Ryan Clifford is 23 years old and she has never had a boyfriend. Her parents think she will end up alone if they don't find someone to marry her, so that's exactly what they do. They find the perfect man for their little girl: Luke Robert Hemmings.
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Trigger warning: this chapter and the next few chapters talk about rape.
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Luke's POV
"What did the Noah guy want?" I asked once Ryan said goodbye on the phone. She jumped and turned around to face me. Her face was red with anger and her eyes were wide open.
"How long have you been standing there?" She asked me, clutching her chest in shock.
"Enough to hear you go off on this Noah guy for using you as his fuck buddy." When I saw Ryan walk away, I followed her at a safe distance, just out of curiosity. But when I heard her talk to this Noah guy about how he uses her as a fuck toy, I got interested and listened to the whole conversation. To be honest, I never took Ryan to be the kind of girl who was friends with benefits, but I guess you never really know people.
"It's not what you think. He was the first guy I ever actually liked and I was sixteen. When he took an interest in me, I jumped at the opportunity and up until now, I never felt like I could actually stand up to him and stop our 'relationship'." She put air quotes around relationship and I immediately understood what she meant. She wasn't someone who slept around, she was someone who didn't like to hurt people's feelings. She was a softy, just like me. And that's yet another thing I lov—I mean, like about her.
"It's okay, Ryan. I won't judge you. I get it." I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Are you still going to see this guy tonight?" I asked, scared for her safety. If she really didn't want to have sex with this guy, and she was still going to see him, I wasn't sure how safe she would be.
"Yeah. But it's really none of your business." She snapped at me, her stare stone cold. "I mean, thank you for being concerned, but I'm okay." It wasn't until now that I realized just how much I cared about her.
"Let me drive you." I blurted out, not realizing what I was saying until I said it.
"Luke, I don't think that's a good idea." She said, looking down to her feet.
"Please, it would make me feel better if I knew you got there safely."
"Okay, fine." She agreed, looking up and giving me a small smile. "Are you gonna buy that suit?" She asked, pointing to the all-black suit I was still wearing. I blushed, forgetting I never took it off.
"Uh, yeah I think I will." I said, unconsciously rubbing the back of my neck with hand. "But I-I think you'll need to buy something, too." I stuttered, unsure of how I wanted to ask her. I've been thinking about it all day, and I decided the best way to do it would be to casually bring it up.
"What do you mean?" She asked me, as she started leading us back to the change room.
"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to, you know, be my date? To the wedding?" I asked, sweat starting to cover my back. I was so afraid she would say no, but I really wanted her to go with me.
"Sure, I'd love to see your mom again, and meet your brothers." She exclaimed, turning to face me with a huge smile on her face. I breathed a sigh of relief and returned her smile.
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I was now sitting on a waiting chair in the change room of a dress shop, with Ryan in a change room. It kind of reminded me how we were sitting in the suit shop, except now the roles were reversed. She had already tried on three dresses, each one looking very nice on her but she didn't like them.
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