Page 70 of Save Me

“He had to sing ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ by Whitney Houston.”

“Oh…okay. Still not terrible though.”

“Naked,” she added.

“Oh my God!” Tessa said with a bark of laughter. “That’s right up there with Liam! I love it!”

“Now it’s your turn, Ry!” Ari said giddily. “Give us something really juicy about Ryker!” She was practically bouncing in her seat.

“I hate to disappoint you, but this whole relationship is too new for there to be anything embarrassing yet.”

And that wasn’t a lie.

If anything, everything they did was just either laid back and fun or super sexy and intense. She hadn’t caught him doing anything weird, nor had she encouraged him to.

“Really? Nothing?” Tessa asked. “Not even a striptease or something?”

“Nope. Any time Ryker takes off his clothes, it’s fast. Like super-fast sometimes.” She shrugged and felt herself blush. “Like he can’t wait to get naked with me and it’s sexy as hell.”

“Well that’s disappointing,” Arianna said with a sigh. “Not disappointing that he’s sexy and all that, but I guess I was hoping there was a bit of a marshmallow under that tattooed exterior.”

“Does he have any tattoos on his butt?” Tessa asked before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

“No,” Ryleigh said, laughing with her. “His arms, a few on his chest, and a couple on his back.”

“I still can’t believe you’re dating a guy like that,” her sister said. “Like, I know he’s a great guy, but he’s just so different from anyone you’ve ever been with.”

She shrugged. “It’s not all about the looks.”

As soon as the words were out, she thought about Ryker’s earlier confession.

I didn’t always look like this. I used to have a lot less facial hair and kept my hair much shorter.

When they had gotten back to his place, Ryleigh considered asking to see a picture of him from when he was younger, but she realized it didn’t matter. She loved the way he looked right now. It was hard to say if this was who he really was or if he was really the clean-cut version of himself. Either way, it wouldn’t matter to her. She knew the man he was underneath. It had never been about tattoos or hair; it truly had been his confidence that made her react the way she did for so long. And now that she knew him, she wanted to kick herself for waiting so long to go out with him.

“Look…she’s got that goofy look on her face,” Tessa said in a mock whisper. “Do you think she’s thinking about his tattoos?”

“Nah, I bet she’s thinking about him tearing his clothes off to get to her,” Ari replied.

Ryleigh was about to tell them they were both right when there was a knock at the door. “Neither of you invited the guys, did you?”

“Nope!”

“Not me!”

No one ever stopped by unannounced. Well, other than Jamie last week and she seriously hoped he wasn’t here to do it again. Pulling open the door, she stood there in shock.

“Mom?What are you doing here?”

Kate Donovan stood in front of her looking meek and uncertain, and rather than respond right away, she held out a foil-covered plate to Ryleigh. “I made this tonight and wanted to bring it to you.”

“Oh, um…” She glanced over her shoulder and saw her sister and Tessa staring in wide-eyed fascination.

“It’s okay, Ryleigh,” her mother said softly. “I don’t expect you to invite me in. I just…like I said, I made that tonight and I know it’s one of your favorite meals and it made me think of you.”

Unable to resist, she peeked under the foil. “You made another Thanksgiving dinner?”

Nodding, Kate said, “I actually made one a few weeks ago. It was going to be my way of apologizing, but…you didn’t come to dinner.”

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