Page 63 of Loathing Ryan
Ryan and I glanced at each other. He wrapped his arm around my waist before excusing us. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Juliet waved her hand, brushing us off. “Whatever, I didn’t see anything. You kids have fun.”
Ryan snickered and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the party room and down the hallway. He pulled me through a door into the courtyard behind the rec center. The yard was spacious. Trees, flowers, and bushes were planted throughout the area, giving it an otherworldly feel. The taller trees had Christmas lights wrapped around their trunks. It was just barely dusk; the sun was setting below the horizon, painting the sky a mixture of pinks and oranges against the clouds. The lights twinkled against the increasing darkness.
He directed me down the small path until we reached a sitting area. There were two benches angled across from one another. Instead of sitting us down, he stopped right in front of one. He turned around and faced me, taking my hands in his.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” he said, looking at me lovingly. “I just thought we’d hang out on one of our couches tonight.”
I shrugged as I grinned. “You deserve a better sendoff than a night on the couch.”
“You sure about that?” Ryan teased me as he clutched me, lightly tracing his lips on mine. “I think I’d be perfectly happy with a couch. There are lots of things we could do on a couch.”
“I’m aware,” I teased him right back.
Ryan and I had definitely made good use of the past two weeks. If I was going to be doing long distance with him for the next however long, I wanted to be sure that I got my fill of him while he was here. Andboy, did I ever.
Ryan was incredible. He was thoughtful and considerate, both in and out of the bedroom. He was never selfish and always willing to give before he got, though I was plenty eager to learn what he liked to receive. We were now experts in each other. I knew what drove Ryan crazy, and he knew exactly how to push all my right buttons.
“But speaking of things to do on a couch…” Ryan paused and glanced back at the door to the rec plex. “Do you think your parents would let you spend the night at my place?”
I pressed my lips together. “Maybe. What did you have in mind?”
Ryan smirked. “I hoped we could spend our last night together.”
I smiled at him. “I’m sure I can make it happen.”
He grinned and briefly pressed his lips to mine before pulling away. “Also, I got you something.”
“This is your party. Why are you getting me a present?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
Ryan chuckled. “Well, I wanted to give you something to remember me by.”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box. It had the name of a shop I didn’t recognize. I took it from him, my eyes darting up to him in shock. He gave me an encouraging nod, and I looked down at the small box before removing the lid.
Inside was a small silver heart pendant. I pulled the necklace out and held it out in my palm, admiring it. The heart was plated in sterling silver, with a single diamond fixed in the middle. The jewel caught the light, sparkling as I tilted it to get a better view.
“It’s beautiful, Ryan,” I told him, beaming.
“Turn it over,” he instructed, and I did. On the backside was etchedR & Bin neat script. I ran my thumb over it, feeling the engraving against my thumb.
“I love it.”
Ryan kept his eyes on me as he reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out a chain wrapped around his neck, revealing a silver dog tag with a heart stamped out of the right corner. I stepped closer to him and lifted up my necklace. It was a perfect fit. My silver heart had been cut out of his dog tag.
My fingers grasped the tag, and I looked at it closer. Ryan’s had an engraving on it as well.Distance means so little when someone means so much. R & B.
Ryan took my necklace out of my hands and twirled a finger, instructing me to turn around. I did, and I felt him fist my hair, pulling it to one shoulder. He lifted his arms around me and secured the necklace clasp at the base of my neck. His fingers trailed gently over the skin of my shoulder before he pressed a kiss against me.
My eyes started to sting, tears threatening to spill over. I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, not wanting to cry. Despite my efforts, a few slipped past my eyelids and trailed down my face. When I sniffled, Ryan turned me around to face him. His hand reached up to my cheek, and he wiped the tear away with his thumb. That just spurred on the tears even more. This time, I didn’t try to stop them. I let the tears fall freely.
Ryan wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. He maneuvered us onto one of the stone benches. I snuggled against him, pressing my body as close to his as possible. “Don’t cry, pretty girl.”
I buried my face in his neck and let him hold me while I cried. “I don’t know how we’re going to do this,” I whimpered between sniffles.
The fears and uncertainty had been building over the last week. The ever-looming departure date sat at the back of my mind. I tried not to let it jade the time we had left together, but it was impossible. I’m sure, to some degree, it did. I had distracted myself with planning the party and making sure that everything was perfect, but now that we were here, on the eve of his leaving, all the emotions I had been suppressing boiled over.
Ryan sighed and kissed the side of my hair. “We’ll just have to take it one day at a time.”
