Even though her eyes are closed, she continues talking to me in a hushed voice. “What we do is between us. You and me. It’s no one else’s business.”
Elizabeth opens her eyes and while watching me, presses her lips to my thumb. Electricity zings down my hand and through my body at her light touch. We drift closer, that invisible string that has always tethered us together pulling tauter. I rub my thumb along her bottom lip, up along her cheekbone. I can feel the heat of her blood under the skin come to the surface, deepening the color of her skin before my eyes.
“Okay,” I hear myself tell her. Her radiant smile lights up my soul. God, I love this woman. This time around, I’ll make her mine.
Elizabeth
I can’t believe I just asked him out. It was like word vomit. I couldn’t help myself. I feel giddy and light, like I’m floating on a cloud. I smile at him and press a kiss to the pad of his thumb and the smile he gives me in return detonates a bomb inside of me. That familiar stomach flip returns with a vengeance. Shivers of excitement tickle up and down my skin causing goose bumps to explode everywhere.
Ryder is so damn handsome. We’ve been dancing around our undeniable attraction to each other for weeks. It’s not just Ryder’s devastating good looks or ripped body I find myself staring at more often than not that has me hooked. He’s also caring and supportive. He doesn’t push. He doesn’t try to make me be someone he used to know, to fit a preconceived mold of who the old Elizabeth was. When I’m with him, I’m happy. I feel free and alive, more comfortable in my new skin. Every moment I spend with him makes me even more attracted to him, and I fall just a little harder. And right this second, I would give anything for him to kiss me.
“When would you like for me to take you out on our first date?” His question breaks me from the trance my thoughts have on him.
“Friday?”Please say yes, please say yes. I would have suggested tonight, I am that eager for our first official date together.
“Friday it is. I’ll tell the guys I’m racing that night or something.”
I frown. I hate that we have to keep this a secret from Jayson, Julien, and Elijah, but like I told him, it’s no one’s business but ours.
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, my excitement clear as day.
“Hey, Elizabeth.” Meredith pops up at our table causing both me and Ryder to startle. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all.”
Meredith happily sits down. “I’m Meredith. I’m in Elizabeth’s Lit class. Are you her boyfriend?”
“Just a really good friend,” I reply. “Meredith, meet Ryder.” She gives him a cute wave and starts talking a mile a minute to me.
“I just got back from the library. We have study room three reserved for every Wednesday evening from seven to nine. I already texted Trevor. This is going to be so much fun,” she squeals. This girl is just a ball of energy.
Just like Maria.
A girl with dark hair and eyes flashes before my eyes.
“Elizabeth, did you hear me?”
“Sorry. What?”
“I asked if you were going to the party on Saturday. Trevor invited both of us and asked me to remind you.”
For some reason, her mentioning the party makes me uneasy, but when I came here, I decided I was going to make sure to experience as many new things as I could. I have a lifetime of them to make up for.
“I guess we can come.”
“We? Oh, are you coming too?” she asks Ryder, but he looks to me.
“How about I text you and Trevor later this week,” I tell her knowing full well I’ll see them again on Wednesday for class and study group.
“Sounds good to me. I hope you both can make it. It’s nice having new people to hang out with. Other than you, Trevor, and my roommate, Sara, I don’t know anybody else here. I’m a freshman.”
“Me too.”
“It’s my second year,” Ryder says.
“Cool. How did you two meet?” Meredith takes a sandwich out of her bag and begins munching on it.
I let Ryder answer this one. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
