Chapter Thirty-five

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I crawled out of bed. Being woken up by loud banging was not the ideal way of waking up. I made my way downstairs, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Angela?" I yelled. I could tell the banging was coming from the backyard, so I headed towards that direction.

"Out here, honey," she called back. I slid the sliding glass door open to see a bunch of men out back.

"What's going on?" I asked as I made my way to Angela.

"Today's your graduation party, remember?" I nodded, but that still didn't answer why these attractive workers were in my backyard. "They're building a picnic table. Mr. Carter and I decided to have the party here since we have a nice sized backyard, but then I realized that I didn't have any where for the guests to sit." I looked at her, still not fully awake. I rubbed my eyes, looking around the yard. One of the younger workers made eye contact with me and shot me a smile that could kill. I looked down to see what I was dressed in: pajama shorts and a tank top with no bra.

"Ah, fuck. I'm going inside before I embarrass myself." Angela chuckled, and I quickly made my way inside. When I got up to my room, my phone was vibrating furiously on the night stand. I picked it up, hitting the answer buttons

"Good morning, sunshine! Are you ready to party today?" Emmy asked, drawing out the word party.

"As long as I don't embarrass myself again, then yes." She chuckled.

"How did you manage to embarrass yourself? It sounds like you just got out of bed."

"I did. Angela hired workers to build a picnic table for the party, and I went downstairs in my pajamas. Let's just say, it was a wee bit chilly out there." I heard Emmy dying of laughter on the other end.

"Let me guess, no bra?" She asked when she finally stopped laughing.

"You got it, and the worst part is, there was a cute one."

"Definitely embarrassing. Whatever, you got a great body. Embrace it!" I sighed at her words, plopping down on my bed.

"I should probably get ready. Knowing my family, they'll start showing up soon."

"I'll be there in like an hour. See ya!" Emmy made a kiss sound before hanging up. I got up, digging through my closet. I pulled out a blue tank top with flowers on it and a pair of light wash shorts to match. I headed into the bathroom to get ready.

~~~~

"Riley, let's go," Angela yelled into the house.

"I'm coming. I'm just grabbing drinks," I yelled back. Emmy had shown up about an hour ago, and we had just finished setting up when the guests started to arrive.

"Everyone is eager to see you," Angela said as I walked outside.

"I saw them a couple of moths ago. Isn't that enough for them?" Angela chuckled. I had never really gotten along with my dads side of the family. I was just too different. I looked around at the gathering of people and saw the workers from earlier. "What are the workers still doing here?" I asked.

"They worked so hard all morning that I asked them if they would like to stay for lunch." I continued to look around when I saw the worker from this morning.

"Oh god. The cute one is still here. I'm so embarrassed." Angela laughed, shaking her head.

"Honey, I'm sure he's seen plenty of women parts in his time. And he's a young man, he probably enjoyed it." I could feel my face burning up at Angela's words. She was my guardian for Christ sakes. She wasn't suppose to say stuff like that. "Is Matt coming?"!

"No, he had some family stuff to do before he heads back to college."

"It's summer though," she said.

"He's taking summer courses to hopefully finish his degree sooner." She nodded in approval. I knew that Angela like Matt. He treated me well, and that was the most important thing.

"Well, tell him I said good luck. I need to go converse with the rest of the family. Have fun!" She blew me a kiss and wondered off. I made my way over to Emmy to see what she was up to.

"Riley, that guy hasn't taken his eyes off of you since he arrived." I looked over to where she was pointing and saw the cute worker from early, and sure enough, he was still looking at me. I grabbed Emmy's arm and pulled her off to the side.

"That's the worker from earlier that I told you about," I exclaimed.

"Oh, the one that saw your nips?" I covered my ears as soon as the word left her mouth.

"Emmy, you know I hate that word!" She chuckled. I know she just likes to make me uncomfortable.

"You should go talk to him," she bluntly states.

"I'm dating Matt, Emmy, remember?" She shrugs her shoulders.

"Who says you can't make new friends?" I raised my eyebrow at her, but she shoved me towards his direction, and with my luck, he was looking. He shot me another smile, and I rubbed the back of my neck as I made my way over to him.

"Riley, right?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?" I questioned.

"Angela told me when she offered us lunch." That sneaky woman. And I thought she liked Matt!

"Oh, right. Uh, about this morning..." I trailed off.

"If it makes you feel better, I can pretend that I didn't see a thing," he said with a smirk.

"That would be great." He laughed.

"I'm Ryker."

"That's an interesting name," I added.

"My parents were a bunch of hippies. That's the best answer I have." I laughed. Angela would probably freak if she knew that.

"Well, Ryker, it was nice meeting you, but I only came over to make my friend happy," I said, pointing in the direction of Emmy, who was not paying attention.

"So you weren't coming to hit on me?" I chuckled nervously.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no." He laughed.

"I'm just messing around. Well, before you leave, what would you say to hanging out sometime?" I could feel my face starting to heat up again, and I quickly looked away.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds great!" I told him my number and waved goodbye as I headed back to Emmy.

"So?" She asked when I made it to her.

"He got my number."

"You whore," she joked. I playfully pushed her.

"We better tend to the party. I mean, it is for us after all." She nodded in agreement and we headed off.
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Hey guys! A month later and I finally updated! Sorry for the long wait. I've been so busy with school and work that I just didn't have time for writing :(

What do you think of Ryker? What do you think will happen with Matt and Riley when he goes back to school? What about Ryker and Riley?

If you're enjoying, don't forget to comment and rate!

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