he presses his forehead against mine. I slip my fingers through his hair. “What’s wrong?”

“I want to take you out. I don’t want to fuck you in the back of the bar.”

I kiss him on the lips and let him go. “Then take me out.”

“Tomorrow.” He lifts his shirt off the ground. “We can go to dinner or something.”

I pull myself together. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

He smiles, “me too.”