Boys and Girls, Part III: Can't Stay Away

Chapter 6 – Dinner for Two

“A date at Hawk Manor?”

Jacy nodded casually in response. “More like a party.”

Lani eyed her suspiciously. “Weren’t you all like ‘I hate jocks’ only…a month ago?”

“These are highly irregular circumstances,” Jacy answered.

“Uh-huh,” Lani answered skeptically. “And…what circumstances would those be?”

“I got asked out by one,” Jacy answered like Lani was dim or something.

Hawk Manor was like its own fraternity comprised of male athletes from all around NMU. It housed basketball players, baseball players, soccer players, swimmers, and yes, football players as well. Jacy had called the notorious building “Demon House” until only recently.

“Why would you even want to go somewhere like that? Haven’t you heard, some girls emerge from the party the next day mysteriously knocked up by God knows who.”

Jacy rolled her eyes. “If you’re stupid enough to get pregnant without knowing it, maybe you deserve to get knocked up.”

“Jacy, that’s awful.”

“Not that I don’t think date rape is terrible, Lani,” Jacy began, “but I can take care of myself. I’m the one who provided each of my friends with stun guns after all.”

“Yeah, you should be proud of that,” Lani replied sarcastically. “So what’s this guy’s name?”

“Scott Wellesley,” Jacy answered. “He plays baseball.”

“Is he hot?” Lani asked.

“He’s not unattractive,” Jacy said.

“It’s not a crime to go out with a guy if he’s hot,” Lani lectured.

“Yes, but I don’t want you to think that I’m being shallow.”

“You said ‘yes’ to a date with a guy you just met today. Am I supposed to think you accepted because he had a great personality?”

“He has a great smile,” Jacy admitted. “I like to think that something like that entails a little more than just good looks and a little less than a great personality. It’s only fair.”

“How judicious of you.”

Jacy got up from Lani’s couch and stretched. “How’s Hunter liking La-La Land?”

“He loves it,” Lani admitted. Hunter was entering the second week of a two-week stay over in LA with a friend. Lani felt bad that she couldn’t show him around personally, but Hunter insisted that she focus on schoolwork and help rehabilitate Ryan.

Speaking of Ryan, he was now walking much more powerfully on his crutches. Obviously, his knee hadn’t heeled yet, but everything was progressing much faster than anyone had anticipated. The doctor had even admitted that Ryan could lose the crutches a whole month earlier than previously expected. Lani was so proud of him and hoped that he could direct all that positive news into good grades and a healthy outlook on life in general.

“I guess I’ll be going then, “Jacy said. “I’ll report back afterwards to tell you how it went.”

Lani gave her an encouraging salute, and Jacy was off. Lani got up from her sofa and decided to make some spaghetti when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID – it was Ryan.

“Hello?”

“Hey Gorgeous. Guess where I am.”

Lani smiled. “I don’t know.”

“Here’s a hint,” he continued. “You live at this place.”

Lani laughed in surprise. “You walked all the way over here?”

“I’m not a total gimp,” Ryan grumbled into the speaker. “Come on, let me up.”

Lani buzzed him in and immediately went downstairs. The idiot was carrying a bag of take-out in addition to his crutches, and Lani scolded him. He, of course, rolled his eyes. Ryan had originally had a really difficult time ascending stairs, but because so many of the apartments around NMU lacked elevators, he had gotten used to it – through what else? – practice.

As he entered the living room, he took a cautionary look around. “My good man Hunter’s not back early, is he?”

Lani clucked her tongue at Ryan’s lack of manners. “Behave.”

She set the bag of take-out on her dining room table. The aroma was mouth-watering, but Lani couldn’t figure out what Ryan had bought. “What’d you get?”

“Italian.”

How weird. She was just about to make pasta too. She shrugged it off and went into the kitchen to grab plates and silverware. Ryan remained out by the dining room.

“So when’s your boyfriend returning?”

“A week from tomorrow.”

Ryan looked smug. “So I got you to myself for a whole week, huh?”

Lani rolled her eyes. “I guess you do.” She set down napkins and glasses and spooned food onto the plates. She couldn’t help but notice that Ryan kept observing her with a fascinated look on his face.

“What?”

“I’ve never eaten take-out with someone who takes food out of the carton,” he admitted.

“I can’t stand eating from the carton. It doesn’t taste as good,” Lani replied.

