Familiar

Chapter Three

We finished the meal and stayed for at least another hour, more gossip and useless talk about other people. I didn't understand it, people had their own lives and reasons for doing things, why does it matter who was dating and who wasn't? As everyone else spoke, I gave in and ordered myself a coffee and said 'yes' when they asked if I wanted cream and sugar. I could see Ryan smirk out of the corner of my eye when they brought it, and while I couldn't help the smile that I felt creep up as I poured my sugar in my cup, I ignored him. 

Finally, we left the restaurant. I noticed even as Ryan stood in the group, they seemed to not fully acknowledge him being there, and he hardly ever participated in any of the conversations unless something was specifically directed to him. He stood with power as if he had confidence and wanted other people to know it too. And it bothered me. I was pretty sure the only way to have confidence like that, was to have some kind of conceited outlook. He thought he was better than everyone else, and enjoyed it.

We walked as a group and stood not too far from the entrance. Another thing I would never understand, why do we have to stand outside in the cold just to talk more and finally get around to saying goodbye? It was perfectly warm inside.

"It was nice meeting you, Kara." I looked up at Ryan as he moved closer to me. I nodded.

"You too." I returned and tried to smile politely, stuffing my hands in my pockets and hunching over against the wind. I never liked being cold, and Tanya's leather jacket wasn't helping much against the night air. Ryan was only in a t-shirt and looked comfortable. I wasn't sure if it was for show or not, but he seemed like the type who would pretend that the cold didn't bother him just so he could look cooler.

"Give me your hands," Ryan asked abruptly and turned to me with his hands stretched out.

"What?" I asked, my voice quieter than I meant it to be. There was no way I was giving him my hands.

"Please? Look, my hands are warm and you're obviously freezing. I'm guessing you don't have gloves, and I'm really just trying to be nice here." Reluctantly I removed my hands from my pockets, mostly because I couldn't think IG a way to day no without coming across as rude. I wasn't sure what else I was supposed to do. He took my hands and placed them between his palms. His hands actually felt colder than mine but only for a moment. A rush of heat formed over my hands, and my first reaction was to pull back.

"It's okay." He whispered, meeting my eyes. I glanced at the rest of the group who was too absorbed hovering over someone's phone, looking at some pictures I couldn't make out. The heat had subsided a little, and now was just comfortable warmth, but I felt awkward just standing there with my hands between his. So I thanked him, and gently pulled my hands back, returning them to my pockets. Ryan let my hands go and shrugged innocently.

What was that? I wondered. It was almost as if - I cleared the thought away. There was no way it was possible.

"Ready to go?" Tanya asked finally, obviously eyeing the distance between Ryan and I. We were only facing each other, and I hadn't realized we had pulled away from the main group.

"Yeah," I answered too quickly. Ryan nodded at me and headed off with the other half of the group as they walked off. He lifted a hand in a wave before turning around.

"So?" Tanya asked excitingly, raising her eyebrows in anticipation. "What did you think?"

"Of what?" I asked with fake ignorance as we walked slowly behind Becca and the other guy who I think might be named Andre or Andy or Thatcher.

"Ryan, of course." Tanya rolled her eyes but thankfully kept her voice down so the others couldn't hear. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know. He seems too confident in himself. Arrogant almost." I wasn't lying, that part was true.