“This is our friend, Sarah. She lives about a mile up, on First. Can you take her home too?” I asked.
“Yeah, of course.” Ryan nodded to Sarah in acknowledgement and then said “Hi” to a barely conscious Anna before taking her in his arms helping her into the backseat of his car.
“Shotgun!” I cried out.
Sarah ignored me and I found her staring appreciatively at Ryan. While Ryan helped Anna, Sarah was wildly pointing her finger at Ryan’s back and mouthing, “He is so cute!”
“I know!” I mouthed back to her and did a little happy dance. I stopped once I realized Ryan was looking at me with an amused expression.
Once Anna was safely buckled in, Sarah slid in next to her. We dropped Sarah off and drove Anna home next. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out or getting sick or both. Ryan looked relieved to get her out of his car and helped walk her to her front door. He thought it best that I remain in the car. Did he think I was going to run away or something?
Ethan answered the door and took possession of his very drunk fiancé. The two men chatted about something for a few minutes while Anna looked adoringly up at the both of them. Ethan and Ryan turned to look at me from the doorstep and laughed. They looked like they were enjoying some inside joke. Hey! Why am I the butt of this private joke? I’m not nearly as bad off as Anna! My lips did feel rather numb and I was making a real effort to not slur my words, which meant I was talking to myself in the car, as Ryan was still talking to Ethan outside of the car. Yep, I’m in bad shape.
As Ryan got behind the wheel, he looked at me sympathetically and said, “Let’s get you home.”
I loved that he picked me up to take me, my sister, and her friend home. I loved that he walked Anna to her door. I loved that he didn’t look irritated at all. Frankly, there really was nothing that I didn’t love about him. I was so happy to finally see him after his long absence that I was blatantly staring at him with a goofy smile on my face.
As he drove to my place, he looked over on occasion with amusement. “How many drinks have you had?”
“Hmm?” I mumbled.
“Never mind,” he chuckled and continued driving.
When we arrived at my place, Ryan parked the car and followed me into my unit without hesitation. I wondered if he was going to stay. I stumbled into my foyer and threw off my shoes.
“Nice heels,” he commented.
Score! He did notice.
Ryan headed to the kitchen and poured me a glass of filtered water, which he insisted I drink all of. He asked me where the ibuprofen was and then handed me two, which I took with the rest of my water. He put his arms around my waist and hugged me tight, inhaling deeply into my neck. “I missed you.”
Oh, it felt so nice to be in his arms. And he smelled so good. Before I knew it, I started kissing him. He obliged me and kissed me back hungrily. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to quickly slide the spaghetti straps off my shoulders. My dress fell to the floor in one swoop. I stood in front of him in my strapless bra and panties for a moment before I threw my arms around him and start kissing him again.
“Whoa!” he said in surprise and pulled back. He gently pushed me a few inches away, but I could feel his eyes lingering up and down my body, pausing briefly at my breasts. Encouraged by the hunger in his eyes, I tried to look as sexy as possible with a little mischievous grin, daring him to do whatever he wanted with me.
“This must be the naughty part you were talking about,” he mumbled. I heard him chuckle and saw him lightly shake his head. However, rather than taking me in his arms and passionately kissing me, he walked away and headed to my bedroom. I pouted in response. After a minute or so of standing there confused, I decided to follow him. He was standing in front of my dresser, and grabbed a camisole out of it. He walked over to me and pulled it on over my head. I was disappointed and a little confused.
“You look so sad,” he said, with a little smile on his face.
“Well, I’m just confused.” I focused really hard on not slurring my words. “You were just kissing me in the living room and …”
He kissed be lightly on the lips and then my forehead before sitting me down on my bed. He lifted my chin up to look me in the eye. There was a pained expression on his face. “I really look forward to making love to you someday, but not when you’re drunk, and not on the night of your sister’s bachelorette party.”
“Oh,” I said as a yawn involuntarily escaped my mouth.
Ryan tried to tuck me in under my covers, but I unclasped my bra and wriggled it out from under my camisole before I laid down. I knew that he would be able to see through the material, and it didn’t hurt to torture him a little bit, right? It’ll give him something to look forward to. Besides, I couldn’t sleep with a bra on anyway.