Which was why I didn’t like it when I stepped foot into Ryan’s apartment.
It wasn’t just any apartment. It was a penthouse apartment. With a beautiful view of San Francisco that gazed out over the ocean. The white and gray marble floors underneath my feet accented the plush black-and-silver furniture that filled the place, and it was decked out with everything someone could possibly want. Smart Home features. The most expensive crystal for his minibar in the corner. Gourmet chocolates sitting in a crystal bowl on a hand-carved blond mahogany coffee table.
And that was just the living room.
The first impression of the place.
“Like what you see?” Ryan asked with a grin.
“It’s decent enough,” I said.
He chuckled and shook his head as the kids flopped down onto the couch.
“Okay, you guys. What does homework look like tonight?” Ryan asked.
“But I thought we were gonna watch a movie?” Zoey asked.
“Once your homework is finished. I’ve got dinner coming in the form of pizza, but you have to have your work done before a movie goes on,” he said.
“Come on, Uncle Ryan,” Benjamin said.
“Don’t you ‘come on Uncle Ryan’ me. You know the rules. They don’t deviate from the rules at your own home.”
“Mom doesn’t have any rules,” Hunter said.
I sighed and closed my eyes and I felt Ryan’s eyes fall onto me. My heart ached for these children. No structure. No father. No mother in the picture for whatever reason. I wanted to cry for them. To gather them up in my arms and kiss their heads and tell them everything was going to be okay.
“Well, the rule here is you do your homework while dinner gets made, then after homework is food and a movie,” Ryan said.
It was shocking to me, how gently commanding he was with the kids. They weren’t happy about the rule, but they did obey. They unzipped their backpacks and pulled out their work, then sprawled everything out on the couches and got to work. I peeked over at Ryan and saw him leaning against the wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and his hip was cocked out and his eyes were totally trained on the kids.
In some alternate universe, I would’ve admitted that he wasn’t doing too bad of a job with them.
“Care for a drink?” Ryan asked.
His voice ripped me from my trance and I found him staring at me with a grin on his face.
“No,” I said.
“Doesn’t have to be alcoholic.”
“I’m not thirsty.”
“Hungry, then? I’ve got a few snacks I’m sure I could dig up,” he said.
“I’m fine standing here waiting for the call from CPS.”
He snickered and shook his head before he pushed off the wall. He walked over to the kids and placed his hands on the back of the couch, then bent to kiss Zoey on top of her head. She looked up at him and smiled with her beautiful bright eyes, and the way Ryan looked down at her was curious to me.
He looked at them almost as if he loved them like his own.
He walked around and kissed both of the boys on their heads and they laughed. I watched him walk around and sit in a chair, his leg crossing over his knee. He was watching them to their homework. Making himself available in case they needed help.
It was a side to Ryan Aaron I didn’t think existed.
“Uncle Ryan?”
“Yes, sweet pea?”
“What does… R-A-L-P-H spell?” Zoey asked.
“Why don’t you sound it out for me?”
“Rah-ll-puh-huh.”
“When ‘p’ and ‘h’ appear together, they make the found of an ‘f’.”
“Why?” Zoey asked.
“Because ‘ph’ is a sound that is derived from Ancient Greek text,” I said. “When the sound was modernized, it became a voiceless labiodental fricative. It’s the evolution of the English language, essentially.”
Ryan’s eyes whipped up to mine as Zoey turned around. Her face was scrunched up and it made me bite back a giggle. Ugh. Sometimes I hated explaining the English language to kids.
“Because that’s just how it is,” I said.
“Oh. Okay. So… Rah-ll-f?” Zoey asked.
“Correct. R-A-L-P-H spells ‘Ralph’,” Ryan said.
“Thank you,” Zoey said.
Ryan’s eyes caught mine again before he nodded his head.
“Thank you for teaching me something new, Miss Gentry.”
“She teaches a lot of new stuff,” Benjamin said.
“She’s awesome,” Hunter said.
“Well I’m glad to have the approval of the men in the room,” I said with a grin.
“You don’t have my approval yet,” Ryan said.
“Good thing I don’t see you as a man.”
The kids in the room fell apartment in laughter as my eyes caught Ryan’s. There was a playful glint in them as a devious grin crept across his cheeks. I averted my gaze and swallowed thickly, then dug my phone out of my purse. When in the world was CPS going to get back to me?
Something buzzed at my side and I jumped. Ryan let out a bout of laughter as he got up from his chair and made his way for the door. He pressed a button and conversed with someone who I assumed was downstairs, then he stood by the door and waited.
“Is the pizza here?” Benjamin asked.
“Keep at that homework or I won’t answer you,” Ryan said.
“Aw, come on. I’m hungry.”
“Finish up your math homework so we can put in a movie. Zoey’s done with her reading and Hunter just finished up his science homework.”
“It wasn’t hard,” Hunter said. “I have to pick my science project for this year. That’s all.”
“What did you choose?” I asked.
“I want to string some potatoes together and power a battery with it,” Hunter said with a toothy smile.
“That’s a wonderful project,” I said. “I did that when I was younger.”
