“They have some of my favorite snacks. Would you like a donut or a fritter?”
“One of each?” Ryker tilted his head to the side and smiled at me. “My treat.”
“Oh, you don’t—” I started.
“I’m not taking any objections.” Ryker interrupted me and headed for the booth, ordering an apple cider donut and an apple fritter. I watched as he took charge and grabbed napkins for us. When he turned around, I was still speechless. “Food.”
He held up the bag with both goodies, and I grabbed for it, opening it up to waft the smell of apple between us.
“It smells amazing,” Ryker’s head dipped close to mine again as he inhaled.
“They’re my favorite.”
“I want to know all of your favorite things,” he stated before pulling out the fritter and taking a large bite. “Where to next?”
He asked between chews, and I swear my heart skipped a beat. This man was standing in front of me, eating my favorite things, talking with his mouth full, having kissed me only a few minutes ago, after appearing out of thin air in front of me today.
“We can get smoothies a few booths down,” I suggested.
Ryker’s nose scrunched up at the mention, and I laughed.
“I guess that’s a no. What about lemonade?”
“Now that I can get behind! Where to?” His head whipped around as he looked for where to walk. He looked so young, carefree, and excited about life. More inspiration for these characters I was working on.
“Come on.” I grabbed his free hand and led him to the lemonade stand. His fingers intertwined with mine, squeezing, let me know he was there as I walked in front of him. I could hear slight moans behind me as he continued to devour the fritter.
My stomach grumbled. I hadn’t eaten the donut he’d gotten yet.
I tried to pull my hand away to grab the bag I had as we came up to the next booth, but Ryker’s grip on it tightened.
“I’d like to eat a little, too,” I laughed as I held the bag with the donut up to him. The sheepish look on his face was laughable as he took another bite and reluctantly let my hand go as we walked up to the lemonade booth.
I stared at the menu, not sure what I’d get today. I wasn’t normally a lemonade fan, but I thought it would be a good option for Ryker. The one other time I’d come here, the drink I got was seasonal and no longer on their menu.
Ryker stepped up to the stand, ready to order.
“One original, and,” he turned toward me, waiting with a smile on his face. I looked over the menu again as a line formed behind us. I looked back to see two more people join the line.
Shit, what was I going to get?
“Sorry.” I read through the options once more, not sure what I wanted or what might be good with my donut that I hadn’t taken a bite of yet. My free hand instinctively went to my shorts, rubbing against the fabric, and the other held on tighter to the paper bag. “Um.”
“You going to order?” Someone said behind us.
“Give her a moment, please,” Ryker addressed them as I read through the menu a third time, frozen in place, not sure what I wanted. I heard a grumble behind me, and the panic rose up. I needed to just order and not overthink it.
“Go ahead and take these people; we’ll order after the line dies down.” The man behind the table gave Ryker a nod as he led me to the side of the booth.
He threw away his trash from the fritter he’d eaten and then grabbed my donut bag, taking out the breakfast I still hadn’t started. He broke off a piece, holding it up to my lips. I opened and started to chew on the pastry.
Heaven.
I closed my eyes and relaxed into the sweet treat that was still surprisingly warm.
I finished the first bite, opened my eyes, and Ryker was there, handing me another piece.
“I’m sorry.” I hadn’t had an episode like this in a long time, but then again, I hadn’t been off my routine in ages. Nothing new was happening, and when it did, Jemma was normally there by my side to help regulate.
