Chapter 10 Girls from that...region are violent
Saraphina
And just as our lips were about to meet…
“RJ! My man!” a loud voice shouted from behind us. We jumped apart.
A group of guys and girls were walking toward us. Luckily, we were partly hidden by Ryan’s truck, so there was no way they could have seen what was almost happened.
“We saw your car drive by, figured we would find you up here,” said a guy in a white t-shirt and jeans. He had a nice smile, with deep dimples.
“Oh, hey everyone. What is going on?” Ryan nodded at the group. They all looked like they had just stepped out of a fancy television show.
“Who is this?” The guy with the dimples turned to me, looking me over from head to toe. Of course, I started blushing right away.
“This is Saraphina, my, uh, step-sister. Saraphina, these are my friends.” Before Ryan could introduce them, Dimple Guy stepped forward and held his hand out.
“I am Cameron. Nice to meet you,” he said, flashing that bright smile again.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I replied politely, taking his hand. I felt his fingers hold on to mine for a moment too long, and I pulled my hand back, feeling awkward.
“Saraphina is new in town, so I am just showing her around,” Ryan said, clearing his throat.
“Oh, cool. Will we see you both at Blake’s party tonight? It is going to be fucking great,” Cameron said, finally looking away from me and back to Ryan.
“Yeah, man. Absolutely,” Ryan told him.
“You are coming too, right, Saraphina?” Cameron turned his attention back to me.
“What party?”
“It is a tradition we have here. Whenever there is a full moon, we have a party at our friend’s beach house. It will be fun, you should come,” he said. I noticed Ryan shifting his weight, looking uncomfortable.
“Okay, sure,” I replied. I did not have anything better to do, anyway.
“Awesome. I will see you both tonight!” Cameron beamed. He waved goodbye and ran back to his friends and their cars, and soon they were all driving away.
Left alone again, Ryan and I stood there, the silence between us feeling thick and awkward.
“Um, maybe we should go back now?” I finally said.
The drive back was filled with a heavy quiet. There was a big, unspoken thing sitting in the car with us, and that thing was all the tension from what had almost happened on the cliff. What the hell was that? He was pulling me in. Was it for a kiss? And I was letting him? Holy shit. That could have gotten out of hand so fast.
Ryan tried to cut the awkward silence by putting a CD into the player. Soon, a familiar song started. It was an Ed Sheeran song, ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ but it was not his voice singing. It was a cover, sung by a girl. Just as I reached to turn the volume up, Ryan did the same. Our fingers brushed, and I swear I felt a spark of electricity. I pulled my hand back quickly, and he turned the music up.
“So, are we just not going to talk about it?” he said suddenly.
“Talk about what?” I played dumb.
“You know. What happened back there.”
“Nothing happened back there,” I said, getting defensive.
“Right,” he said, his voice full of sarcasm.
“Seriously, nothing happened, right?” I said again, my own voice sounding a little shaky.
“Sure. If you say so.”
I groaned in frustration and let out a heavy breath. “Fine. It was a stupid mistake on my part, and you were just… being yourself. So it was nothing.”
Ryan smiled at my answer. I was being completely serious, but he looked entertained. I could not believe he found this funny. I guess everything is a joke to him, huh?
Just then, the song ended, and we heard the girl’s voice speaking over the music.
“Hey RJ, I hope you like my Ed Sheeran cover, I made it just for you! I miss you!” Ryan fumbled quickly to skip to the next song.
I could not help it. I laughed out loud.
“What can I say? Girls love me,” he said with a shrug.
“You are such a bastard!” I shook my head at him.
“Bastard?” he laughed.
“Who was that, anyway? Your girlfriend?”
“No, no, no. I do not do girlfriends. No thank you. It was just some girl. We fucked a few times, no big deal. To be honest, I do not even remember her name,” he replied.
“Wow,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “I do not get it. You are a self-obsessed man-slut. Why do girls still fall all over you?”
“I do not know what to tell you, Saraphina. I mean, just look at me.” He gestured toward his face and body.
“Be careful when you get out of the car. Your ego might not fit through the door,” I said, rolling my eyes.
His face lit up with amusement. “Haters are going to hate, players have to play.”
“Oh, whatever, Ryan,” I said shortly.
“Okay, Little Miss Judgmental, let us talk about this. I think your whole purity ring thing is a noble cause. Really, good for you. But it is a lost cause. You have no idea what you are missing,” he argued.
“Well, if it means I am missing out on assholes like you, then I do not think I am missing much,” I shot back, my hand closing tightly around the ring on my finger.
“Assholes?” Ryan seemed to find my attempt at swearing funny and started laughing again.
“Well, hey, if you ever change your mind, I would not mind helping a girl out,” he said, and then he winked at me.
“Ryan! That is so fucking inappropriate!” I gasped.
“I am just kidding, do not get your panties in a twist.”
Ugh! That smug bastard.
“Or am I?” he added, giving me that stupid smirk again.
“Just shut up and drive,” I said, smacking the side of his head and pushing his face back toward the road.
“Ow! Girls from New York are so violent,” he complained.
Thankfully, the mood was not as tense after that, and we spent the rest of the drive making fun of each other. We got home later that evening and had a nice dinner with our parents. Even though he always teased me about being a virgin, I felt a little more comfortable around Ryan now. I could actually picture us being friends, or even like real brother and sister.
“We need to leave around eight. Let me know when you are ready, I will be in my room,” Ryan said to me as he got up from the dinner table.
“Where are you two going?” Loiusa turned to me.
“Oh, it is just a party at one of Ryan’s friend’s houses,” I answered, trying to sound as casual as I could.
“Oooh, that sounds fun! I am glad you are making friends,” Louisa said, patting my back excitedly.