Since it was lunchtime, she couldn’t hide in a classroom. So, she headed for the library, wanting the silence and solitude the book shelves would offer.
When she found an empty table, Cynthia dumped her book bag on the floor and pulled out a book, trying to lose herself in the story. Unfortunately, she couldn’t force the words on the page to make sense. Images of Ryan over the years flashed behind her eyes repeatedly returning to the startled expression she saw moments ago.
It wasn’t as if she’d hurt him, she thought. Ryan wasn’t the kind of guy who could be hurt. He was too arrogant and irritating.
And cute. Good grief, Cynthia couldn’t imagine a guy like Ryan being even remotely interested in someone like her. She was tall and boring. Her brown eyes were…dull. Her blond hair was just…dull. It kept her head warm during the winter months, but other than that, there wasn’t any real reason for hair. While her eyes were fine, they weren’t anything special. She didn’t wear much makeup – just some lip gloss every once in a while. For dances or church, she added a touch of mascara, but other than that, she was just a dull, boring person with not much in the way of boobs and legs that were too long for anything other than running track.
Thankfully, the bell rang, indicating that the next class was about to begin. Cynthia gathered up her books and went to her English class. But instead of paying attention, she thought about Ryan. Nothing specific but…had he been hurt when she’d run away? The stunned expression in his eyes had changed into…Cynthia didn’t know. She didn’t understand!
The bell rang so she stood up and moved to her next class. While the teacher discussed the US Constitution, Cynthia came up with a list of things she wanted to say to Ryan, including how rude and inappropriate the joke was and how he shouldn’t play games like that with people. She was strong and knew him. But if he did that to another girl, she might fall for his antics and that wasn’t nice. He could really hurt someone.
Another bell. Another class. By this point, she was really annoyed. Angry, even. Instead of taking her normal route to class, she walked the long way around, so that she didn’t have to see Ryan. She didn’t think she could handle his smirk if she saw it right now.
Sliding into her seat in algebra, she opened her book and pulled out her homework, but she didn’t hear the teacher. She flipped to a blank page in her notebook and started listing all of the ways his latest trick was mean and cruel.
By the time the final bell rang, Cynthia was in a fury! She dumped her books in her locker and grabbed the ones she’d need for homework. Although, her last three classes were a bit fuzzy so she’d have to text her friends to find out if there was any homework. She grabbed the textbooks for those classes as well, just in case.
She spun around, ready to head to the bus area…but he was there, right behind her.
Startled, she stepped back and bumped into her locker. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “You’re a jerk, Ryan Dalton,” she said. Taking the list she’d done during algebra class, she slapped it to his chest, not caring if he held onto it or let it fall to the floor.
Then she was gone. Cynthia didn’t care if Ryan followed her or not. She wasn’t dealing with him any longer. And if he tried one of his stupid stunts on her again, she was going to…well, she didn’t know exactly. But she was going to do something really horrible!
Stepping onto the bus, Cynthia sank down into the seat. Since she’d practically run to the bus area, she was the first person on.
“You drove to school this morning with Ryan Dalton! So, spill it!” Angela gasped, sitting down next to her.
Missy climbed onto the bus next, her eyes wide with wonder. “And you ate lunch with him! Are you two going out now?” Missy demanded, hanging over the wannabe-pleather seat in front of Cynthia and Angela.
“Yes,” she replied to Angela. “And no,” she told Missy. “He just needed some advice on an essay. I gave him a list of things that were wrong with his essay and I doubt he and I will ever speak again.”
Angela and Missy visibly deflated with that news. Switching subjects, they discussed homework assignments and other gossip.
Cynthia barely listened, too hurt by what Ryan had done. Had he really thought it would work? Did Ryan think she was that much of a sucker? Those thoughts hurt way more than they should. But Cynthia didn’t understand why. Ryan was cute and had a great smile. He was tall and she knew that he was athletic.
