Page 22 of Love Starves

"Okay, seriously," I tell him, reaching out to take the offered bright-blue drink. "You seem to know where everything is here. Sure you haven't been here before?"

Taking a sip of his drink before he answers, he shakes his head. "I legit heard about it from one of the guys in my calculus class. Technically, I overheard him talking about it. Not like he told me about it or anything. I just got here a few minutes early today to check it out."

If he's lying then he's doing a pretty fancy job of it. Besides, a few more of these fruity drinks with their cute umbrellas and I won't care anyway. Shrugging, I let it go and take the pink club and ball from him. "I hope you're ready to lose," I tease. "I may not have ever played before, but I'm super competitive."

He grins. "Good, so am I. This should be fun."

As it turns out, even with his competitive streak, Ryan is a gentleman and lets me win. This coming after I pretty much spike my ball straight into a marshy-looking pond, which he starts to go in after making me double over laughing at him up to his calves in swamp water. He calls it quits after I yell ‘alligator’ at him. Whether it's from him playing along or true fear of what that murky water might be hiding, he skips out of that water so fast he might as well be walking on the surface. In true cases of firsts I've been having lately, I'm surprised to find that I've had a great time and actually enjoyed spending time with him today as the date comes to an end. After I coerce him into a battle of neon skee-ball of course.

Back out by our cars, I toss the small teddy bear we won with those skee-ball tickets into my passenger seat before turning back around. To which I find him in my space closer than necessary.

"I had a great time today," he says sheepishly with a quick flick of his eyes to the ground.

Bending my knees until I can catch his gaze and bring it back up to my face as I rise back up, I confess, "I have to agree. This was really nice. Thank you for letting me in on the secret and for letting me win my first ever game of minigolf."

He waves it off with half a smile and it’s obvious nerves might just get the best of him before he kisses me. It's a damn good thing I've got them made of steel for the both of us. A lot gentler than I want, I fist the front of his plaid button-up shirt and pull him towards me until our lips touch on the softest of kisses. The last thing I see before I close my eyes and succumb to the desire he stirs in my belly is his surprise deep in those honey colored irises before his own seal shut, locking me out. Then it's nothing but Ryan. He tastes like I would imagine strawberries dipped in pure sugar would. It's a syrupy sweet flavor that wouldn't be too hard to become addicted to.

Having this be my second kiss in the same week after missing out for so long is almost like staring into the sun. It's wonderous and a thing to behold until it starts to be a bit too much, and if you're not careful you'll lose sight of why you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. At some point I don't realize, he backs me against the side of my car, forcing my chin up to accommodate his height and deepening the kiss. With one hand palming my cheek and the other wrapped around my back, it's easy to feel his cock starting to harden as it presses right beneath my belly button. Our tongues continue to tangle in a ferocious battle for dominance. For what a gentleman Ryan is letting me win our game, he gives no quarter in this. It turns me on until a soft moan slips from my throat between our lips. Not part of any kind of plan, I'm halfway to telling him to hop into his car and follow me home where we can truly test that competitive will of his. Thankfully, I find a way to come to my senses before sending out that invite.

Forcing myself to pull away from him, I can tell he's not thrilled to have lost the connection.That makes two of us, buddy. However, lines are blurring, and shit is getting scrambled in my brain. I need a few to figure out what the fuck is going on. Besides, going on a date with him is one thing. Taking him home is another. Especially when the unique rules that've been laid down between Giovanni and the others.

"Thank you again for our date today," I tell him in a hushed voice.

Dropping his forehead to mine, in the same tone with a touch of disappointment, he replies, "Thank you for showing up and trusting me."

At that, we share a quick smile before parting ways. I watch him strut all the way over to his car, my eyes not always on non-x-rated places imagining what he might look like with his clothes off. He opens his door and tosses a hand into the air but waits until I return the gesture and hop inside my own before he does the same. Through the butterflies flitting around in my stomach, I can't help but wonder how in the hell I went from no-strings-attached sex with six men to possibly considering something more with seven? I want to slam my head down on the horn and let it honk until the battery dies just to see if it'll wake me up from this dream or nightmare I've currently found myself in.

