The Shore (25 page)

It was close to noon before they finally got out of bed. They each dressed, taking whatever opportunity presented itself to touch or kiss the other.

When Ryan entered the living room, she went in search for her phone. She had several texts from Madison wondering if she was alright.

Crap. I never called her to let her know we made it back safely.

Madison picked up the call on the first ring.

“So I take it you’re okay then?” Madison was not happy, but she was starting to get used to Ryan forgetting to call her.

“I’m sorry Mad. We got back and … and I was distracted. I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

“Are you okay at least?”

Ryan couldn’t hide the smile in her voice.

“I’m more than okay.”

Madison gasped. “You finally slept with him!”

Ryan laughed, “Yes.”

“Was it good? How was he?” And the interrogation began.

“It was really nice, Mad,” Ryan said quietly, not wanting Cody to hear. She felt herself blushing again, too.

“I guess that means I don’t have to convince you to dump the guy, right?”

Cody happened to walk in then and stride over to Ryan.

“Madison,” Ryan mouthed to him.

“Hi, Madison,” Cody said, loud enough so she could hear it through the phone. Then he leaned down and placed a kiss on Ryan’s neck.

“Hi Cody,” Madison replied and Ryan conveyed the message.

“No, no convincing required,” Ryan said finally answering Madison’s question.

“Good. I’m really happy for you, Ryan.”

“Thanks,” Ryan smiled. “Me, too.”

“Umm… not be a buzz kill, but are you heading back to Charlotte today?” Madison asked.

“I’m not sure. I kind of want to stay. See where this goes.”

“I get that. If he’s that good in bed, I wouldn’t want to leave either.”

“That wasn’t quite what I meant, Mad,” Ryan replied, although it was a nice idea. “Can I call you back in just a bit? I want to talk to Cody first.”

“Yeh, sure.”

“Okay, I’ll call you back.”

Ryan walked over to the couch where Cody was sitting and joined him. He wrapped his arm around her as she snuggled into him.

“So…” she started. “I’m supposed to be at work tomorrow.”

Cody sighed. “Yeh, I figured we’d have to talk about it sooner or later.”

Ryan looked up at him and Cody could see sadness in her eyes.

“I don’t want to leave.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I don’t want you to leave either.”

She laid her head back on his chest and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“What if I worked from here for the week? I have my computer with me. We could both work during the day but have time at night.”

“Do you think your boss would be okay with it?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. I work from home all the time. It shouldn’t matter
which
home I’m in. I just need to make sure I don’t have any meetings that require me to be in the office.”

“Okay,” Cody said and squeezed his arms around her.

Ryan untangled herself from Cody. “Let me go make a call.”

She picked up her phone and made her way onto the deck. Taking a seat on the swing, she dialed her boss’s number.

When Ryan disconnected the call, she looked back to the house. Cody was leaning against the door frame watching her. As she walked up to him, her smile grew.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me for the week.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

“I’ll take stuck with you anytime.”

“I need to call Madison and let her know what’s going on.”

“Okay,” Cody said.

Ryan dialed Madison’s number, never letting go of Cody.

“Let me guess, you’re sticking around for a while?” Madison asked as she answered the phone.

“Yeh. I’m going to work remotely for the week.”

“Sure you are. I’d be curious to see your time sheets next week.”

“Oh, hush,” Ryan said, grinning into the phone. “I'm sorry we didn't really spend much time together while you were here.”

“That's alright. I got to relax for a bit. It was needed.”

“Thanks for everything this week, Mad. You’re the best.”

“Eh, what are friends for?” Madison teased. “Text me this week and let me how things are going okay?”

“Absolutely.”

“That is, if you guys ever come up for air,” Madison grinned.

Ryan could feel her face turn red again. “Love you, Mad.”

“Love you, too, Ry.” Madison made a kissing mwah sound and hung up.

Ryan wrapped her arms around Cody and looked up at him. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“You want to talk a walk on the beach?”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

They left Berkley and Wrigley in the house and walked down to the water. There were a few people on the beach, but not many. Another couple of weeks and that would all change when the tourists came to town.

Hand in hand, they walked in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

Cody ran through the week in his mind. So much had happened. He’d said goodbye to Laura and welcomed Ryan into his life. She was smart and beautiful and sexy, and his heart raced as he thought about her.

Ryan thought it was amazing how much difference a week had made. She left the city for the shore to take some time away from the office and now, here she was, falling in love with this great guy she used to have a crush on as a teenager. For once, she wasn’t worried about the logistics of who lived where and how often they would see each other. She had faith that somehow they would work things out together.

Ryan stopped walking and Cody turned to face her. She took his other hand in hers and looked into his eyes.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

Her smile lit up her entire face. “Everything is perfect.” She reached up on her tippy-toes and gently pressed her lips against his. “I just wanted to tell you something.”

Cody smiled. “What’s that?”

Ryan felt every piece of the wall she’d held up for so long finally come tumbling down. She was opening herself and her heart to Cody and she wanted to let him know that.

“I’m falling in love with you, Cody.”

He squeezed her hands and looked back into her eyes.

“That’s good, babe. Because I’m in love with you.”

“Is that crazy? It’s only been a week,” she questioned.

Still holding her hands, he wrapped his arms around her, pressing himself against her.

“Sometimes when you know, you just know.”

