“Wow,” I whispered. “Look at the stars.”
Ryder chuckled. “Hell, this is nothing. I’ll take you somewhere tomorrow night and show you what a true Montana night sky looks like.”
A bubbling feeling of excitement filled my chest. “I’d love that.”
Turning, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “For now, though, I need you to kiss me.”
Ryder’s eyes lit up. “My pleasure.”
The second his lips touched mine, I was lost in the perfect blissful moment. Ryder moaned softly into my mouth and my stomach clenched with desire as I tightened my arms around his neck. He slowly lifted me off the ground as his hard length pressed against my body.
I wasn’t sure how long we kissed for before I felt my feet touch the ground again. Ryder slowly pulled his lips away from mine, and I fought with everything I had not to beg him for more.
His hands cupped my face as our eyes locked. “I’ve never in my life felt like this, Ava.”
My heart dropped in my chest as I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling like an idiot. “Me either,” I finally said as I felt my cheeks heat. “I’m so glad we bumped into each other.”
Ryder grinned and was about to say something when the front screen door slammed shut. “Ryder. I hate to interrupt you, but I really do need to talk to you.”
Looking over Ryder’s shoulder, I saw one pissed off Destiny standing there with her hands on her hips. Ryder sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. “Do you mind if I talk to her?”
“Of course not. I’ll just head back in.”
As I walked past Destiny, she gave me the fakest smile I’d ever seen. I reached for the door and glanced over my shoulder. Ryder was watching me as I walked into the house. I wanted to gag when I heard her start talking. She obviously knew I could still hear her when she busted out with, “Ryder, I’ve missed you so much.”
Walking into the foyer, I made a gagging motion as someone busted out laughing. To my surprise, Jennifer, Ryder’s other sister, was standing there looking at me. My face turned red with embarrassment.
“Don’t worry about Destiny. Ryder won’t even look twice at her. I’m pretty sure everyone in the room tonight could see the way my brother was looking at you.”
I swallowed hard and placed my hands on my cheeks to cool my face down. “Well, I um, I’m not really sure how to respond.”
Jennifer laughed. “No need to. I have to say, though, I’ve never seen my brother so caught up in a girl before. Granted I live here and he lives in Texas, so I’ve never really seen him in a serious relationship before. Oh my God. I’m rambling on and on.” Shaking her head, she scrunched her nose up. “Tell me how you met.”
“Well um, I had just been dumped at the cake store by my fiancé and was walking down the street on the phone with my mother when we ran into each other.”
Jennifer’s eyes lit up. “Wow. He broke up with you at the cake store?”
With a wave of my hand, I chuckled. “It was for the best. I quickly realized it wasn’t love I was feeling. Especially when I ran into Ryder.”
“And it was love at first sight? Did you feel a spark between you? Did your skin feel as if a blaze of fire was moving along it when Ryder touched you?”
I stood there staring at Jennifer with a stunned look on my face. “Ahh—”
She spun around as she wrapped her arms around her body. Stopping, she quickly ran over and took both my hands in her hands. “What did he say to you? Did you exchange numbers?”
“Well no, we didn’t. I hadn’t even gotten his name. I called him … mystery man.”
Jennifer gasped. “No!”
“Yes!” I said with a little bit too much excitement.
“Then what happened?”
Okay, I had to admit, I was getting caught up in her euphoria. “Well … I thought about him for a few days. His amazing eyes were constantly in my dreams.”
“Oh, Ryder does have beautiful green eyes.”
I nodded. “He does.”
“So go on! Go on!” Jennifer said as she hopped a few times.
“I saw him at a club. I was drunk out of my mind and he ran into me again.”
“Again? It was destiny!”
Jennifer was really much too caught up in this story and I had to admit, it was fun pulling her along. “Yes. I was drunk, though, and ended up not really remembering anything other than the fact that your brother brought me home and took care of me when I was sick from too many shots.”
Her body relaxed as her eyes went dreamy. “Ryder always was the romantic one out of my two brothers.”
With a smile, I looked down. “So anyway, being the gentleman that your brother is, he arranged to have my best friend there when I woke. Well much to my surprise, I found out he had stayed all night.”
Jennifer slammed her hands over her mouth. “No! Did you … you know?”
I widened my eyes. “I wasn’t sure. I figured we had, but I didn’t … you know … feel different.”
Jennifer looked at me with a lost look on her face. “What?” she asked.
“You know. I didn’t feel different.”