Then he turned away to say something to Theo, and losing his attention felt like a cloud had just floated in front of the sun.
We all helped with the dishes, and Naomi thanked Iris for inviting us to stay.
“I’ll wait in the car!” she chirped, giving me a knowing glance before skipping out the front door.
Fucking Gnomes.
She knew I wanted to say goodbye to Ryan in private. I loved that girl so much.
Ryan said bye to Naomi before turning to face me. I glanced at him, smiling.
“Dinner was amazing, ginger snap. Thanks for letting us stay,” I said, and he grinned at me.
“Dinner together was inevitable.” He smirked. “Though maybe next time we will do it just me and you.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise, and I pressed closer to him, wanting to just wrap my hands around his hips and pull him into me. I stopped myself, though. I could still hear Theo and Iris in the kitchen, and I knew he would be uncomfortable with me touching him like that when they could walk out into the hall at any time.
“Are you asking me out on a date, baby?” I hummed, and he tilted his head back to meet my gaze, his brandy eyes glittering with a kind of mischief I hadn’t seen on his face before.
“Maybe.”
My heart skipped a beat in my chest.
“You’re making it really hard for me not to fucking kiss you right now, Ryan.”
He cocked his head to the side and frowned.
“Why don’t you?”
I glanced down the hall to where the light from the kitchen was spilling through the slats in the swinging door.
“Don’t want to accidentally out you in front of the fam.”
Then, to my absolute shock, he slid his hand around the nape of my neck and pulled me into him. My eyes widened in surprise as he pressed his plush mouth against mine, leaving a tender but somehow still firm kiss on my lips.
Once the initial shock wore off, I melted into it. With a fluttering heart, I slid my hands around his hips and pulled him into me.
This wasn’t like every other time we had kissed.
This one was slower. More casual. Like we had done it a thousand times, and we would do it a thousand times more.
For some reason, it made my throat burn, and I swallowed back against the tightness, digging my fingers into his hips as I did.
When he finally pulled away, his eyes were hooded, and he had a serene smile on his face.
“I should have done that before you left yesterday,” he breathed.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Did I die?
Was this heaven?
I swallowed and choked on a laugh.
“Iknewyou wanted a kiss yesterday.”
He chuckled and nodded. “I did. And I felt like shit all day today when I didn’t hear from you. All I kept thinking was ifsomething happened to you and I never kissed you goodbye, I was going to feel like a massive asshole for the rest of my life.”