But there was something more to Ryan that she didn’t understand. Perhaps it was just their history. He’d tormented her for so long, she wondered if maybe he’d warped her brain or something. That was the only reason she could think of that could make her feel so…strange when he got close. Strange and antsy and…weird.
The bus dropped off her and her friends about a block away from the bar. Angela and Missy would head over to one of their houses to hang out, and Cynthia had to get home and do chores.
She was almost home when she saw the muddy Jeep in the parking lot and froze.
Glaring at him, she wanted to pick up the big branch beside the sidewalk and hit him with it. She wanted him to hurt as much as she hurt right now. “What do you want now?”
Ryan pushed away from the Jeep, walking over to her until he was standing in front of her.
“I wasn’t trying to trick you, Cyn,” he said softly, his voice gravely and so incredibly sexy. “I don’t have any prank in mind, I just…I want to…get to know you. I want to…”
No! No way! Not Ryan. Or yes, Ryan, but not with her! All the other girls in school drooled over him, so he could get any girl he wanted. “Why?”
He shrugged and looked up at the sky. “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
Cynthia shrugged. “When have you ever made things easy for me? Like that time you…”
He held up his hands to stop her. “I know!” he laughed. “I know.” More serious now, he stepped closer. “I finally figured out that…I like you, Cyn. You’re pretty, funny, and…tough.”
Cynthia’s nose squinched up. “You think I’m pretty?”
He moved even closer. “Yeah. I like your hair. It sort of…” he shrugged. “Well, it sparkles in the sunshine. And you have the prettiest brown eyes.”
Cynthia rolled her eyes. “Now I know that you’re…”
She couldn’t finish whatever it was she might have said because Ryan leaned down and kissed her.
It was just a brief kiss. Barely there. He pulled back and waited. Cynthia stared into his blue eyes, not sure what had just happened. He’d kissed her? As in…kissed her?
“Why did you do that?” she whispered.
“Because.”
She blinked. “That’s not an answer.”
“Because I like you, Cyn. Would you go to the dance with me this Friday night?”
“Ummm….” Cynthia couldn’t think because her lips were tingling. And her heart pounded so loudly, she could barely hear anything else.
“Maybe we could talk about it on the ride to school tomorrow? Would you let me pick you up?”
Cynthia must have nodded because he grinned. “Cool. I know that you need to head in and help out your dad, but I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” she replied, still dazed. Still not sure what was going on.
And then he was gone. Cynthia lifted a hand, touching her still-tingling lips. Could she still feel his kiss? What else would tingle when he touched her?
“Bad thoughts,” she whispered to herself as she walked into the bar.
“Hey honey,” her dad called out. He looked more than a little lost, which made Cynthia laugh. “More invoices?”
“Yeah. I’ll just leave them here for you, okay?” and he escaped the kitchen without waiting for an answer.
Cynthia watched him go, then felt her mother’s arm wrap around her shoulders. “I think you have some explaining to do,” she whispered, as both of them watched her dad pull the chairs from the tables.
&
nbsp; Cynthia shrugged. “What’s up?”
Her mother chuckled knowingly. “Was that Ryan Dalton I saw outside?”
Uh oh! “Yeah. He um…he needed help with an essay.”
Her mother laughed softly. “Interesting. An essay.” She paused and Cynthia tensed, knowing that her mother wasn’t a dummy. “Does he always kiss his tutors?” she teased.
Darn it! Cynthia’s dad might be a bit oblivious. But her mother noticed everything!
“Well, umm…he…uh….”
Her mother laughed, squeezing her shoulders a bit. “Honey, it’s good! He’s been trying to get your attention for years! It’s about time he figured out the pranks weren’t working.”
She walked over to organize the glasses behind the bar, beaming as Cynthia stood there trying to figure out what had just happened. Two days ago, everything had seemed normal and routine. Now…Ryan had asked her to go to the school dance. He kissed her! He wanted to drive her to school and…and what?
This was all too confusing!
