INTERIM LOVER, ryan howard.

007 ⋮ the love boat

ㅤㅤㅤ"Five minutes more," Ryan moaned.

"C'mon, Ry," Rachel coaxed. He buried his nose into the nape of her neck, causing her to squirm. Wriggling around, she was met by a childish look coming from Ryan.

"You've got class in twenty minutes."

"It's too cold, El," he pouted. "You wouldn't really make me go."

"Uh, yes I would, just like I'm doing right now. Out."

Ryan dragged himself out of the sheets, immediately enveloped by a cold front. He was pulling on his jeans as his inamorata gazed from the comfort of her bed. Suddenly, there was the sound of the front door of the apartment opening. Rachel threw Ryan a panicked glance. "You will not believe what happened at the bakery, Rach," the intruder announced.

"What's that, Claud?" Rachel replied, so as to not draw attention to the bedroom. Her cousin had returned early— that, or Ryan was very late to school.

"The cutest guy was in front of me ordering a dozen blueberry muffins." The voice was now coming from the kitchen; Claudia was raiding her fridge. "So naturally, I ordered a dozen blueberry muffins too."

Rachel cursed under her breath. "So what if she knows?" Ryan shrugged. "Just tell her."

"And so the cashier was like 'a dozen blueberry muffins', and we both went up to the counter, and I was like, 'Oh, what a coincidence, I love blueberry muffins!' and he thought it was cute so..."

"Oh, if she hears about this, she's never going to let us forget for the rest of our lives," Rachel explained, eyeing the window.

"Hell no," said Ryan, realising Rachel's idea.

But thank god for the girl who burst through the bedroom door.

"Claudia!" Rachel was turning a shade of crimson.

"I know, I know," the lean girl smiled. "I'm supposed to knock. But you're also supposed to introduce me to your boyfriend."

Ryan, too, was turning a shade of crimson.

"He's not my boyfriend," she stuttered, and her blue-eyed counterpart giggled.

"Well, that's a shame. He's really quite the catch."

Rachel groaned. "Claud, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is my cousin—"

"Claudia Rachel Madden," she replied. Her hand slipped into his with a light touch, unlike the way Rachel gripped at his skin as if she needed him. "They couldn't find her a decent name so they gave her my second name."

Rachel cleared her throat, displeased by the look Claudia was giving Ryan. "You've got class in fifteen minutes, Ry."

"Oh, right." He retracted his hands, slipping past the taller of the two girls. "It was lovely meeting you, Claudia. See ya."

He had barely made it out the door when Claudia turned to her cousin, a huge grin lighting her features. "How is he?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you." Rachel pushed past her, heading to the fridge. "Who the hell keeps muffins in the freezer?"

"The guy at the bakery said they tasted better that way. So are you like, part-time lovers? Wait, are you his mistress?"

She wore a sour expression. "You think I'd be that low?"

"So he's single?"

"No."

"But you aren't dating him, and you're not his mistress..."