Page 44 of Get Even

“Have fun,” I said, blowing them both kisses and turning away towards the apartment as they headed towards the upper part of town where the mall sat. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“That leaves frighteningly little off the table,” Kat called and I laughed.

* * *

Ryan was early. He’d texted to say he would pick me up at seven,wear something nicehe’d said and my brain had gone into overdrive. Nice as in, fancy restaurant? Or nice as in, sensible, modest? I needed more information so in the end I had opted for black skinny jeans, my only pair that didn’t have rips in the legs, and a high necked flirty red top. I’d kept my make-up light but was attempting to do something with my messy hair when there had been a knock on the door.

I cursed as I finished curling the short lengths and then made my way to the door, checking the time on my phone. I opened it with a scowl and then drew up short at the bouquet of flowers that were obscuring Ry’s face. He leaned around the side and gave me a grin before holding them out. My hands automatically reached to take them, even as I knew my mouth was still hanging open. He’d bought me flowers.Flowers.Nobody had done that for me before. Ever.

“I didn’t get you anything,” I blurted in a panic and Ryan laughed.

“The pleasure of your company is more than enough.”

We stood on the threshold for a second more before I stumbled back a step and then went in search of something to put the flowers into. They were beautiful, brightly colored and sweet smelling and I let the smile that had been building break across my face as I entered the kitchen. Liv looked up from peering inside the fridge and gaped.

“Help,” I pleaded and she snorted, grabbing a pitcher from the cupboard that I was pretty sure she’d stolen fromThe Boxand filling it with water.

“Go on,” she said, offering me a quick pat on the shoulder. “Finish getting ready, I’ll get these in the water for you.”

“Thank you!” I pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and hurried back to the hall where Ryan still stood, looking bemused. “You’re early,” I grumbled and he shook his head.

“By two minutes?”

“I needed those two minutes!” I complained as I pulled on a set of sandals with chunky heels and then stood up to grab my jacket.

“You look gorgeous,” Ry said, voice low and I looked up to find his eyes on me, heavy and hot. He cleaned up well too, it was a similar outfit to what he’d worn to the History mixer just sans the blazer.

“Thank you for the flowers,” I said, realizing I’d been in too much shock earlier to do so. “Where are we going?” I pulled the door closed behind us but stopped at his brief touch on my arm. Ryan pressed two fingers under my chin and gently tilted my face up to meet his, his mouth was warm and he kissed me thoroughly, unhurriedly, sipping at my quiet, breathy moans as if they alone were all he needed as sustenance.

He pulled away slowly, lips lingering, before giving me one last peck and offering me his hand. I took it and he grinned. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like so I figured Italian was a safe bet.”

I smiled, looked like I might still be getting pizza for pizza-night then. Ry said the place he’d booked was up near the mall and I nodded, most of the restaurants were near that end of town – mostly I was reeling about the fact that he’d actually made us a reservation. I had always been the one taking charge in my relationship with Aaron and before him I’d mostly just had flings.

The early evening air was still warm as we made our way through the winding trail in the park. The green area ran through the center of town and one of my favorite things about living in Sun City was that everything was close enough to walk to. I could drive and stored my truck in the underground parking beneath my apartment complex but there was just no need to drive while I was living in the middle of town. Campus, the mall,The Box,all of them were under a thirty-minute walk away and on nights like these, with a warm hand in mine and the stars peeking out behind the canopy of leaves, it felt like paradise.

We made idle chatter about classes and the upcoming football game as we walked and by the time we got to the Italian placeGiorgio’sI was certain that this was the best date I’d ever been on. And we hadn’t even made it to the food yet.

Things were comfortable with Ryan. The little brushes of his legs against mine and the small smiles he sent me whenever he thought I wasn’t looking were making my heart race and I was glad that even though we’d already had sex it hadn’t detracted from my desire or the tension at all.

“So about my upcoming game,” Ry said and I glanced up at him from the carbonara I had been twirling around a fork. “Would you maybe want to come?” I could see from the way he bit his lip that he wanted me there and I covered his hand with mine as he tapped at the table waiting for my answer.

“I’d love to, though I have to warn you I know nothing about football.”

“You literally dated my co-captain,” he said disbelievingly and I shrugged.

“We didn’t talk about sports much.”

“Well, it would still be great to see you in the stands,” he said and smiled. “It’s a home game too so you wouldn’t need to travel.”

“It’s a date,” I said and then blushed becausehellowe hadn’t even finished the first one yet. Ryan just grinned, pleased and maybe a little smug as he scooped up another slice of pizza.

“So this is your final year of study, right?” he asked and I nodded, if Davis didn’t kick me out first then I would be graduating in a month or so. “Where are you going after you graduate?” I appreciated the fact that he’d said it like it was a given, like I didn’t have a hearing this time next week that could make or break my academic probation. All thanks to fucking Taylor.

“I’ll be staying here,” I said with a shrug. “I bought my apartment outright and I like it here. I figured I’d see what colleges were hiring after graduation and try and get in as a TA maybe. At this point I’m just hoping they don’t kick me out before I can graduate.” Ryan nodded grimly and I winced, not wanting to kill the mood. “What about you?”

“I’ve got another year of study,” he said with a wry smile, “training to be a therapist takes a little longer than other courses.” He paused and looked at me slyly, “So I guess we’ll both still be here in the Fall.”

I tried and failed to hide my grin, “Looks that way.”

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