Ryder just rolled his eyes.
“You want to be comfortable when we’re watching this trash, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but how does this help?” I gestured to the truck.
“You’ll see.” He smiled that dimple-flashing smile that I was beginning to love as he pulled out of my driveway. “You look hot by the way.” I found myself blushing at that comment for some reason.
“Uhm, thanks, you look good too. Didn’t have a new t-shirt without holes?” Reaching over, I poked my finger in one of the holes on his chest and gasped. His chest was hard and smooth. He grabbed my hand and twisted his fingers through mine before resting them on his knee. I felt a strange thrumming in my heart and couldn’t hide the smile forming on my face.
“This is new. I bought it like this. Why do you think I was late? I had to shop for new clothes and trade cars with Jayden,” he told me seriously.
“You paid good money for that shirt?” I joked. I was kind of surprised he’d gone to so much trouble for a fake date.
“You don’t like it?” He glanced at me and squeezed my hand on his knee.
“I do. Only you can make a holey t-shirt look good. Kind of like your plaid shirts and skinny jeans. No one should look like you do in them,” I admitted, feeling his hand squeeze mine tighter and watching the smile spread across his face.
“So you think I look good?” He smirked.
“You know you do.” I was not admitting that I thought he was hot as hell. He’d have too much fun with that.
When we pulled up to the ticket booth at the drive-in, I got out my purse to pay for myself, but Ryder refused to let me. “The guy always pays for his date. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you pay for yourself?” he said, pushing my hand away when I tried to give him money.
“Uhm, a fake one?” I laughed.
“Just shut up,” he said, accepting his change. “How close do you want to get to them?” he asked, talking about Chace and Christina.
“Whatever.” I shrugged as he drove around looking for where Chace had parked his car. I had almost forgotten that we were going there for them and that it wasn’t a real date.
He found them in the middle row. There was an empty spot in the row in front of them a couple of spaces down, so Ryder reversed the monster truck into place between the two much smaller cars.
“Uhm, we’re facing the wrong way,” I said when I realised we were looking at the back of the drive-in almost directly at Chace’s car and not at the screen.
“No, we’re not. Here, you wanna go buy snacks and drinks and I’ll get everything ready here?” He handed me some money. I climbed out of the truck, wondering what he needed to set up, but didn’t question him on it. He clearly had a plan.
The queue for the candy bar was huge and seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. If it took too much longer, I’d miss the start of the movie. I suddenly felt a warm body press up against me and arms wrap around my waist. I immediately tensed and was about shove away whoever was behind me when I saw the simple leather cuff on his wrist and heard his gravelly voice in my ear.
“Relax, love.” Ryder pressed his face into the crook of my neck, and I instantly relaxed back into his chest. “Just seeing what was taking so long. I was getting bored by myself.”
“The line is taking forever. We’re going to miss the movie. Sorry.” I placed my arms over his, acutely aware that we probably didn’t need to be acting so coupley right then when there was no one we knew watching.
“That’s okay. I’m not here to look at the movie.” His arms tightened around my waist as he placed a kiss on the top of my shoulder.
“I know. We’re here because of Chace.” I sighed, knowing that was why we were there and feeling a little disappointed that if it wasn’t for that, I knew we wouldn’t be hanging out. And I liked hanging out with Ryder.
Ryder took a deep breath and mumbled, “Yeah. Chace.”
He went quiet after that, not saying anything. Just tracing patterns on my stomach through my dress and occasionally pressing kisses to my shoulder. We finally reached the front of the line and ordered our drinks, popcorn, and some mixed lollies before heading back to where we were parked.
Who would have thought a month ago that I would be this comfortable in Ryder’s presence, enjoying holding his hand, touching him, and even kissing him? What would happen when this ended? Would we stay friends or go back to never talking?
We got to the truck, and Ryder walked over to open the tailgate. “C’mon.”
He held his hand out for me and pulled me toward him.
“Up you get.” He smiled as I turned to look at the back of the truck.
“Wow.” I looked back at him, impressed. The back of the truck was filled with pillows and blankets, creating a soft, fluffy bed for us to relax in while watching the movie.
“Told you I knew what I was doing.” He suddenly lifted me by the hips and sat me on the tailgate. “Now get comfy.” He climbed in behind me as I shuffled further back to the pillows and leant against the back window of the truck.
“Uh-huh, and how many girls have you done this for?” I teased. I didn’t actually want to know the answer. In fact, I was dreading the answer. I hoped that I was the only one he’d done this for—that I was special.
“Only you, love.” He smiled and stared into my eyes for a moment before shaking his head as if to clear it.
“Good,” I whispered, hoping he didn’t hear. If he did, he ignored it.
“Chace saw me before.” Ryder frowned while getting comfortable beside me.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me? What happened? You didn’t fight again, did you?” I sat up straight and turned to look at him.
“Nothing happened. He tried to start something when I told him I was here with you, but I know you don’t like me fighting him, so I walked away. I didn’t hit him, I swear.” He clenched his jaw when he said that and held his hands up in defence.
“Why not?” I asked. He raised his eyebrows at me, giving me a look as if I was stupid. I wasn’t stupid, was I?
“Because I know what he means to you still, and I know you don’t want to see him hurt. As much as I want to beat the living daylights out of him for what he did to you and to…” He trailed off, closing his eyes, his jaw still clenched tightly. I reached out and wrapped my hands around his.
“You’re an idiot,” I said, twisting my fingers through his, ignoring the look of surprise on his face. How could he still think I was worried or gave a damn about Chace? Oh right, I hadn’t told him.
“It’s not him I don’t want to see hurt. It’s you.” I let go of one of his hands and reached up to trace my fingers from the cut above his eyebrow, over the bruise on his cheek, and down to the split in his lip. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“I’d let him hit me every day in a jealous fit of rage if it meant you were getting back at him for hurting you. If it meant he was feeling just a sliver of what he made you feel.”