Losing Her Wings

Chapter 27

Ryan acknowledged that he was being a difficult problem for her to deal with as well as hinting to her that the fact she hadn’t dissuaded Spike from his flirtations meant he was going to become a problem. Though for Ryan, not her. He was already jealous enough, if Niles kept going he’d become positively obsessed with making Skylar tell him he hadn’t a chance in hell of being with her. Even if it was obvious to everyone else but him. “Just know that I’m going to call you on it whenever you take it out on me…in the hopes of another kiss like that one.” He teased her softly, giving her a little nudge as they settled back into their place at the top of the bed, leaning back against the headboard with a relaxed smile. He didn’t care what she said about it now, she was his and he couldn’t have been happier about it, especially after how awful his dream had been.

“If I promise not to take it out on you, then do you think we could just agree to disagree about being in some sort of romantic entanglement?” Skylar might have given in and kissed him but he was so sweet and romantic and beautiful minded that she couldn’t do anything else. But it didn’t mean that she had made up her mind to be with him or that she was giving in, she still wasn’t sure what she was going to do about him but she knew for certain that it wasn’t going to be an easy decision to make. And when he scolded her for being scared of him, she couldn’t help but defend herself. “I’m not scared. I just know it’s going to end in disaster.” Her voice went from sweet and apologetic to defensive in those few words alone but Ryan wasn’t a push over and he wasn’t really a vengeful person until Ruby came along. He was hoping Skylar could put him back into his own life and make him that laid back, nice guy he had always been before. Even if it was only for her sake.

“Alright, I agree to let you keep convincing yourself that you’re not mine, I agree to you not taking out your stress on me and I agree that you can kiss me anytime you want without any pressure from me about what it means as long as you agree that I’m allowed to try and influence you any time I like into being my full time, open to the public and completely willing girlfriend.” He bargained with her, such a cheeky smile on his lips that she couldn’t help but agree easily, nodding in her decisiveness only for Ryan to kiss her tenderly in appreciation for it. She was just happy that she didn’t have to make up her mind about him just yet. “Perfect, now we can eat. And you can tell me how the book is going.” He noticed that it was sitting there the minute he walked into the room, he had a very astute mind and keen eyes, particularly for anything to do with Skylar and with how well she and Pepper got in, he wasn’t in the least surprised that the book had got to her. He had given it to Pepper to dispose of any way she liked, keep it or pass it on, he didn’t care but what he did like, was that it had ended up in Skylar’s hands. It obviously made her a romantic at heart no matter what she insisted.

“Finished. I adored every word of it. I was writing a list of the next eighteen that are on the inside page. I’m not sure when I can afford to get them though.” She sighed in disappointment, sparking off a thought in him that he rather liked. He hadn’t done anything for someone else since before Ruby, long before her, probably since he had been with Kylie when he was sixteen and that was a long time ago. She had been just like Ruby in some ways, more concerned with her own feelings than his, a cheater as well only that she hadn’t just fallen in love with his best friend and tried not to hurt him with the truth, she had actually been a real slut. Like that song his mother loved…Runaround Sue, that was Kylie alright. He hadn’t realised when she asked him out that she had previously been dating the head jock, of which he was not at the time, only to have broken up with him two days before. Nor did he realise that during their year long relationship she had slept with him just as often as she had when they were together, as well as with every other guy in the football team and half the male faculty as well. And it was no exaggeration. That was when the scepticism and sarcasm crept in, then Rita, the safe bet of the least popular girl in school and the least liked, had gone ahead and told him he was a bore…him, the well liked comedian of the class, the gorgeous, sought after kid was a bore compared to her. She disappeared off with some guy from the school band and then the more serious effects had started to fester and turn him into the kind of guy who couldn’t be happy that Waldo, his best ever friend in the world, had found the one girl he had ever loved. The kind of guy who couldn’t face the girl he loved because he was scared she would hurt him. The kind of guy who used people just as they had used him in the past. Well it wasn’t acceptable anymore.