Ryke

The Summer before Ashton’s Junior year of high school—Ryke and Jackson’s farewell party.

I stand in front of the mirror in my walk-in-wardrobe, turning this way and that, making sure my red dress falls correctly and hasn’t bunched anywhere.

I can hear my brother’s farewell party in full swing down stairs, and it sets of a case of the nervous shivers all across my skin. I shake out my whole body to try and get rid of the nerves.

Tonight is my eldest brother Jackson’s farewell party; he leaves for college on Monday with his best friend Ryke, and they’d decided to just do one party before the two of them.

The thought of Ryke downstairs was what was framing such havoc on my nerves.

Ryke had been a fixture in my life for as long as I could remember. Our parents we close friends who all met in college, and I was best friends with his younger sister Katie. My second eldest brother Cameron had been best friends with Ryke’s younger brother Isaac who died in a car crash he was in with Ryke eighteen months ago.

Ryke was still trying to recover.

For the past eighteen months I’d been there for Rye while he tried to find himself after what happened and move forward with his life. It was a friend ship that we had kept between the two of us as my three older brothers put the “dickhead” in over-protective. Our relationship had moved quickly from “family friends” to “I don’t what this is, but it’s definitely more” category.

What had started out as late night messages in the dark quickly progressed to Rake sneaking onto the balcony attached to my room, where we’d talk late into the night. Lately though this had morphed into him showing up drunk after parties and him sleeping it off in my bed next tome, before sneaking out early the next morning as if nothing had ever happened.

My phone buzzed with a message from my twin brother Aaron.

Aaron: Oi! Where the fuck are you?!

Aaron: Hurry up! Katie is annoying the fuck out of me already.

Katie and Aaron have always bickered, and haven’t gotten along since we were kids. I think there’s some sexual tensions there that neither one of them wants to admit to.

Plus knowing Katie, she’d be purposefully antagonising him.

I checked my self over again in my full length mirror. My red lace dress reached just above my knees and hugged my hips and waist, the lace coming all the way up to the V-neck of the dress, thin straps held the dress up. My chocolate brown hair was styled in big curls that framed my face and finished just below my shoulders. I’d kept my make-up light as the dress was so vibrant, and had matched my nude lipstick to the nude heels I wore.

With one last look over myself, I grab my phone head down stairs.

A quick glance at it told me Ryke hadn’t messaged me yet.

Making my way through the house, I found Katie playing beer pong with Aaron. From Katies big smile, and Aaron’s just as big frown I could tell who was winning.

“Finally!” Aaron called when he saw me. “Come here and help me out. The Devil’s spawn over there is cheating; help me prove it.”

Laughing I walked over and set up the next game. As soon as Katie got her shot in our cup I knew I had made a grave mistake.

Two hours and two lost games of beer pong, that was played with a concoction Katie had made later, and Ryke finally made his appearance to me.

I was walking out of my room, after using my bathroom (the down stairs one had lines waiting) when I smack right into a hard chest.

Looking up (and up, and up) I made eye contact with Ryke’s ice blue eyes. Ryke towered over my five foot eight frame, at 6 feet and seven inches. His frame was so wide that he took up the whole width of my door way, and his black hair was cut close to his head in a buzz cut, and his cheek bones were so high and sharp that they could cut glass.

“Hi.” My voice came out as a soft whisper; not the confidant voice I was hoping for.

“Hey Kid,” Ryke’s mouth quirked up into his cocky smirk that made my heart race.

Ryke’s hand dropped from the door frame to my hip. I felt the heat of his hand sear through my dress instantly.

Oh my God.

“You going to invite me in?”

All I could manage was a silent nod.

I stepped back into my room and he followed me back.

“On the bed.”

What the fuck is happening?

Without breaking eye contact with Ryke, I walked backwards towards the bed. Once I felt the bed hit the back of my knees, I climbed up onto it. Ryke closed and locked the door before making his way towards my bed.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

Ryke played down on the bed next to me with his head on the pillow next to mine.

“I haven’t been able to take my eye off of you all night.” That was all he said before leaning in and crushing his mouth to mine.

And I could have died right then and there.

Like I was actually kissing Rye.

He started out slow, almost hesitant with his kisses, before he brought his hand up to the side of my face and became more possessive, and I felt his tongue lick the seem of my lips. As soon as I opened to him, he took full control of the kiss.

We kissed like that for what felt like hour; until I started to feel light headed and had to break the kiss to be able to pull in deep panting breathes, or risk passing out from lack of oxygen.

Rye didn’t let that deter him. Instead he started to plant those same possessive kisses down the side of my neck and across my collarbone.

The feeling of his hand on my thigh, moving up and taking my dress with it is what made my finally come back down to earth.

It was making my head spin how fast this was happening, and I wasn’t ready to go to that next step yet. I knew from gossip at school that Rye was no shy virgin, and all I’d done before this was kiss a couple of guys at the end of dates, and I’d had one average movie cinema make out session.

I grabbed Rye’s hand as he reached the band of my g-string that rested on my hip bone, putting a stop to his ascent up.

Rye stopped the kisses he was making back up my neck to rest his head against my chest.

“Too much?” He panted.

“Yeah,” I whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of us both panting.

Rye let out a groan that was animalistic, before letting out a breathless, “Okay,” and rolling us so that he was laying on his back and my head was on his chest. He started his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes for what felt like only a second.

***

Blinking awake, I look around my sun drenched room. I’m still wearing my dress from last night, but I’ve at least taken my heels off. My eyes sting the more I blink in that horrible way that happens only after you go to bed without taking off your make up and the mascara makes your eye lashes stick together.

The more I wake up, the more pieces of the night before come back to me; especially the part about kissing Rye before falling asleep in his arms.

So where the hell is Rye now?

My room was empty, and through the open door that lead to my bathroom I could se that that was empty too, so he wasn’t in here with me.

I reached over to my ensued table where I’d left my phone last night.

There were a couple of messages from Katie and my brothers asking where I was, before Katie sent one saying good night and that she was going to bed this morning at three O’clock.

The most recent text was from Rye.

Rye: I’m sorry.

Huh?

Me: For What?

Ten minutes later and I was downstairs eating breakfast after showering and changing into sweatpants and an old football jersey of my brother Cameron’s.

I still didn’t have a response.

That night at ten-forty-five p.m. right before I went to bed I sent Rye the last message I’d send him for two years.

Me: Fuck you.