Reckless Play | ✓

16. Car Ride

The chilly air brought goose bumps on my exposed skin as soon as we stepped into the parking lot. I shuddered, rubbing my arms to keep the warmth.

We'd left the party shortly after the incident with Hannah. I'd let her know I was riding back with Ryan so that she didn't worry later thinking I'd dropped off the face of the earth. What did she do? Give me a thumbs up and a 'sure!' That sounded too exited for my tastes. But then again her clear warning days ago was still present in my mind.

A leather jacket landed softly over my shoulders and I looked up to find Ryan's disapproving gaze,"You didn't bring a jacket?"

I shrugged, snuggling deeper in his, inhaling his scent and relishing on the warmth it radiated, "It was pretty hot when I left my house. Plus, why do I have you?" I said jokingly.

He chuckled, "Right. I forgot how material you were."

I frowned, "I'm not material!"

He smiled, "I was just joking Twiggie. You can have my jacket as long as you want."

"Really?" I asked, smiling wide. "Because I do really like it."

He chuckled again, "Sure, as long as you take care of it. It's one of my favourites."

One of his favourites? Ryan Evans never gave anything to anyone. Ever. My heart told me this was a huge gesture coming from him.

I looked down at the black jacket and smiled, "I will."

"Good."

We made our way across the street to where he had parked his car. He opened the door for me and I slid in, watching as he rounded the car to climb on the driver seat, before turning on the heat and speeding down the street.

The ride home was quiet without counting the times he asked some random question like what music I liked, when was my birthday, whom I lived with before moving here and about my former school. To say I avoided that last question was an understatement. If he noticed, he didn't say.

Too soon, he pulled to a stop by my house. I looked outside the window to the beautiful white house, noticing the lights coming from the living room. Mum was waiting for me. My gaze drifted back to Ryan, who was staring at me curiously as if trying to decipher an enigma. I snuggled deeper in the seat, discretely taking another whiff of his scent.

"You don't look sleepy anymore."

I shifted my gaze towards him to find his intense green eyes fixed on mine.

"I'm not. With the things that happened with Hannah an all my head cleared, kind of."

He smirked. "Hang out with me for a bit?"

I nodded, "Okay."

He nodded, looking outside past the windshield and threading his fingers through his hair. I caught a glimpse of the golden skin of his lower abs as his T-shirt rode up with the move. Clearing my throat, my eyes diverted to the side, hands clenched into fists, resisting the urge to reach out and run my hands over the taut smooth surface.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He dropped his hands and looked sideways at me, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...it goes without saying that the night didn't end up as I thought it would."

"Oh." I couldn't hide the disappointment in my voice.

I felt his body turned towards me, "I'm not talking about us, I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's just that being in there..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

I caught a flash of pain in his eyes before he looked away.

There was a beat of silence.

"I get it. You didn't expect to step foot into a party again."