“C’mon, I have a spot where we can watch the show.” He grabbed my hand and led me down the staircase and through the kitchen. We exited out the sliding glass door in the dining room and walked into the yard. A hot tub sat up against the house, and twinkle lights ran along the fence line. Ryan walked me over to the trampoline in the middle of the yard and hopped onto the netting. He extended his hand and pulled me onto the trampoline. A sleeping bag was already spread out across the surface.
“Planning on being out here?”
He nodded and sprawled out across the sleeping bag. “Best view in the city.”
I had to agree. Ryan’s house overlooked all of Spring Hill, the city lights softly illuminating the horizon. I lay my head on his chest, his arm pulling me closer against his solid body.
Fireworks popped across the darkness, but I was more focused on the reds, blues, and oranges skittering along Ryan’s face. He closed his eyes, his blond lashes feathering across his cheeks.
During a lull in the fireworks show, I asked, “What are you thinking?”
“About how this is the best I’ve felt all summer.” A few moments of silence passed before he said, “Jules?”
“Yeah?” His heart thundered underneath my ear, beating way faster than my own when I try to keep up with Payton during a sprint.
“I like you.”
I grinned into his chest. “I like you, too.”
“I mean it. You’re really awesome.”
Wow. What was with the sudden touchy-feely stuff? No jokes? No dirty comments? So un-Ryan-like. “You getting soft on me, DeShane? You don’t need to say that crap to get in my pants.”
He pressed his erection into my side. “Do I feel soft to you?” And just like that, we were back to normal.
“You are so mature.”
“Says the person who brought up Beanie Babies.”
I poked his side. “Says the person whose room looks like it’s decorated by a ten-year-old boy.”
He threaded his fingers through my hair. “Says the person who’s arguing about maturity.”
“Ryan?” I looked up at him.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
“Says the—”
I crushed my mouth against his and slipped my tongue past his lips. Rolling on top of him, I straddled his stomach and sifted my fingers through his soft hair. His hands slipped under my top and inched across my skin. He pulled me closer, planting kisses along my collarbone, down my sternum, to the valley between my breasts. His warm breath fluttered across my skin, and my arms almost buckled as tingles swarmed my bloodstream.
He grabbed my sides and flipped me over on my back and hovered above me, his gaze raking across my face. “P.S. You rock my world.”
I giggled and rolled my eyes. “Enough nineties lyrics tonight, Casanova.”
“Just because they’re song titles doesn’t mean they’re not true.”
Lowering his face, his lips skimmed along my jaw, up my cheek, and planted a soft kiss on my nose. I moved my head, lining up our lips, kissing him tenderly. His chest pressed against mine as his breaths grew deeper. The same overwhelming sensation from that night on the beach invaded every crevice of my body, sweeping any coherent thought away with the gentle breeze. I needed to learn how to control this before I set myself up to get majorly burned.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ryan
I stood behind register one when Gary strode through the sliding doors of Office Jax. He gave a curt nod and made his way to Dad’s office, not even bothering to stop and talk. He hadn’t been over to the house since he’d thrown out the earlier academy option. Even if I was confused as hell with the direction of my life, Jules was the only person who didn’t rub it in my face, making her the perfect distraction from reality.
Gary slammed the door to Dad’s office and shouts erupted a few seconds later.
“You don’t know what’s best for him.”
“And you do?”
I leaned in closer, trying to hear the conversation more clearly.
“I’m his father, of course I do.”
“He needs a push. You can’t coddle him anymore.”
I stared at the door. What the fuck was happening? Two adults in a pissing match over my future and, of course, I wasn’t included in this conversation.
Dad bellowed, “Kind of hard to push someone with no motivation.”
“Whose fault it that?”
My jaw fell open, his jab hitting me like a blow to the face.
“What are you insinuating?”
“I’m taking him back to Texas with me. At least there he’ll be doing something better than ringing up customers.”
“Fuck you, Gary. He’s not going anywhere. He still has another month.”
“He’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions.”
My whole body constricted, their words tearing my insides. They might as well cut out my organs and use them for a demo in the shredder aisle. Tough pill to swallow knowing the one person who’d been in my corner my whole childhood thought I was worthless. I’d been planning on going to the academy, anyway. I may not have known what I wanted to do with my life, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit on my ass like he’d implied.
He stormed out of the office, turning to me before he left the building. “I’m leaving next Tuesday. I’ll buy you a one-way ticket to come live with me, start the program early, get away from this place. Just give me the word. Five days.”
I stared as he walked out and got in his rental car, gunning it out of the parking lot.