“Really?” Benjamin asked. “You liked science?”
“I liked English more, but science was also interesting.”
“What other projects did you do?”
I turned my head to face Ryan as he leaned against the wall in front of me. His eyes were dancing around my face, drinking me in like the playboy he was. I knew I was his type. Everyone knew he had a type. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Thicker frames. But he wasn’t my type. I didn’t enjoy my men pompous, arrogant, and childish.
I enjoyed them strong, dominant, and confident.
“Tons,” I said flatly.
Someone knocked hard on the door and it caused me to jump. The kids giggled as they packed up their homework and I went to sit down with them. I took a look at all their homework to make sure most of the concepts were digested properly in their classrooms as the smell of pizza filled the air. My mouth was sent into overdrive, watering profusely as I checked off the kids’ homework.
“Everything look good?” Ryan asked.
“Yep. I think we can relinquish them to a movie,” I said.
“You heard the teacher. Pizza and a movie for everyone!”
“Yeah!” the kids exclaimed.
“Do you want me to get the drinks?” I asked.
“I got it. You stay here with the kids. Wouldn’t want to miss your precious phone call with you-know-who.”
“Believe it or not, my cell phone’s portable,” I said.
Ryan shot me a grin and I had to fight to make sure I didn’t smile back at him.
The kids were content eating straight from the pizza boxes, but I got them to use the plates Ryan brought out for us. Some sodas and juice were sat out on the coffee table, then Ryan began fussing with the television. He switched the inputs and pulled up some streaming service, and the kids began to fight over what movie to watch.
“I wanna watch Mulan.”
“We always watch Mulan.”
“Because it’s the best.”
“Why can’t we watch Sleeping Beauty?”
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“Because kissing’s gross.”
“There’s kissing in Mulan.”
“But not a lot of kissing. I can get past not a lot of kissing.”
“What about Ninja Turtles? We’re eating pizza and they eat pizza.”
“In a stinky sewer, yeah. That’s even grosser than kissing.”
“Emma, what would you like to watch?”
I whipped my head up at the sound of Ryan’s voice as I held a piece of pizza up to my lips. The kids all had their heads turned towards me, waiting for me to break some sort of tie or fighting attempt to watch all of their favorite movies at once. My eyes darted along the screen, taking in all the movies at their disposal to watch.
It was incredible. I couldn't even afford one streaming service a month.
“What about Fox and the Hound?” I asked.
“Oh, you really are a heartbreaker,” Ryan said.
“What’s that movie?” Zoey asked.
“One you guys are going to watch and adore before your heart breaks,” Ryan said.
“I don’t wanna watch anything sad,” Benjamin said.
“But I wanna watch something new,” Hunter said.
“How about this? Give the movie fifteen minutes, and if you don’t like it, we’ll watch Ninja Turtles.”
“Yeah! Let’s do it!” Benjamin said.
So we all settled back as Ryan started up Fox and the Hound.
I watched Ryan pick up a slice of pizza before he settled between the boys. He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and lounged back, opening his body up so the boys could sink in. Zoey leaned against me and I lifted my arm, allowing her to drift her cheek along my chest. She settled in and took mindless bites of her pizza, and I could feel Ryan’s eyes glancing over at me during the entire movie.
I thought everyone needed to watch Fox and the Hound. The moral of the story was so important, especially with the growing tensions in our society. Two unlikely friends who tried to fight for their friendship despite the ever-mounting pressure that they had to be enemies. It was one of the deepest movies I’d ever seen, and it was delivered with a medium that appealed to children.
Every child needed to watch it, in my opinion.
Less than ten minutes in, the kids were entranced. And soon, an hour had gone by without them saying a word. I stole a glance at Ryan and saw him mindlessly stroking his fingers through Hunter’s long hair, and it was hard to rip my gaze from him. Benjamin’s head was laying on his lap and Hunter was pressed into him. He was just as intently watching the movie as they were, and there was something about that idea that tugged at my gut. I wasn’t staring into the profile of a playboy tossing back shots and covering himself in glitter.
I was looking at a man. Who had stepped up to take care of his family when they needed to be taken care of. His face turned to find mine and our eyes connected. I cleared my throat and turned away from him, but not without my cheeks blushing. Zoey nuzzled closer into me and I pulled her into my lap, my hand rubbing her back as she nuzzled underneath my chin.
“Thanks for coming over,” she said.
I craned my neck down to look at her before placing a mindless kiss to her forehead.
“Of course. I wanted to make sure you guys were okay,” I said.
I was trying to keep my guard up, but it was hard. Between feeling Zoey falling asleep against me, the movie tugging at my heart strings, and watching Ryan with his nephews, I was overwhelmed. There was such a calm and gentleness to the entire evening, and I started kicking myself. I had been an idiot. I had stereotyped Ryan to be one particular kind of man without any regard to the fact that he could’ve had another side to him.
I villainized him.
Judged him.
Did the one thing I tried to teach my kids at school not to do.
I felt a bit of guilt settle in my chest as the movie ended.
“Wow,” Hunter said.
I heard Benjamin sniffle as Zoey looked up at me.
