Page 15 of Ride or Die
“Oh, stop,” I tell them. They both chuckle.
“Seriously, girl. You are hot,” Wren says to me. I’m wearing distressed jeans with knee-high boots and a long sleeve top that twists in the back. The twist shows off a good portion of my skin. It’s sexy without being too sexy.
The door opens and Wren’s eyes are the size of saucers. I turn around and the biker is walking toward us.
“Hey ladies.” He gives us a flirtatious smile. His eyes find Wren and her cheeks flush pink. “I’m Sketch.”
“Look somewhere else, dude. She has a boyfriend,” Emma tells him. Wren’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink and Sketch breaks eye contact with her, turning to me.
“Cali, right?” I nod. “Buster is at the pizza shop.”
“Thanks,” I respond.
“Have a good time. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Emma sing songs and throws me a wink.
“And what wouldn’t you do?” I tease her and she grins.
“Keep an open mind. You both have changed a lot since you last saw him,” Wren reminds me.
Sketch places an order as I walk out of the bakery. I stop at the edge of the sidewalk and glance at the pizza shop for a moment. Am I ready to talk to him? I spot him through the window. He’s sitting at a table, facing the window. He’s tapping his foot. It’s a nervous habit he’s had since we were little. Not much makes him nervous, so it seems as if our meeting has him as nervous as I am. The thought makes me smile and with a little more courage, I cross the street. When I walk in, he’s talking with the waitress. As she walks away, his eyes find mine and I make my way over to him.
“Hey,” I whisper as I come to the table. I notice his eyes dilate as he takes me in.
“Hey.” There’s a gentleness to his tone like he’s afraid one wrong word, I might shatter. He stands and moves to pull my chair out. Some things never change. I’m curious how many other women he’s been this way toward. I shake the thought away quickly. I don’t need to think like that. Hold your head high, Cali. I tell myself.
“You look great, Cali,” he tells me as he sits back down. “I ordered your favorite, thin crust supreme.”
“Thank you.” I smile. As I’m about to say more, our waitress walks over to us and sets a drink down in front of him.
“Can I get you something to drink,” she asks once she’s done gawking at Ryan. I roll my eyes. He has his Savage Riders cut on. I’m sure it gets him all types of attention.
“I’ll have a sweet tea please,” I reply. He keeps his eyes on me the entire time. I smile on the inside, trying to stay neutral on the outside. I don’t want to tell him I liked him doing that. The waitress writes it on her notepad and walks away.
“I’m really proud of you,” he tells me. The corner of his mouth pulls in a sexy half-smile. I both love and hate that smile. “You have wanted a bakery since I first met you. Now, look at you.”
At that, I can’t help but smile. I’m honestly surprised he remembers that conversation.
“I’ve worked my butt off to get to where I am,” I tell him.
“I don’t doubt that.” Our waitress comes back with my drink, pausing our conversation again.
“Your pie should be out soon,” she says only looking at Ryan. His eyes are still on me when he responds.
“Thank you.” The waitress pouts at his lack of interest and walks away.
“What size did you order,” I ask him.
“The biggest one they have.” He chuckles. We both love pizza so I’m not surprised. “Whatever is left over, one of us can take home.”
He’ll eat at least half of the pizza alone, maybe more.
“How have you been? Are you seeing anyone?” There’s a look in his eye I can’t quite place.
“Do you actually think I would have agreed to meet with you if I was seeing someone?” I say it with a bit of sass.
“No, I guess not.” He smirks at me.
“The bakery has been my life for the past three years. I honestly don’t do much outside of work.” There’s no sense in lying to him. His expression turns somber.
