Page 25 of Ryder

“Yes, I did. I called to invite you over to my house tonight for dinner. I live in Manhattan Beach. I will text you my address. And, Scarlett,” he said, that dangerous tempting voice luring me in.

“Yes,” I sighed.

“I can’t wait to see you later,” he said breathlessly, then hung up.

I dropped the phone next to me and fell back on my towel.

“What?” Allison asked, dying for information.

“I guess I’m going to his house for dinner tonight,” I said, cringing as I waited for her to go nuts.

3. 2. 1.

Allison let out an insane scream as she smiled and pulled me in for a hug. “Have wild and dangerous sex tonight,” she laughed.

“You are a terrible influence on me,” I laughed.

Hours later, I was showered and dressed in a short, backless black dress, silver and black sandals, and a light layer offoundation. I sprayed on my perfume and then glanced at myself in the mirror before heading out to my car.

I had decided to wear my hair down tonight, and I curled the ends, giving it a beachy wave look. Sighing, I felt nervous as I thought about spending the evening with Ryder alone at his house. I knew it was a dangerous position for me, but I just had a hard time telling him now.

I plugged his address into my phone and drove down to Manhattan Beach. It was a beautiful part of Los Angeles that housed pristine beaches and million-dollar homes. As I pulled onto his street, I was gawking at the houses lining the beachfront property. My phone alerted me that I was at his house and I stopped my car. Getting out of my car, I admired the two-story modern design home. Large windows greeted me, and a stone path led up to a large, wooden door. Just as I stepped onto the front porch, the door swung open, and Ryder’s smiling face greeted me.

“Welcome,” he said, waving me inside.

I stepped into his home and was instantly in awe of the view. From the door, there was a straight-line view to the dazzling ocean outside. A chef-inspired kitchen sat to my right with all stainless-steel appliances and black cabinets—a white marble countertop contrasted nicely to the rich darkness of the kitchen.

A black leather couch faced a white marble-lined fireplace. An enormous television was mounted on the wall over the fireplace, and the entire house felt modern yet masculine.

“Your home is fantastic,” I said, admiring everything around me.

The air around us began to fill with electricity as I could sense our emotions flaring. He eyed me for only a moment before he gently placed one hand around my waist and pulled me close. His lips swiftly crashed into mine as the heat and electricity between us finally exploded. The room was full of so muchemotion; it was hard to control ourselves. I placed my hands on the back of his neck and began running them through his hair as our lips continued to collide in a passionate kiss. He took me by surprise, and I should have shoved him away, but I just couldn’t find the strength to do it. He now had one hand on the back of my neck and one on my hand, moving me toward the couch. Breaking the kiss, I stopped for a moment as I caught my breath.

“Ryder, you invited me here for dinner. We are friends, remember,” I said.

He took a step away from me, giving me space. However, the moment he let go of me, I felt like a piece of myself had fallen away.

“Tell me not to kiss you again, and I won’t,” Ryder breathed.

I opened my mouth to say the words I so desperately needed to say, but instead, something else came out.

“Fuck it,” I said, moving toward him and crashing my lips against his.

I could feel him smiling as his arms went to my waist as he pulled me back to him again. I felt the hem of my dress rising as one hand slipped under the fabric, rubbing my thigh as our tongues danced.

Moving us to the couch, we fell onto the cool leather. I was now lying flat on the couch, with Ryder on top. I am not sure how long we kissed, but when I finally came up for air, I knew it had been too long.

Fighting an internal battle, I knew I had to stop us from continuing. If I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t stop at all. Going beyond an innocent kiss could only lead us to places, neither one of us were prepared to explore. Pushing him off me, I scooted back against the armrest. “Ryder,” I began, as I tried to catch my breath. My chest was rapidly moving up and down, and Ryder was experiencing the same dilemma, too. “We have to stop doing that,” I said, trying my hardest not to pull him back on top of meagain. “We agreed to be friends. If you want me to go with you next weekend, we have to keep it friendly.”

Shaking his head, Ryder let out a frustrated laugh. He brushed a few strands of loose hair away from his face as he looked at me. “I know; you keep telling me that,” he said, a hint of anger in his tone. “I don’t know why you fight it. We are friends. We care about each other. Can’t we just let things happen and see where they go?” he asked again, his voice etched with frustration.

I sighed and threw my head back. I stared at the ceiling as I fought back the tears. “We have been over this. I care about you. I adore your commitment to the boys, but anything more than friendship is not an option. I don’t want to complicate things or hurt you. If this is too hard, we can…”

Ryder moved forward and placed one finger on my lips, hushing me. “Don’t say it. I will take your friendship, as frustrating as it is, over losing you and not being in your life.” His face was so close to mine that if I only inched myself forward a little bit, I could kiss him again. Shaking my head, I tried to erase that thought from my head. It was thoughts like that, that put us in these complicated situations.

“Okay,” I said, removing his finger from my mouth. “We kissed. The moment is over. As much as I know our bodies don’t agree with my heart, we can only be friends. I cherish your friendship, and it would devastate me to lose you. Let’s just move on,” I said as I pushed myself even further into the couch cushion.

“So, what do we do now?” Ryder asked, sitting up and placing his hands on his knees.

---