“Can you tuck me in?” she asked.
I looked over at Ryan and he shrugged his shoulders. I bent over and pulled out my phone from my purse and sighed when I saw CPS hadn’t called yet. I nodded my head and Zoey scurried down from the couch as I placed my phone in my pocket.
“Come on,” Ryan said to me. “I’ll show you where the kids sleep.”
Five
Ryan
Everyone seemed to be in good spirits during dinner and the movie, and it was sweet that my niece wanted Emma to tuck her in. I released the hounds so they could rush to the bathroom to clean themselves up and started to give the grand tour of my penthouse apartment. It was my pride and joy, and for some reason I wanted Emma to see it.
“I take it you’re not just taking me to where the kids will sleep,” she said.
“I figured since it’ll take them some time to clean up, you could use a tour of the place,” I said.
“I could use it,” she said.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious about it?”
“Believe it or not, Mr. Aaron, not all women are entranced by money.”
“But all of them are entranced by nice things. And please, call me Ryan.”
“No thanks.”
She was a sassy, and I enjoyed that. Her personality matched the storm that always seemed to be brewing behind her eyes. I could hear the water running in the sinks across the apartment, but I escorted Emma down the hallway that led into the kitchen.
“This is the main hallway. Both of the guest bedrooms sit down here. They each have their own bathroom, and they’re as decked out as mine. Jetted tubs with temperature controls. A walk-in stone shower that doubles as a wet sauna. Vanity sinks.”
“Ah, vanity. An apt description,” she said.
I looked back and grinned at her as her eyes scaled the walls to the ceiling.
“The kitchen is state-of-the-art,” I said.
“You have a hibachi grill.”
“That I do. I love that kind of food. Plus, I never use a stove to cook, so it was a nice trade off.”
“Let me guess. Do you also have a chef that comes in to cook you this hibachi food?”
“When I don’t feel like cooking, yes,” he said.
I heard her snicker, but she didn’t stop following me.
She was intrigued, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
“Through this archway is a small library. It’s filled with books I’ve read and a few I have yet to read.”
“You read?” Emma asked.
“I do know how to interpret the English language with my eyes, yes.”
“Not what I meant.”
“I figured this would be your favorite part,” I said. “You know, with that little tidbit of information you fed Zoey earlier.”
I watched a faint blush creep into her cheeks as she walked into the middle of the room. She was concealing it well, but I could see the light in her eyes. Her hands were clasped behind her back, but she was white-knuckling them.
“Care to stay here while I get the kids ready for bed?” I asked.
“No, no, no. I’m fine,” Emma said.
“Suit yourself. I’ll show you where the kids will be sleeping.”
I escorted her back through the kitchen and down the hallway. We walked through the living room as the night sky poured through the massive windows that looked out over the entire city of San Francisco. My bedroom was the first door on the left in the small alcove in the corner and the room where the kids would be sleeping was across the hall. There were two full-sized bunk beds and a lone full-sized bed with a sheer canopy blanketed over it.
You know, for Zoey.
My princess.
“Wow. This really is a room for the kids,” Emma said.
“I have it here specifically for them,” I said.
“And you sleep across the hall?”
“Do you want to know where I sleep?” I asked with a grin.
“Just a question, Mr. Aaron.”
“You
really should call me ‘Ryan’. It sounds so good in your voice.”
She shot me a look and I buried the grin trying to escape along my cheeks.
The kids were jumping around on their beds as Emma and I walked around the room. I tucked the boys in while Zoey talked to Emma underneath the sheer canopy, and I could tell their resolve was weakening. The boys were wondering when they were going to get to go home and I had a feeling Emma was fielding the same questions with Zoey.
I just didn’t think Benjamin would be brash enough to ask.
“What happened to Mom, Uncle Ryan?”
“Yeah. We know she’s not okay,” Hunter said.
“Is Mommy coming over tonight?” Zoey asked.
My eyes connected with Emma and I could see the pain running through them. She really did care for these children, and though she was a hardass at the school I knew the kids were lucky to have someone like her.
“You know how when you guys get sick, Mom practically locks you guys in your rooms and disinfects everything?” I asked.
“Yeah. It always smells like lemon. It’s gross,” Benjamin said.
“Is Mommy sick?” Zoey asked.
“She is. And right now, you guys are with me because the whole entire house has to be disinfected before you guys go home. Otherwise, you’ll get sick too.”
“But sometimes we’re sick for a long time,” Hunter said.
“Which is why you guys are with me. However long it takes for your mother to get better is how long you’ll be here. But don’t worry, because we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“Promise?” Zoey asked.
I watched Emma brush my niece’s hair back from her forehead. A tender motion that tugged at a part of me I didn’t usually indulge.
“I promise, my princess.”
Zoey smiled at me and I saw the surprised look that Emma gave me. I kissed the boys’ foreheads before I headed for the door and watched Emma do the same with Zoey. She followed me and I turned out the light, then I closed the door and escorted her back into the living room.
6+ Us Makes Eight: A Teacher and Single Dad Romance (Baby Makes Three) Page 3
