Chapter 33

I woke up with a strong arm holding my waist. Looking up to see Ryder's perfect face and strong jaw. His eyes were closed and I could see his soft lashes.

After coming back from the meadow, he invited me inside and kissed me again and again when he closed the door. After stumbling up the stairs without detaching our lips from one another, we finally made it into Ryder's bed, and I immediately fell asleep in his warm embrace.

I had spent the night, and let me just tell you, you haven't cuddled until you've cuddled with Ryder Daniels.

His eyes opened and he looked down at me and grinned a grin that made my heart do back flips.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said in a sexy scratchy morning voice.

"Morning." I replied and he bent his head to kiss me slowly. When he looked back at me, he grinned. "That's a nice way of waking up."

I smiled and rested my head on the pillow. Looking at the time, my eyes popped out of my head.

"Shit!" I yelped and jumped out of the bed.

Ryder groaned and rubbed his eyes, pulling me back down on the bed.

"We have to go, Ryder. We have school."

"Don't go." He said adorably.

I sighed. "If I miss any more classes, I'll be kicked out."

He finally looked up at me and brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"Fine." He said and sat up on the bed.

I opened his window and stepped out into the warm air.

I looked back at Ryder, who was studying me. "I'll see you at school?"

He smiled and nodded. "Definitely."

Carefully placing the board across our balconies, I took a deep breath and stepped on the board.

"Don't fall, baby." Ryder said from behind me and I almost fell.

"Don't distract me." I said and balanced myself.

I finally reached my balcony and let out a breath of relief.

Ryder was standing on his balcony with his arms crossed, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes and went inside my room, closing the window from a smirking Ryder.

I shut the blinds and changed into some clean clothes and walked down to the kitchen.

"Mom?" I called out. No answer. Of course not, she's at work.

I grabbed a pop tart and made my way out to the garage where my bike sat in all its glory.

When I got out on the driveway, I saw Ryder back into the street and wave me over.

Driving over slowly next to him, I smiled. "Hey there biker."

"Same to you, too."

"Race you to school." I challenged.

He winked. "You're on." And then he sped off.

"Hey! That's not fair!" I called out, but he was already halfway down the street.

I raced after him, finally gaining speed. When I passed him, he shot me a puzzled look and I chuckled to myself.

I turned a corner and almost fell off when Ryder's figure zoomed past me. We were well over the speed limit, but since there were no police cars around, we figured, why not?

Our bikes were edge to edge; tire to tire. We reached the school parking lot, but it wasn't clear on who had won.

"I won!" Ryder yelled and waved his hands in the air like a child. He hopped off his bike and came over to me.

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm pretty sure that I did."

He smiled and stepped closer. "Nah. I won."

"I won, but you just won't admit it."

He stepped forward again so that his hands were resting on my waist. "I'll admit that I'm very attracted to you." He said.

I bit my lip and smirked up at him. "Good." Then I leaned up on my tip toes and pecked his lips.

He frowned. "That can't possibly be considered a kiss."

I shrugged and made my way to the school entrance, Ryder following beside me.

My hand was grasped by his and he gripped warmly. I felt my cheeks blush as I squeezed his hand back.

The closer we neared the school, the faster my heart would race. What would everyone think of us holding hands? What is they asked if we were dating? Were we even boyfriend and girlfriend?

Ryder held open the door and let me in first, not letting go of my hand.

As expected, people stared with astonishment when we walked passed them towards my locker. I didn't realize I had a death grip on Ryder until he leaned down to peck my cheek, leaving me with a red face.

I looked up at him and saw a slow smirk growing on his face. Oh how I was going to kill him for embarrassing me...

I stopped at my locker and let go of Ryder's hand, wishing for his warmth and comfort again.

He leaned against the locker next to mine and grinned at me while I opened mine.

"Ready for a fantastic day of school?" he asked sarcastically.

I shut my locker and held my history book. "Absolutely."

"Speaking of abs..." Ryder started and took my other hand to press against his shirt.

I gasped and drew my hand away before anyone could see. "Ryder! We're in the middle of a school hallway!"

He chuckled. "And?"

I rolled my eyes and walked past him. But I would never admit the small grin on my face that I tried to hide.

The day flew by in a breath. After a couple classes, everyone finally got used to the idea of Ryder and me. My favorite part of the day though, was when Ryder took me out to lunch at the meadow. We didn't get much eating done since we were too busy sucking each others faces off.

When I went to put my stuff up in my locker, I saw a flash of brown hair show up beside me.

"Hi Ruby." Monica said.

"Uh, hi?" I answered, warily.

"So, a little birdy told me that Ryder found a new girlfriend." She said bitterly.

I frowned. "Uh, we're not really dat-"

"Anyways, I want to let you know that you're probably his rebound. As you may see, we slept together a couple days ago, and I think that he just needed a new sex buddy since I dumped him. I mean, do you really think that he'd go after you because he wants a 'relationship'? Come on Ruby, I know you're smarter than that. If you can't give him your body after a week, he's just gonna dump you. Just wanted to warn you so you don't get hurt. Bye Ruby!" she said squeakily and left me standing by my locker.

I stood there, shocked as to what I just heard. Maybe she was lying, maybe she was just trying to get to my nerves. But there was a deep irritating pain inside of me, not going away.

It was partly true, though. Ryder was a player, a bad boy. He wouldn't wait for me, he'd want to have sex and if I refused, then what? It was his character to leave me.

So I left the building and drove home, not bothering to wait on Ryder.

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