Love Rivalry (A Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Fanfiction)

Chapter 15 - Just Us

Ashley's POV

Since Ryan had the day off, we opted to sleep in. Considering that we lost a lot of sleep from the flights, I would say that we caught up on rest. I woke up at around 10:00, and woke Ryan about 5 minutes later. 

"Babe, wake up." I said softly. He turned over and slowly opened his eyes, showing off his beautiful brown eyes. He slowly sat up and I rested up against him, wrapping my arms around his neck. 

"Morning." He said with a yawn. 

"Good morning." 

"So it's the first real day of vacation. What do you want to do?" He asked, getting out of bed. 

"It's up to you, I figured you wanted to get together with the boys, so I was gonna leave it up to you." 

"Well, we could go down to the beach with the guys, or you and I could drive down to Miami and spend the day there." He suggested. 

"The beach sounds fun. We could do Miami tomorrow, if your still up for it." 

"Alright, I'll see who can go and we'll head out in a little bit. Is an hour enough?"

"That should be plenty of time. I'm gonna go get changed." I told him, heading into the bathroom. The beach had its pros and cons. I would be able to finally tan after spending the last 2 months in freezing Edmonton. I'd also get to see Ryan shirtless, which was enough motivation for me to go. It's odd that I haven't seen him shirtless yet, considering we've been together for a couple months now. But the one thing I hated about going to the beach, was the ocean. I hated it with a burning passion. I was terrified of it. I just feel out of my element in the water, and you never know what could happen. I think today I'll just hang out by my towel and try to get a nice tan and stay as far away from the water as possible. 

Ryan recruited Taylor, who brought Natalie, Jordan, Justin, Sam, and David and we all hopped in a van that was rented and we headed down to the beach. We found a spot equidistant from the water and the boardwalk and set up our things there. The weather was beautiful, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the water was so clear, you could see through it for miles. The sun beat down on the beach in the early hours of December 2nd, and who would have thought I would be in Florida enjoy 90 degree weather during this time of year. And being with Ryan made everything absolutely perfect. Ryan took his time getting ready to head in the water, as the rest of the guys ended up going in almost immediately. 

"Can you put sunscreen on my back?" Ryan asked me before going to join the guys. 

"Of course." He took off his shirt and holy six pack. I knew Ryan was pretty thin for being 6'1, but he was absolutely gorgeous. His torso was sculpted to perfection, from his pecs to his abs. 

"Ash?" His voice killed my daydream, but he was still smiling. I don't think he noticed me gawk at his amazing figure. 

"Sorry, I kind of zoned out." I admitted, blushing. He turned around and I lathered his back. 

"Are you coming?" He asked. 

"N-no, I'm gonna stay here and tan, maybe later." I said way too quickly. He knew something was wrong.

"Are you scared of the ocean?" He asked.

"No." I said, even quicker, and louder. 

"You are!"

"I am not..." 

"Ash, I know when you're lying to me." He mentally pinned me in a corner. 

"Ok, fine, I am. I'm truly terrified. Now go have fun. I'll be here if you need me." I gave in, laying on my stomach. I didn't want to discuss it with him.