Some Kind of Wonderful (sequel to Give Me the Greenlight, Mr. Clifford)

Ch 9 - How To Kiss

"Really? That's it?" I asked Ryder, slightly disappointed.

"It's a school night. It's not like we'll have time to do much anyway. We'll have fun no matter what, right?"

Ryder had just told me his plans for his Birthday Eve. He said he just wanted to hang out at the beach house for the evening. He was right, I knew we'd have fun no matter what we did. But I was expecting a little more creativity.

"I guess so. Well, you're the boss. If you want to be boring, then so be it," I pouted, with an exaggerated sigh.

My actual birthday, four days earlier, consisted of a small celebration with my parents and brother at home, nothing too fancy. Ashton, Mia, and my parents had planned a joint celebration for us the following weekend when Calum and Luke could join us. Basically our little get-together at Ryder's house before the wedding had turned into a full-on party. Our grandparents and other family would be there as well. So that was something to look forward to.

As luck would have it, it started raining just before school ended. So I knew we weren't even going to be able to spend time on the beach. I asked Ryder to swing by my house so I could get a couple of board games and a deck of cards to take with us. We needed something to do if we were going to be cooped up inside. I was able to talk him into stopping for some take-out Chinese food on the way, too.

Once we had finished our food, it was time for the traditional reading of the fortunes. "Go ahead," Ryder said, tossing a fortune cookie to me.

I read the fortune out loud to Ryder. "It says, 'Next week will be especially difficult.' Dude, that's not even funny with 'in bed' added. Tell me yours is better."

"Hmm. Not really. 'Life changing news and experiences happening soon.'...in bed."

"Well those sucked," I complained, gathering the trash.

"I'm still waiting on the 'something good' to happen...in bed," Ryder said, laughing at himself.

"Of course you are," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "Pick which game you want to play while I clean this up."

As soon as I closed the trashcan lid, there was a loud clap of thunder and the electricity went out. It was pitch black.

"Looks like we won't be playing a game anytime soon," Ryder yelled from the living room. "Hold still, I'll bring your phone to you so you'll have some light."

I turned on the flashlight on my phone once Ryder found his way to me. It didn't take long to find a couple candles and matches in a cabinet. We placed them on a table in the living room and lit them. But it was still too dark to try and play a game.

We sat on the couch in front of the candles. I really didn't want to leave, but I offered the opportunity to Ryder. "If you want to go home, we can do this another time, Ry."

"No, I don't want a raincheck, pun not intended. Haha. This just makes it more fun. It may not last long anyway. But if you want to go home we can."

"No, I don't want to go home. But what are we going to do to entertain ourselves in the dark?" I noticed Ryder smirk and I knew he was thinking things I was one hundred percent sure I would be embarrassed to hear him say. "Get your mind out of the gutter. This is me, not some nameless girl at a party."

"Jesus Christ, are you ever going to let that go?" Ryder asked, obviously annoyed, throwing himself down so he was lying on the couch, and he put his legs across my lap.

"Okay, I'm sorry for bringing it up. You know how I blurt shit out before I think. I can't help that I think about you losing your virginity all the damn time. It's stupid that it bothers me so much." I caught myself playing with the hairs on his legs while I spoke. "Fuck," I said out loud, frustrated with my feelings. I crossed my arms across my chest so I'd leave his leg hairs alone. Who does that?