“I agree,” Ryan answered, lifting his eyebrows.

Lani pulled back a seat for Ryan, who groaned with displeasure at the gesture, citing that it emasculated him. Lani ordered him to sit anyway. He leaned his crutches against the wall and hobbled over. She pulled the seat out across from him and sat.

They talked about a lot of things as they ate their Italian dinner. Ryan talked about his family, and how his father had been devastated at the news of his son’s damaged knee. Ryan’s stepsisters had also sent him homemade get-well cards that he kept in his bedroom. Lani hadn’t known any of this.

Lani, in turn, talked about her background. She talked about her father and her deceased mother. She also talked about growing up in Hawaii and admitted that every one of those days was not exactly a walk on the beach.

The dinner felt like a real date. They had definitely gotten to know each other a lot better, and isn’t that what two people did on a date? Lani began asking how Ryan’s studying was going, and he was surprisingly good-spirited about it all. She had learned in the past month that Ryan was a very intelligent person who only needed a push in the right direction. She didn’t need to tutor him, so much as she needed to let him know that she cared about how he was doing in school.

They hit on almost every topic, but there was one thing that Lani was careful to omit – football. It had been a little more than a month since Ryan’s accident, and Lani knew that that particular topic was still painful for him to talk about. Furthermore, Lani did not mention her run-in with Mr. Texas; it would only fan Ryan’s fury toward the new guy, and that passion might be better used for schoolwork.

After dinner, Lani got up to wash the dishes. Lani laughed when Ryan volunteered to help, saying that she would rather Ryan use his limbs to support his crutches. Ryan watched her anyway, regarding her almost admiringly and also kept up the conversation.

When Lani finished, the pair walked over to the sofa and turned on the television. Lani pushed in a DVD for the fourth season of “24.” About twenty minutes into the episode, she noticed that Ryan had already fallen asleep. His long black eyelashes matched that of his hair. He leaned his cheek on the cushion, looking so peaceful as his large, powerful chest rose rhythmically up and down.

He really was a good-looking guy. Ailani had always thought that Ryan was the best looking out of his rag-tag trio. She’d never admitted it out loud because it would further fan Ryan’s already over inflated ego, but while Jason was classically handsome and Joe was a rugged macho man, Ryan was an intense sort of attractive – the really rare kind of good-looking that you couldn’t buy at an upscale hair salon or an overpriced shop on Rodeo drive.

Lani realized that she wasn’t supposed to think of Ryan in that way. He was her friend, despite his protests. She quickly turned her attention to the TV and tried to pay attention to that.

Unfortunately, even Jack Bauer saving the world couldn’t keep her awake for much longer.

****

Ryan didn’t want to wake her up, but he didn’t think it was polite to just up and leave. The television had stopped on the main menu of “24”; he shut it off. He stared at Lani’s sleeping form, deciding which course of action to take.

Not that he minded. In fact, if necessary, Ryan was fairly certain that he could stare at Lani all evening. God, was she beautiful. She had leaned her head back against the armrest on sofa. Her long, black eyelashes were fully extended with her eyes closed. Her 5’10” body was bent at the waist but she still nearly took up the entire length of the sofa. That had actually contributed to Ryan’s sudden waking up. He guessed that her foot had inadvertently ended up atop his bad knee. It hadn’t hurt, but the pressure had bothered him. That’s when Ryan had realized that he’d fallen asleep at Lani’s apartment. And now, here he was…

Debating whether to stay or leave.

Maybe he could crash just this one night. That way, he could leave Lani sleeping and not bother her. Ryan didn’t mind sleeping on the ground; it’d be like camping.

Or maybe he was completely nuts.

After deliberating over this very painful topic in his mind, Ryan finally settled on leaving. It wouldn’t be good to stay over at Lani’s, and he very well knew it.

Ryan limped over into Lani’s room to retrieve a blanket. He found a fleece throw and walked back into the living room. He unfolded the blanket and slowly placed it over Lani.

“Mmmm,” Lani purred at the sudden warmth.

Oh sweet Jesus! I have to get out of here, Ryan thought. He pulled the blanket up under Lani’s neck and was prepared to leave when he felt long, lanky arms encircling his neck.

“Don’t go,” she whispered groggily.

What in the hell? This couldn’t be happening. “Lani?”

Her eyes were still closed. Was she dreaming? She whispered again. “I missed you sooo much.”

Ryan gulped. “You did?”