“I don’t know what’s going on, Mom,” she sighed, leaning her head against the wall. “He’s been tormenting for so long, and I’ve fought back, giving as good as I got. But now…” She closed her eyes for a moment, before looking at her mother. “This is just another moment when he’s going to surprise me and humiliate me. I just know it.”
Her mother smiled gently. “That’s possible.”
Cynthia’s eyes widened. “You think so too?”
She laughed. “No. I’ve seen the way he watches you in church when you’re not looking. And I know the way you watch him sometimes.”
Cynthia’s heart pounded. “That’s not…”
“You like him, don’t you?”
Like him? How could her mother ask something so ridiculous? “Huh? No! Absolutely not! I hate him! He has done so much to me over the years, he can’t just turn around and pretend as if our past didn’t happen.”
“Honey, you’ve tormented him just as much. Don’t you dare play the victim here! He might have started the pranks, but you were just as clever at getting back at him. Remember the time you deflated his footballs and filled them up with shaving cream after loosening the threads? I never figured out how you did that, by the way.”
Cynthia smiled at the memory of seeing Ryan’s face, neck, and chest covered with shaving cream. And the stunned expression on his handsome features as he stood there, trying to figure out what had just happened.
“Yeah, that was a good one.”
“Anyway, my point is that you and Ryan have been dancing around each other for years. Maybe there is something more than animosity between you now.” Her mother smiled gently. “After all, you have grown into a beautiful young woman.”
Beautiful? Right! Cynthia knew that there wasn’t anything special about her. “Mom, you have to say that,” she mumbled, but walked over and hugged her mother. “But thanks.”
Mona Hemmings wrapped her arms around her daughter’s shoulders, wondering if Cynthia would ever realize what a beautiful woman she was growing into. Probably not.
Chapter 3
Cynthia paced around the gravel parking lot, debating about heading to the bus stop versus trusting that Ryan was going to pick her up. Was she making a colossal mistake? Was this the punch line in his latest prank?
“This is stupid!” she muttered, prepared to head over to the bus stop where the other kids were already waiting. But just then, Ryan’s ancient Jeep came around the bend.
“You’re here,” he grinned as she pulled open the passenger side door. Immediately, he handed her another metal travel mug. “Coffee?”
She stared at it for a moment, then sighed and pulled yesterday’s travel mug out of her backpack. She took the second one and offered him the first. “Thanks. That’s very thoughtful of you.” She nodded to the previous travel mug. “That’s the apple cider my mother makes. You said that you liked at last year’s church picnic.”
He smiled and nodded. “It was the best!” He opened the lid slightly and took a sip, then grinned back at her. “It’s still the best. Thanks for thinking of me.”
He was pulling out of the parking lot when she sighed. “I…um…” she lowered her head, feeling foolish again. But she pulled a bag out of her backpack, handing it to him. “Here. I know that you like these too,” she handed him the bag of the biscuits she had made last night. Her mother had made a batch for the annual sheriff’s fundraiser last week. He’d bought a bag of them, and began eating them as he walked away with his friends. But a few minutes later, he’d come back with all of his friends in tow, and bought up the entire batch. She’d even seen his friends next to the creek a half hour later, fighting over the last biscuit.
He stared at the biscuits with awe, a smile slowly forming on his handsome face. “Are these your mother’s biscuits?” he asked with reverence.
Cynthia stared out the front of the Jeep, unable to look him in the eye just then. “I made them.”
Before pulling out of the parking lot, he pulled into a spot and she cocked a questioning eyebrow at him.
He had a strange, sheepish look and her stomach did that stupid fluttering again. Would it ever go away?
“Hey, I know we’ve pulled some pretty good pranks on each other over the years. But I…” he looked out his window, then out the windshield. “I just…I like you, Cyn. You’re smart, funny, and you have the greatest smile. Sometimes, I’d do something, just to see you smile.”