With the multitasking going on in my brain and trying to stay caught up in all my classes, the next week is a blur. Before I know it, our next book club meeting is upon us. I'd shit twice and die before I ever admit that I read the book as fast as I did. Nor will I confess that it promptly sent me running after Nick and all the fun to be had afterward either. These chicks may be more fucked-up than I am. Who knows? But that doesn't mean I'm ready to open up and just throw that info out there into the group either.

Toning down my dress code for the evening, I try to match the atmosphere they've been setting for our little meetings the best I can without sticking out like a sore thumb. When I enter the uniquely designed living room of Jolene and Jade's house, I can tell I made the right choice. Imma, looking for once like she's actually enjoying being pregnant gives me a slight once over without realizing it and smiles softly as I take a seat beside her on the small loveseat.

We sit for a good ten minutes after the time the meeting is supposed to start, waiting for the others to show and byothersI'm referring to Luci. They all help themselves to the buffet of finger sandwiches and food Jolene's laid out on the coffee table. Not wanting to seem rude, I take a few myself and surprisingly enough find that I like them. Cucumber's always been one of my favorite fruits, or is it a veggie? Either way, it's great paired with fluffy wheat bread and what tastes like cream cheese and a bit of dill.

When conversation dies down and the room leans toward becoming awkward, I start checking my watch. Not trying to throw out hints at first, but the longer we wait, the more anxious I start to get.

"The meeting was supposed to start almost half an hour ago, right?" I ask, biting back the bitchiness that would've normally slipped out with it.

Jolene glances around and nods, "I figured it'd be polite to wait on Luci just in case she was running behind, but we can go ahead and start if you have somewhere to be."

Ugh, of course, just because I push being a bitch on the daily, they'd automatically assume that's the way I'm meaning it to be now. It makes my tone sharpen a bit. "I don't. It's just polite to be punctual, is all."

I can feel her sister's glare from where she sits on the floor. The knock on the door distracts her long enough to have her biting back whatever she's about to say, but that only lasts as long as it takes her to stand to answer it. "No offense, but you're the last person who needs to be talking about being polite."

Rolling my eyes to hide the laugh bubbling in my chest, I can't help but admire the way she literally flounces from the room with her cute-as-hell bob cut bouncing with her. I'm not used to getting a taste of my own attitude. I could seriously be best friends with this chick. The spur of the moment emotion catches me by surprise. Dropping my gaze down to my nails, I pretend to be completely overtaken by the inspection of the manicure that's a few days past due.

Until the quiet murmured voices at the door catch my attention that is. Jade going from biting my head off to a whispered fever pitch has all eyes turning her way. Someone gasps at the same time I find what the drama is about.

Luci steps in with what could've been a bomb for all the attention it garners compared to her face. "I brought you guys a little goodie tray. It's all homemade family recipes. There are even some of these little peanut butter squares for you, Imma. Figured they'd make baby and mama happy."

Imma replies from beside me, but I have absolutely no idea what she's said. All I can process is Luci's massive black eye and a solid inch-long cut above her eyelid. The more I stare at it, the more pissed I become. Who is this chick walking in here looking like she just stepped out of a fucking boxing ring, and the butter on the toast, acting like it's nothing while she chats about food.

I can't help it. The words blurt out of me before I can stop them and my anger gets directed toward the wrong person. "Hold the phone," I snap at Imma. "I know you've got this fascination with food right now, but are we really going to avoid the evident black elephant in the room?"

She flinches away like I've punched her in the face, and it makes me feel like the total fucking asshole I am. I'll apologize later when I'm not staring at one of the worst battered housewife cases I've ever witnessed.

"Why do you have to be so damn rude?" Jade says in a tone that says she'd stab me right now if she could.

"I'm not being rude," I snap back at her. "We're going to have to sit here and chat about a book for the next hour while looking at her face. It'll be highly uncomfortable, so there's no reason we can't just talk about it now without having the ridiculous tension there. Besides, if she didn't want us to ask about it, then she wouldn't have shown up tonight. Am I right, Luci?"

---