What's it like?

3. Regina, Saskatchewan

"Babe, let's go to that diner we went to for Tina's sister's birthday. It's only a few blocks away and the hunger pangs are killing me." We had been sitting in the car for an hour now.I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and it was almost 4 p.m. Ryan said that he was taking me to Regina, to see and 'rejoice the glory' of his old home.

"Okay, whatever. I'm starting to feel hungry myself now. We'll stop at that diner. But, I need something to keep me from dozing off." With that sentence finished, he pulled over and looked down to my glossed lips, practically begging me with his eyes to kiss me. That look he gave me was my one and only weakness, or so I hoped. The look on his face always made me do whatever he wanted, as long as he was looking in my eyes with the same amount of longing in his azure eyes.

As expected, I kissed him back, my hands on his shoulders and my thighs merely touching his own while our lips were pressed together. However, there just had to be one thing that would act as a hurdle. In this case, hunger pangs. They seemed to echo, the hunger pangs, that is.  After all, both of us were hungry. We let go of each other. I removed my hands from his shoulders and he removed his from my hair.

"That woke me up pretty quick. Just keep doing it periodically though, just in case." Wink. There was always a wink and this time, there was nobody with us. Still, there had to be a wink.

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"OMG. You guys look totally cute together.", An unfamiliar girly voice spoke from the table behind our own at Ramoné diner. " Yeah. The guy's hot and the chick's pretty too.", A deep whisper was heard along with the previous voice, along with muffled sounds and more hushed talks continued to arise from that table in particular. "Uh, thanks",I couldn't help but say, after all the glares we've been receiving ever since we stepped foot into the diner.

We had only been to this diner once before. That was for Tina's younger sister Naina's birthday two years ago. We weren't together back then but weirdly, everyone around us believed that we would be together. It took some time for the both of us to really figure out our feelings for each other but the result didn't seem to faze us at all. Better late than never, huh?

Weeks, approximately half a month after we started hanging out and being really good friends in 10th grade, Ryan told me that he liked me. At that time, I couldn't deny such a charming face but then again, I couldn't risk our friendship. I was confused, but I told him the truth and he was actually really supportive of it. By the end of that month, however, I could observe myself getting attracted to him. I  had grown attached to him by then. I just couldn't let him go. So I confessed. A week after my confession , we went on our first date, followed by numerous other dates. We became more than friends and decided to enter a relationship.

"Stef, you okay? You were daydreaming."
"No, I wasn't. I was thinking about how we got together two years ago."
"Wait. Quick question. How hot did you think I was when you saw me for the first time at school and I was the new kid from Regina?", Oh god, that cocky smirk. I didn't want to boost his ego but I was in an extremely good mood so I decided to do it anyway.  "You were the hot guy and you even made it to Tina's list of 'hot dawgs'. To be completely honest, your face was heaven and those perfectly pink lips, I wanted to kiss them forever." Wait for it......
"Really?", the sudden glint in his eyes spoke volumes.
"No." Yeah. That's what he got for being cocky.
But honestly, all I had said was true. Every girl in the school knew it was true. It had to be. His face was, is, damn handsome.

"Come on. I know that's not the truth.Everyone does. I mean, just look at this thing." Sure. He had to point out his face. Pfft. Who am I kidding? He's more conceited than I am. Me being the one who spends an hour,daily, in front of the vanity mirror in my room.

But his face, his voice, his body, everything literally drew him towards me everyday. His voice, a deep and gravelly tone mixed with subtle sensuous hints made him more attractive. Not that he won't be attractive like that, with the toned abdomen, wide shoulders, tight abs and strong muscles he had. They seemed to make him intimidating, his azure eyes. He was taller than me, a six-feet-three, to be accurate. I was about 5.5 feet and my head was almost at the same level as his shoulders. But his appearance wasn't the reason I fell for him.

It was the differences and the similarities we both shared, but mainly the differences. There was always something to talk about when I was with him, whether alone or otherwise. It was the heated arguments over the silliest of things, the banter and the craziness which meant a lot to the both of us. We spent more time together and gradually,we had discovered our liking for each other.

Our fish 'n chips had arrived and the waiter served us our beverages as well. It wasn't our usual order. This time Ryan ordered a Virgin Mojito and I ordered one for me too, instead of the usual Dalgona coffee for me and an Expresso for Ryan. We loved our coffee. In fact, for us, breakfast was deemed worthless without a good cup of strong coffee.

"This is, um, decent, but honestly, I don't get the difference between a lemonade and a Virgin Mojito." I was kind of expecting an answer from Ryan but he just shrugged. My eyes followed Ryan's line of vision, only to see people all around look at us and whisper something to each other. Ryan shot me an anxious glare and I understood that this setting was making him uneasy.

It is funny though. All the times we had spoken about his old house, he never mentioned the reason why he left it in the first place. I didn't want to pester himself with questions, therefore I had stayed quiet over the past two years. But I wasn't going to stay hushed now. I wanted to figure out why he felt uneasy in the diner. Why he brought me here, to his old city. After all, I only wanted him to be happy. Was the reason he left this big city,too much to ask?

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Author's Note:
Hey fellow readers,
Hope you're enjoying the story so far. Let me know in the comments. As for the new cover, I love it!!! Thanks to my best friend Hridhika, I got such a great cover for my story. She has been really supportive over the past two years. She was the editor of the first story I had ever tried to write. In fact, that story became the draft for this one. She has really great instincts and you gotta love her insights.Follow her -MsSimp08 . Keep reading. Vote, comment and share.
Yours sincerely,
JJ