Page 25 of I Met Him At The Library

“Then why did she have me drive you home?”

I shrugged, though I had a feeling Meghan saw the way I gazed at Ryan and if she witnessed any part of the knock-out she likely read more into the situation than there was. She was trying to play match-maker, but she didn’t know he was already matched … with my upstairs neighbor.

I hadn’t told Meghan about how I caught Ryan leaving the neighbors apartment earlier in the day. That would be admitting my crush-like feelings for him and the following disappointment. Meghan would have kept it to herself, but ever since Nick, I didn’t want to tell anyone anything about who I might like.

“Why were you there?” I asked clarifying the question.

Ryan gripped the steering wheel as a slightly pained expression crossed his face before he said, “Because I like you, Emily, and the area isn’t great, and I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

The air wooshed from my lungs. I wanted to ask what he meant. He was with my neighbor. He was a nice guy. He had to have meant he liked me as a friend. He was checking on me as a friend. That was it, right?

A few minutes later, Ryan pulled up and parked outside of my building. He turned off the car and turned to me, but I opened my door and stood from the vehicle. He exited the car as I made my way toward the front door. His feet pounded on the concrete as he approached me, and he caught up easily - no thanks to how much my own feet hurt in these heeled ankle boots.

“You don’t need to walk me up,” I said as I focused on the door.

“I’m going to make sure you get into your apartment safely,” he said sternly.

Not wanting to argue, or possibly make this situation any more awkward, I nodded and opened the door. After entering the building, we climbed the stairs to my apartment door, I turned to Ryan, and he handed me Meghan’s car keys.

“How are you going to get home?” I asked.

“I parked at the bar, but I’ll probably crash at my sister’s place upstairs since she’s with our mom this weekend.”

Sister? Did he just say sister?

“My upstairs neighbor is your sister?”

“Yeah, earlier when we ran into each other I was helping Lacey move her furniture around,” he replied.

It all clicked together. The loud noises, the muffled voices, and Lacey apologizing for her loud music. Heat rose in my cheeks with the realization of what a complete fool I’d been.

“Why?” He asked, as I was sure my expression wasn’t holding back my surprise.

“I … feel bad, because I complained about her music. It really wasn’t bad.”

How I came up with an excuse for my shock so fast would forever baffle me. I wasn’t typically quick witted enough to avoid embarrassing conversations. Normally, I blurted out the truth and dealt with the embarrassment and shame. In this case, I couldn’t be more grateful that I hadn’t revealed my assumption that he was dating my upstairs neighbor.

“Well, she does have more than one neighbor, and she’s not used to small town quiet living.”

“She apologized earlier. I don’t like to make waves.”

He waved his hand, “Lacey won’t be bothered by it.”

We were quiet for a moment as we stared at each other. His eyes sparkled a bit and I gave him a small smile. All the stress from my earlier questions and assumptions disappeared. Looking into his darkening eyes, it became impossible to resist the little flicker of hope inside of me. He defended me because he was interested in me. My nerves bubbled in my stomach.

Ryan cleared his throat and said, “I enjoy hanging out with you. Maybe we could do it more often?”

Rolling my lips, I stared at him and gave him a small nod. More than anything I wanted to kiss him. I took a step closer to him, our bodies almost touching. He leaned in and I took the chance.

I rose to my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, placing a hand on his shoulder. His lips were soft and warm against mine, and there was a small amount of hesitation. But, as I was about to pull away, his arm wrapped around my back and his other hand gripped the side of my neck.

Warmth flooded my gut and spread out to the tips of my toes and fingers and to the top of my head. Every inch of me filled with heat as he deepened the kiss. It wasn’t forceful but held an intense passion. We savored this moment as though we’d both been waiting for it for a long time. His tongue slid against my lips, asking permission as butterflies took flight in my stomach. My mouth opened and our tongues slowly caressed against each other.

I didn’t know what to expect from a kiss with Ryan, but somehow this was better than anything I could imagine. There was a hint of hunger but he moved slowly in order to prolong the experience. His hand splayed across my lower back, holding me close to him, pressing our bodies together. Meanwhile, the thumb on the hand at my neck caressed my jaw bone. My hand slid from his shoulder to the back of his neck as I held him close to me. In my other hand, the keys were clenched in my middle, ring, and pinky fingers. I used my forefinger and thumb to grip his coat.

I didn’t want this kiss to end as my body reveled in the heat spreading through me. My knees weakened, my heart raced, and my brain went fuzzy - all things I’d never experienced before. This kiss would be the kiss all future kisses would be judged against for the rest of my life. This was one hundred out of ten. In the back of my mind, a small voice told me this would be the last man I would ever kiss.

A door slammed on the floor below us, breaking the spell. Slowly we peeled apart, and stared at each other like we were the only two people in the entire world. Nothing else existed but us.

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