Page 38 of Playing Pretend with Love and Billions

That causes me to panic and he lets out a relieved chuckle at my obvious fear of him walking away from me. He bends down until his eyes are leveled with mine and his lips only millimeters away from my own.

My dad clears his throat, but Ryan makes no move to back away and ignores the obvious discomfort my dad is feeling right now. As if taking the hint, my dad walks out of the room to leave us alone for a minute.

Ryan is watching me, waiting for the words that he just said to me, and I smile brightly at him. “I love you too, Ryan. It wasn’t supposed to end up like this, but I can’t imagine our start being any other way.”

He doesn’t waste another minute and slams his lips against mine, picking me up in the process and spinning me around in a circle. The smile that lifts from his lips as he keeps them on mine sends a million butterflies flying through my stomach. Someone claps excitedly behind us and Ryan almost drops me from the sudden intrusion.

Mom stands in the doorway of the kitchen, towel clutched in her hands while the other is flat against her chest as she smiles at the two of us. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, sweetie.” Before she heads back into the kitchen, she turns around and glances at Ryan with approval. “I assume you’ll be staying for dinner?”

He shifts uncomfortably. “As long as you’ll have me, ma’am.”

My mom rolls her eyes, but he will learn soon enough that the worst thing to call my mom is ma’am. She’s only giving him a break today because she approves of him.

There’s conversation all around the table as we eat dinner a couple hours later. My dad is laughing at something Ryan tells him, while my mom leans forward a bit to whisper in my ear. “He’s a keeper, baby. I’m proud of you, you know that, right?”

I blink back my tears, hating how emotional I’ve been the last two days. “Why are you telling me that?”

“You garnered the strength to get through everything that ex of yours put you through. Instead of letting it defeat you, you powered through it and found love at the end of it all. You’re an amazing young woman, Ava, and Ryan is lucky to have you.”

“Yes, I am,” Ryan whispers into my other ear, clearly hearing everything my mother just said to me. He gives me a soft peck on the cheek before jumping back into the conversation with my dad, never taking his hand from the top of my thigh.

Later that night, Ryan whisks me away to my childhood room and has his way with me. If I thought that anything couldn’t possibly be better than our first time together, tonight he’s proven me all types of wrong.

We lay awake the rest of the night, talking about what it was like for me to grow up here and he asks me to take him around the town tomorrow. Show him my favorite spots.

That does something to my heart because it shows he knows how much it means to me. And that’s how I know I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have Ryan by my side.

“Think your dad heard us?”

I laugh. “Don’t know, and really don’t care. So worth it.”

He smiles while snuggling closer to me, holding on tight as if I’ll be gone when he wakes up tomorrow. Little does he know, I never plan to leave the comfort of his arms ever again. “I’ll have to agree with that statement.”

We tangle our legs together, not caring that our bodies are already sweating from the workout we just did, and I fall peacefully asleep knowing that he’ll be here next to me in the morning.

Chapter20

Ryan

One year later

You got this. It’s only a simple question.

I’m preparing myself while sitting in my truck outside Ava’s parents’ house, letting my gaze fall on the freshly cut grass before going back to the front door. It’s simple, walk up there and knock on the door. They probably know I’m here by now, probably having fun wondering what’s taking me so long to get out of the damn vehicle.

I’m not entirely stupid, I’ve made an impression on Ava’s father since the moment he first met me. Mainly because I confessed my undying love to her right in front of him and he told me that takes a lot of balls. It’s crazy to think that it’s been a year with her, along with a year of Alex being in rehab for his drug addiction.

Once we got back to New York, Alex was waiting outside my apartment looking more torn up than I’d ever seen him before. He let me get a punch in before sagging against the wall and crying that he needs help. Before he walked into the rehab facility, he told Ava and me both how sorry he was for everything he did after their breakup.

Ava being the sweet person that she is accepted his apology and told him that he still has a safe place with us, even if I wasn’t sure I wanted that. What would happen if he happened to relapse? I don’t know if I want to find that out, but Ava is sure that he will keep a good head on his shoulders, and there’s no point in arguing with her when she always ends up being right anyway.

That is something that Ava’s father advised me when I came here for the first time. The wife is always right, even when she is wrong, and so far it’s made our lives a hell of a lot better. There have been plenty of fights, but the makeup part of them is my favorite thing. I’m convinced that there are times when both of us fight just to get to the makeup sex that ensues afterward.

The front door of the small house opens and Ava’s father appears on the porch, lifting his hands in the air as if asking what the hell I’m doing out here.

I take a deep, calming breath and grab the small square-shaped box from the glove box and stuff it in my pocket. With each step I take closer to him, the faster my heart beats, and I almost lose my nerve.

But, this is Ava.

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