On Hold

Part One: The Ending Before It Even Began

Chapter One

12 months ago

KATIE AND I COULD HEAR THE MUSIC COMING FROM HALFWAY down the block before we even got to the party. If any of my brothers found out that we’d come tonight they’d kill us—but neither of us could pass up this opportunity. Plus, Ryke’s house was so massive that the chances of any of them finding us were pretty low.

Even if there was three of them.

Katie and I made our way through the front door. The entrance was insane, with its double wrap around stairs cases that lead to a second floor landing that looks out across the foyer.

Ignoring all of the curious looks we headed straight for the kitchen.

The liquid courage that we’d found in the shape of a bottle of vodka—discovered in the back of my middle brother Cameron’s, wardrobe—had started to wear off. We needed a top up, and then we could continue on with our missions here.

Katie’s was to finally see what all of the fuss was about this year’s senior parties; this would be the last one for the summer before everyone left for college.

My mission was a little more complicated. I was here to confront my brother’s best friend, and the guy whose dad owned this place, Ryke, and tell him that no, it’s not okay for him to drunk text me. Or kiss me two weeks ago at a field party while drunk to then pretend that it didn’t happen.

In the kitchen Katie proceeded to make us both drinks. Knowing Katie I'd have to sip this carefully, or I'd be ass over tits and passed out on the front lawn in the next half an hour. While the girl stood no taller than 5’3”, the gal could pack a lot of alcohol into that small body.

“Let’s check out the back; I want to see who’s here,” Katie shouted over the music.

I gave her a nod in agreement before following her out the French doors that lead out to an elaborate patio area.

The backyard stretched out across us. There were clusters of outdoor furniture clumped together randomly, all of them currently occupied by party goers.

I grabbed a hold of Katie’s hand to get her attention.

“If we don’t want to be found by my brothers, we should stick clear of the pool,” I warned her.

She followed my stare to the pool, and gave me a nod of agreement when she saw all three of my brothers in the pool. Each had a girl wrapped around them, all in different compromising positions.

We both scrunched our faces up at them.

“Pigs,” we said in unison.

We went back to scanning the area, taking it all in. Katie couldn’t seem to contain her excited grin; all she needed was a bucket of popcorn.

A muscular arm wrapped around my waist, and someone's warm breath on the back of my neck.

“What’s in the cup Kid?” a husky voice asked in my ear.

Ryke.

“Just a drink,” I put the cup up to my mouth and took another sip.

“Hmm; I think that “just a drink” is going to get me in a lot of trouble tonight.” His hands started running up and down the sides of my waist, “So is this outfit.”

I hid my smug smile behind my next sip.

I had on a pair of mid-rise dark denim skinny jeans, a black lacey crop top, and black stilettos. A good portion of my toned stomach showed, along with the piecing that sat in my belly button—the push-up bra I had on probably helped quite a bit too.

The unfortunate bit though? I could smell the alcohol on him, which makes me wonder.

Are his feelings as real and intense as mine?

“Want to go talk somewhere?” He asked the question innocently enough, but I knew by him putting his hands into my jean’s front pockets that ’talking’ wasn’t all he had on his mind.

I looked to Katie for help.

“Go,” she urged, squeezing my hand for support. “Just remember what it was we talked about.”

I squeezed her hand back to let her know I knew what she meant, before turning to Ryke.

“Lead the way,” I told him, meeting his eyes over my shoulder.

They were glazed from the alcohol, but clear enough to focus on mine. Past the alcohol, I could see lust, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on.

Ryke squeezed my hand before leading me back through the house. We went back through the kitchen, the foyer and up the grand staircase. I followed him down a hallway that lead to a set of wooden double doors. I’d been in his room plenty of times as a kid, but not so much as we’d become teenagers.

I caught him sneaking Courtney Laine into his room when I was in sixth grade at a pool party here. Kind of put a bad stigma onto the place.

Ryke opened the door for us after pulling a key from a back pocket.

Good way to keep drunken hook-ups out of your room at a party.

Ryke’s dad was loaded, and by loaded, I don’t mean in the way my parents, where none of us will every want for anything and my parents can afford for all four of us to go to ivy league colleges on their dime. No, Ryke’s dad was loaded in the way that involves owning a private jet and a five-star hotel in every major city across the world.

So you can imagine how insane Ryke’s house looked—let alone his room.

His bedroom was open planned, his king sized bed sitting up on a platform, French doors sitting on either side of it, leading out onto his balcony that over looks the back yard. One door to the right leads to his en-suite bathroom that was so big the shower could fit four people in it, and a Jacuzzi bath. I know all of this because I’ve had to hose him off in said shower after a big night, and found him passed out starfish style in the Jacuzzi. I also know that the door on the left wall leads to his walk through wardrobe that’s bigger than most people’s living rooms. And then I don’t know how he got his dad to work it, but he even had a bar in the far left corner of the room, all dark wood with matching bar stools.

The room was done in dark grey and black, with bold block colours here and there.

“You want something to drink?” Ryke asked as he made his way over to his built in bar.

“Sure; whatever you’re having will be fine.” I moved my way over to his king sized bed and jumped back onto it.

His bed was so freaking comfortable.

My view of the white ceiling above me was broken when a glass filled with amber liquid was thrust into my face.

“Just don’t tell your brothers that I gave you this,” he said as he handed me the glass.

I sniffed it before taking a sip. Jack Daniels—Rye’s favourite.

I scooted up on the bed to rest against the headboard. Patting the empty space next to me, I motioned for Ryke to come sit next to me.

“So what was it you wanted to talk about?” I asked, taking a large gulp of my drink; taking a moment to enjoy the way it warmed my insides on the way down.

Ryke downed his drink, before setting it on his bedside table next to him, and then wrapping his large hand around the side of my jaw.

“I don’t Know if I can keep this to myself anymore,” Ryke said as he leaned in close to me. “I’m over holding myself back like this.”

With that, he leaned in, crushing his lips to mine. As soon as our lips met, everything else melted away. The sounds of the party, the blaring music and drunken girls squealing, guys egging each other on to drink more—all of it became non-existent to us, and what had now become our own personal bubble.

Ryke outlined the seams of my lips with his tongue, and I granted him access—I didn’t really have a choice otherwise. We fought for dominance, me giving up the fight quite fast. With a gentle push, Rye had me on my back, staring down at me with a look in his eye I’d never seen before—unfortunately I just didn’t understanding what it was.

His hands ran down from where they’d been resting on either sides of my face. Ryke’s hands skimmed down my neck, copping a food feel of my chest on their way down to the sides of my stomach—that was bare due to my crop top.

“You sure about this?” he asked as his fingers rested on the button to my jeans.

Nodding my head, I reached up and grabbed a hold of the back of his neck, trying to bring his lips back down to mine.

“I’ve got to hear you say it baby…” The button on my jeans popped open and I felt his fingers ghost across my lacey black thong.

“Y-y-yes…Oh god yes,” I strangled out.

Ryke’s hands left the insides of my jeans as he brought his hands back up to either side of my face.

“Thank Christ,” he said before crushing his lips back on mine.

I knew there was a lot that we had to talk about, a lot that I wanted to say to him. I also knew that this was not how I’d ever planned out loosing my virginity, but at this moment in time, as Ryke and I discarded more and more clothing and Ryke reached into his night stand for a condom, I actually just couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck.

For once, I wanted to live in the now, and stop over-analyzing the to-be.