He bent his head down and lightly brushed his lips against hers.

Ryan had never been so thankful for a pile of sand in her life.

As their relationship continued to develop and the official “I love you’s” were exchanged, Ryan felt a weird sense of obligation to let Paige know she and Cody were together. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she did know that saving the realization for Christmas morning was probably a bad idea.

In a rare move, she called her sister. The conversation went fairly smoothly for the first couple of minutes as they exchanged pleasantries and the “how have you been’s,” but it didn’t take long before Paige’s assistant interrupted them by announcing her next meeting.

“One second, Paige. There is something I wanted to tell you,” I interjected quickly.

“What’s that?” she answered.

I tried to ignore the impatience in her voice. “I met someone. Actually, we’ve been dating for about a month now.”

“Oh, good for you. Do I know him?”

I paused for a moment and swallowed. “I think so. You used to run in the same crowds in the summer. Cody Calloway?”

Paige was quiet before she answered. “Hmm… I don’t recall the name. But I’m happy for you, Ryan.”

I was partly relieved and partly angry. How could she not remember a guy she slept with? “Thanks, Paige.”

“Well, I hate to scoot, but my client is waiting. Take care, Ryan.”

“Yeh, you too, Paige.”

And the phone went dead.

Ryan sat on the swing with her phone in her hand. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. The majority of their conversations tended to go like that – Paige acted all annoyed that Ryan called, answers became curt, and inevitably, Paige’s assistant ended the call. Oddly enough, that even happened on Sunday mornings.

It bothered her that Paige didn’t remember Cody, but she also recalled the revolving door of guys Paige used to have around as a teenager. Maybe the fact that she didn't remember him shouldn’t be so surprising.

“How’s Paige?” Cody asked from the doorway.

Ryan lifted her feet so they were on the swing in front of her and wrapped her arms around her knees.

“Same ole Paige.”

He walked over to the swing and took a seat next to her, wrapping his arm around her.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeh. I wanted to tell her about us so when she did find out, it wouldn’t be awkward.”

Cody was quiet as he looked at Ryan. He had learned that when she was upset, she wouldn’t look at him, just like she was doing now.

“She didn’t remember me, did she?”

Ryan finally looked at him and there was a sadness in her eyes. Losing your virginity is a big deal, and to know the person that took it from you didn’t remember you? That had to hurt.

“No, hon. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal.” He pulled her in closer to him. “I got the better of the two Blake girls, so I really don’t care what she remembers or doesn’t.”

“Oh, so
now
you’re comparing us?” she grinned.

He looked at her dumbfounded. “How did I fall into that trap?”

“Um, I think you walked right into it, all by yourself.”

“I’d like to plead the fifth. I’m zipping my lips. Better yet…” he leaned down and kissed her gently. “You can zip my lips for me.”

“I can, huh?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

Cody smirked and lowered his mouth to hers again. There was no way he could win this conversation, so it was better to just end it now. And kissing Ryan was the perfect distraction.

When she pulled back from their kiss, Ryan grinned at Cody.

“You’re a shit, you know that?”

“I do. But I’m your shit,” he winked and placed a kiss on her nose.

Ryan laughed and checked the time on her phone.

“We should probably head out. It’s about time to go.”

“Alright. I’ll round up the dogs.”

Cody got up from the swing and went into the house, calling for Berkley and Wrigley. One of the benefits of having dinner at Mac and Riley’s was they could bring the dogs along. Plus, they entertained Jake while the adults talked.

Ryan sat on the swing for another minute thinking about her relationship with Paige. It still amazed her how she was so much closer with Madison, Abby and Mac than she was with her own sister. Maybe it was Ryan’s fault for blaming Paige for that night in high school all these years. It really wasn’t her fault, and Ryan knew she had built up walls when it came to Paige. Maybe someday they’d talk, see if they could work on things. Ryan could tell her what happened and explain why she distanced herself.

“You ready, babe?” Cody asked from the doorway.

She smiled, still loving it when he called her “babe.”

“Yep, I’m coming,” she said as she rose from the swing and walked over to him.

“You sure you’re okay?”

Ryan gave him a soft smile. “I’m good. Let’s go see everyone.”

Ryan grabbed the dish she’d made and carried it out to the truck. It made her smile when Cody walked over to her side and opened the door for her.

It was only the second time, but it felt like these family dinners were becoming tradition. Whenever Ryan came into town to visit Cody, everyone would head to Mac and Riley’s house for dinner. This way she got to see them, plus Abby and Jake, too.

When they got to the house, Cody opened the tailgate and the dogs ran around to the back of the house. They could hear Jake laugh.

“Looks like they found their target,” Cody laughed as he opened the door for Ryan.

“If Jake starts asking for a dog, Abby is going to kill us, you know.”

“I’m not worried. Besides, every little boy should have a dog growing up.”

“Yeh, I’ll let
you
tell Abby that.”

Cody chuckled and Ryan immediately turned around, her face serious.

“Quit that. You know what that chuckle does to me.”

He grinned, knowing
exactly
what it did to her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t make me pull you into a bathroom at your brother’s house.”

“Promise?” he chuckled again.

“Argh!” Ryan groaned as she turned and walked toward the front door. She could hear Cody laughing behind her. That man could drive her insane!

And she loved it.