Racing and the Ruins

t w e n t y - f i v e

After Ryker fell asleep I got out my laptop and got back to doing more schoolwork. I was mostly caught up, but not enough to not work for an entire night. But it went by better with having Ryker next to me. 

I think he is a little mad that I didn't answer any of his texts though, but in my defense I did text him back. I just forgot to hit the send button. 

"What the fuck are you doing up?" He groans from beside me, I sigh and look down at him. "Just finishing a paper." 

He scoffs and takes the laptop out of my hands, saving the progress and shutting it, then setting down on my desk. 

"Go to sleep" He says while pulling me back down and holding me against his chest. I look over at Kelsey's bed and frown, it was weird being back here and her gone all the time. She has been sleeping at Dylan's almost every night since the race I saw Ryker win. And things have been tense between since I won't tell her everything that happened while I was gone and why I was gone.

My brain drifts off to our first real interaction at the race, where I tricked him into kissing my neck to get away from him.

I smile at the memory of me pissing him off and lean into him a little more. Never would I have thought we would be here right now. But I liked it, he made me feel safe and cared for. 

He kissed my temple and held me a little tighter as we both drifted off to sleep. 

***

"Why can't I go with you?" Ryker whines as I pull my stuff together for class. 

"Because, I'm already on thin ice with my professor and I don't need to give him another reason to fail me. So please either hang out here or go do something, I'll be back in an hour" I say, he pouts like a child and crosses his arms over his chest. I sigh and kiss his cheek. 

"It's just an hour, go to the gym, work on your car, punch a hole in the wall and fix it, adopt a kitten, take a nap, or something. I'm about to be late, but seriously do something." I say before closing the door and walking to class. 

Once in class I hand the prof another group of assignments I missed and go to a seat in the middle. Some random guy I think is on the school's basketball team sits next to me, he smirks at me and I just roll my eyes. Maybe I should have let Ryker tag along.

I feel the boy's eyes on me the whole lecture, but finally we get dismissed and I rush out the door to go to Ryker. But I feel someone following me, I turn around and see the boy who sat beside me in class. 

Rolling my eyes again I turn around and continue my route back to the dorms. 

"Hi, I'm Gabe" He smiles, I keep a blank face and ignore him. "Not much of a talker? Can I at least know your name?" He says awkwardly.

"No" I deadpan with zero emotion showing on my face or in my voice. "You're breaking my heart here, come on I'll figure it out one way or another" He rebuttals playfully, I stop and turn to face the annoying guy. 

"No you wont, now I got to go my boyfriend is waiting for me" 

I don't wait for his response as I walk up the stairs of my dorm building. Finally I make it back to the safety of my dorm, and Ryker is passed out on my bed. I toss my bag on the ground and work on more assignments as he sleeps. 

My phone begins to ring and I pick up,

"Hello" I say while continuing to type, "Hey kid, as I'm sure you remember it's me and your mother's anniversary soon." My dad says.

"Oh yeah totally" I lie, "Uh huh, and we decided to have the wedding we never got because you little shits" he continues. 

"Hey, it is not my fault you didn't use protection. That's on you, but please continue" I answer defensively, he laughs.

"True, true. As I was saying, the ceremony is going to be next Saturday. So wear something nice, and I don't mean your nice leggings. Wear a dress, also feel free to bring a friend." 

"Alright, I'll probably bring Ryker. See you soon, love you" 

"Ok, love you kid" He says before ending the call. I sigh and put my phone back down then begin typing once more. 

Another hour passes and I'm finally done with everything I need to do. I climb onto the bed and lay my head on Ryker's arm, he sleepily smiles with his eyes still closed as his other arm goes around my waist pulling me closer.

I fidget with his shirt as he continues to sleep, his soft snores being the only sound in the room. A little later, he begins to wake up and just looks at me with hooded eyes. 

"How was class?" He asks in a raspy voice that makes me smile.

"Normal" I partly lie, Ryker would probably not enjoy that some random guy hit on me. And it's not that important, so why even risk starting a fight over it.

"Want to go get something to eat?" He runs a hand through my hair and lightly smiles at me. "Yeah, but I get to drive us" I answer, he groans and throws his head back. 

"I promise not to drive like a barbarian, scouts honor" I add, he sighs and sits up. I follow suit and lean my head against his back. "You have to be awake to drive" Ryker says with a small chuckle, I don't respond and hug his arm. 

"Come on, darling" He says, we both get out of the bed and walk to the door. I convince him I'm awake enough to drive and we start driving to the main part of town. After finding a parking spot we start walking through the crowds of drunk college kids on the streets.

"Do we want hot melts or pizza?" Ryker asks as we look at the two least crowded places. 

"Hot melts obviously" I answer, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the restaurant. We order our food and sit down. Conversation was easy between us, but I feel a tinge of guilt for not telling Ryker about the guy who wouldn't leave me alone after class. 

Our food comes and we eat while still keeping our conversation going. 

"Well, it looks like you weren't lying about having a boyfriend, mystery girl" The guy from earlier says looking at Ryker as he stand in front of our table. I roll my eyes and turn to look at him.

"Yep, now fuck off" I retort, he leans his skinny forearms on the table and watches me closely. 

"Get the fuck away from my girl, Dickhead" Ryker growls from the other side of the table, the guy who's name I don't remember looks over at him and gulps. "I think she can speak for herself" He scoffs. 

"Get the fuck away from me, Dickhead" I repeat Ryker's words and he smiles at me, while the idiot glares at me but walks away. Once gone, Ryker laughs and shakes his head.

"What?" I ask, he looks up and smiles at me. "You're just adorable sometimes" He answers, I smile and start eating again. 

 We both finish our food and begin walking to the car, I held his arm as the crowds of drunk people multiplied. 

"When did you tell him you had a boyfriend?" Ryker asks, clearly assumed. "After class today, he hit on me so I told him I had one to get him to leave me alone" I respond, he nods and takes the car keys out of my hand. 

"We're sleeping a my place tonight, your bed is uncomfortable as hell" He states, I roll my eyes but let him drive. 

The ride back to his place we sat in comfortable silence as I lean on his arm and his hand rubs soothing circles into my inner thigh. He pulls into the driveway and I follow him inside. We walk in and hear moaning, like rough sex moaning. Ryker mutters something under his breath and walks further into the house. On entering his small living room he slaps his hand over my eyes. 

"Are you fucking kidding me Ezra?" He yells, "Whatever, just take this into the guestroom and keep it down" He sighs and guides me to his room with my eyes still covered. 

"I'm going to fucking kill him" Ryker growls as he closes the door and lets me see again. I laugh and put my hands on his chest. "No murdering until the morning please, now come on let's go to bed" He nods and pecks my lips before handing me a shirt to wear. 

We climb into his bed and he immediately pulls me to his chest, I kiss his shoulder and let sleep overtake me.

"What the hell did I do to deserve you?" He whispers in my ear, and that was the last thing I remember.