“Mm-hmm,” she purred again. There was a brief pause before she continued. “Kiss me.”

Ryan’s world spun. He had been waiting for this exact moment for so long. He didn’t want to question whether it was real or not. Not now. Not when he was finally given the chance to –

He didn’t have a chance to finish his thoughts when Lani’s soft lips brushed up against his. It was a chaste kiss, and her quiet breathing enhanced the tranquility of the moment. Her eyes were still closed but she continued to kiss him sweetly.

However, Ryan was burning inside. He didn’t care how innocent a kiss from Ailani was. Any kiss from her was capable of giving him a hard-on, and that was exactly what happened.

Ryan was beginning to ache all over from want. He pushed his mouth more forcefully over Lani’s and deepened the kiss. His deft tongue slipped past her lips, eliciting a moan from her. That shot the blood straight to his groin. He continued to ravage her with his hard, demanding kisses, but she didn’t deny him anything. She responded positively, and even reciprocated Ryan’s aggression with her own.

The longer Ryan leaned over Lani during their kiss, the greater the pain in his knee. His current state of ecstasy should have been able to block out the sharp pangs being sent to his knee, but he was only human. He climbed on the couch over Lani’s sleeping form to ease the pain, never breaking the kiss for a second. Unfortunately, the second his crotch made contact over Lani’s blanketed thigh, she stopped. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.

And screamed.

“Oh my God!”

Uh oh, Ryan thought. She really was sleeping. He immediately pushed himself off of Lani and looked a little embarrassed.

“What are you doing?” Lani demanded, jumping up from the couch.

“I-I-I…” He didn’t know why he was stammering. She was the one who had kissed him.

“Did we just make out?” she asked, clearly distressed.

“Yes,” he admitted slowly.

Her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh my…” A scowl crossed her features and she walked over to Ryan and swatted him on the arm. “Are you nuts?”

“Me!” Ryan yelled indignantly. “Sweetheart, hate to break it to you, but you made the first move!”

“You’re lying!” she accused.

“No ma’am,” he replied. “I was about ready to leave. Just grabbed a blanket and was pulling it over you when you put your skinny little arms around my neck and pulled me down for a –

“Oh my God,” she interrupted, as if she remembered. “I…did, didn’t I?”

Ryan nodded. Lani sighed in desperation, and Ryan couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Sure, she had initiated it, but he hadn’t tried to stop it either. Considering who had kissed him, could you really blame him?

Lani’s hand flew to her temple, and she closed her eyes. “I was dreaming about Hunter, Ryan.”

What? Ryan froze. “Excuse me?”

“I dreamt that Hunter had already returned from LA, and I was…

Ryan’s stomach sank as he slowly tuned Lani out. So all of those things she had said had been meant for her fucking sailor. Ryan had no reason to be upset. A woman was allowed to dream about her significant other, wasn’t she? So then why did he feel so goddamn crummy?

“…why I kissed you.” Lani regarded Ryan sympathetically. He hated that. He mustered all his remaining dignity and limped over to retrieve his crutches. He grabbed them from their resting spot against the wall and headed for Lani’s door. He heard her follow him.

“Do you want me to walk you downstairs?”

First the sympathy and now this? Ryan couldn’t bear it. “No thanks,” he answered coldly. He didn’t even look at her again as he left Lani’s apartment.

Because he couldn’t bear to look at the woman who couldn’t love him the way that he loved her.

****

Lani had had to suppress the tears that threatened to fall as she watched Ryan leave as defeated as he did. She had wounded his pride, which was the only way you could really hurt Ryan Mackey. She had reminded him in the worse possible way that she was taken. She had humiliated him and allowed him to believe that she felt the same way about him.

Worst of all, she had lied to him, but Ryan didn’t know that. Lani hadn’t been dreaming about Hunter in the moments before she had pulled Ryan in for the kiss.

She had been dreaming about Ryan.

****

A/N: Duh-duh-dum! What'll happen next?

A/N (2): Ahhh! I know that there's still quite a bit til the end of this story, but I'm just beginning to realize that I still have to edit and proofread my final story of this series. I'm a little saddened...and also overwhelmed seeing as the final story is also the longest. I'm working on something new right now, so I'm a little distracted. Anyway, thanx for all your reviews, especially ASHIE, NESL1247, & WINTER FAIRY (you guys are incredibly loyal!). Happy reading!