Ryan watched the pink tinge her pretty skin. Cynthia really was beautiful. And unlike the other girls of his acquaintance, she honestly had no idea how pretty she was. Her long, silky hair was pulled back into a braid today, one of those complicated braids that looked…nice. Really nice! He wanted to tell himself that he wanted to go out with her because she was a nice person, but that was only half the truth. She was hot! Smoking hot! Over the past two years, he’d gotten into plenty of fights with friends and enemies when he’d heard someone talking about her in a way he didn’t like.
That’s why his father finally convinced him to stop messing with her and start kissing her. Until that moment, he’d never thought about Cynthia as a girlfriend. But from the moment his dad had said those words, Ryan hadn’t been able to think about anything else. And last night, after kissing her in the afternoon, he’d had trouble sleeping because he couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to try a longer kiss. A deeper kiss.
Cynthia Hemmings was one of those girls who had a natural, soft kind of beauty. She wasn’t blatant about anything. Her blond hair and soft skin, the pink in her cheeks when she blushed…and her long legs that none of his friends were allowed to look at any longer…she was gorgeous.
“I know this is weird,” he told her after an awkward silence. He pulled out into the street, watching for early morning traffic. There wasn’t any, actually. There was no morning commute here in the mountains. Just lots of curves and steep drop offs. “We’ll take it slow, okay? Just get to know one another?”
Cynthia looked at him oddly and he refused to fidget under the intense, brown gaze.
“Okay. Fine. But one prank,” she warned and he wanted to laugh, “and I’ll never trust you again.”
He grimaced. “Well, I’m not sure that’s the best plan. Because…well, you and I have a unique history.”
She turned to glare at him. “Seriously, Ryan. No pranks. None! I’m sick of them.” He chuckled and she changed the subject. “So why now? What changed?”
He shrugged as he drove. “I don’t know. I guess…I guess I realized that you weren’t the same girl from elementary school. And I realized that I was spending all of my energy trying to get your attention. So why not go about it in a way that might work? Anyway, we’re almost at school. I know that you have stuff you need to do right after school, but after you’re finished, want to meet me down by the creek and study?”
She thought about that for a moment, coming up with at least six ways he could dump her into the water. But it
was fall and the water wasn’t that cold. In the spring, with the creek’s waters swelling from the snow melting off the mountain, it could be a problem. But now…eh, if he dumped her into the water, at least she might understand what he’s doing now.
“Fine. After I finish my chores, I’ll meet you there.”
He parked and she jumped out, hurrying into school before any of her friends saw them together. She didn’t look back but she could feel his eyes on her. It was odd, she thought as a shiver raced through her. For some stupid reason, she wanted to turn around, rush back to him and…kiss him? No! Impossible! That was stupid!
The final bell rang and Cynthia stood up, heading for her locker. Would he be there? Or…
She’d just turned the final corner, thinking about him when…she came to a complete and sudden stop. There he was. Goodness, he looked fine! Better than fine, she thought. He was tall with broad shoulders and so incredibly good looking. His smile alone should be illegal.
“I thought you’d try to ditch me by catching the bus again today,” he explained, shifting away from her locker so she could put her books away.
She sighed and leaned against the locker, looking up at him. “I probably would have,” she admitted. “You confuse me, Ryan. I don’t trust you.”
He smiled slightly, one of those “I get it” expressions. “I don’t blame you.”
At that moment, Ryan’s best friend walked up. It wasn’t so much that Greg came to talk to her that surprised her. It was the black eye he was sporting.
“Hey, Cynthia. I just…um…”
“Go away,” Ryan snapped flatly.
Greg dropped his head and walked away. Another shock.
Cynthia stared after him in astonishment, catching his eye when he glanced backwards before hurrying around the corner and out of sight. “What was that about?” she demanded.
Ryan relaxed, leaning against the locker next to hers. “Nothing.”
Cynthia noticed the hard look to his eyes and knew that he’d had something to do with the black eye. “I don’t believe that Greg’s black eye was nothing. Tell me what happened between you and Greg.”
Second Chance Temptation Page 3
