Thirty Reasons Not to Date a Player

27. You'll Have to Lie for Him

I've been waiting outside Rachel's house for less than three minutes when I hear a voice call from behind me.

"AJ, wait," Ryder pleads, as he jogs over to me. "I'm sorry about what happened back there."

I can't say I'm surprised to see him. "Did you talk things out?"

"Not exactly," he admits, "but I'm more concerned about what you're feeling than what anyone else thinks."

"Rachel is my friend," I say, "and she's your sister. You should make an effort to understand her side of it."

"Her side of what? I thought this was between us."

"It is," I mutter, my breath fogging up the cold air. "But Rachel is just one person and if everyone is going to react like that, I'm not sure I can handle it."

Ryder steps a few inches closer to me and places his hand on my arm. He hasn't bothered to put on gloves and his long, pale fingers contrast sharply with the black of my coat. "We can handle it together," he promises.

I look up into his eyes and try to believe him, but my doubt is overwhelming. "But I don't think--"

"Stop making excuses!" he exclaims suddenly, as though he's lost all his patience with me. "Stop making excuses...and just be with me."

I stare up at him, my mouth handing slightly ajar. I don't blame him for being frustrated but I don't know what to do. If I agree to be with Ryder, I risk losing my friends. But are friends that aren't supportive of my decisions really friends worth having?

"I...I want to," I say finally. Because I'd be lying if I said I didn't. And I can't find it in me to lie to him anymore.

"Then what's stopping you?"

I open my mouth to answer him, but when no words come out, Ryder's lips collide with mine. I'm nearly knocked off my feet by his passion, but he wraps his arms around the small of my back to keep me from falling. I am beginning to grow accustomed to the sensation—the feel of being so close to him, despite everything keeping us apart.

Like the flick of a light switch, adrenaline begins to course through my veins and my heart rate picks up for the second time tonight. My mind goes blank and I'm so absorbed in the embrace that there's not a doubt in my mind that this is what I want. Ryder is what I want.

Just as our kiss begins to deepen, the loud honk of a car horn snaps me and Ryder back into reality. We break apart from each other and stare, in alarm, at the Honda that has just pulled up near the curb.

"Amara Jane Harrison," my mother calls in a stern voice, "get in the car this instant!"

I give Ryder a pained look. "That's my ride," I tell him, "I better go."

He smirks at me, leaning down to plant one last kiss on my lips. "I'll call you."

After saying our final goodbyes, I shamelessly slide into the passengers seat, deciding that even if I'm grounded until I'm forty, that was worth it.

"I certainly don't approve of you making out with some boy on a street corner at this hour of the night," my mom begins. "But he better not be some other girl's boyfriend."

*

"So you're grounded?" April asks me, once I've recounted the story of what went down over the weekend. Well, part of it, at least. She knows it was a birthday party, and that there was alcohol involved, but when it comes to what went down with Ryder, some things are better left unsaid. 

"Yeah," I deadpan, "they made me quit my job at the ice cream place, too." 

When my mom found me tipsy on a street corner Saturday night, all hell broke loose. I should've known better than to call her, but I didn't really have much of an alternative.