Ryleigh
On that next Saturday, Keenan started the truck and Ryleigh waved out of her open window at Tommy. “Have fun, sweetheart. See you tomorrow!”
“Don’t come too early to pick me up, okay?”
She smiled and said, “Nah. Your dad and I will come in the afternoon, okay?”
“Yes!” Tommy ran to Liv in the doorway of Ryleigh’s parents’ house.
“I’m so happy he found a new friend in Liv.” Keenan picked up their entwined hands and kissed the back of her hand before he let go to steer them out of the driveway.
“I know. Liv is flourishing before our eyes. I think they both hadn’t had it easy and find camaraderie in that.”
She changed the channel in the truck and hummed along with a pop song. Keenan stopped the truck in front of a red light and said, “I have a surprise for you.”
“You do? Aren’t we picking up some Chinese dinner, so you’re off the hook from cooking once?” She fake fluttered her eyelashes, and he laughed at her silliness.
“While you were out jogging this morning, I arranged something for us.”
She looked down at her flip-flops; her flared yellow sundress and wondered if she was properly dressed for whatever surprise he had in mind.
“Don’t worry, Ry. I know you don’t like to be underdressed, but you’re not. You blow my mind with this sexy dress.”
“It’s just a sundress.”
She tried to play it cool, but she may have worn this dress because of the tight fitted bodice, which encased her breasts and made them even perkier.
“I can’t take my eyes of you, Ry. I’m almost at the point where I’ll have to ask you to take over the wheel from me.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes at him. Another pop song started on the radio and she bellowed along, not caring in the least that Keenan made funny faces at her singing performance.
The past month had gone by in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t believe she was actually in a relationship now with a man who has a six-year-old child. And that she would start a new career as a self-defense teacher at Duncan’s Dojo.
So many changes in so little time, it would spin anyone’s head.
When the news started on the radio, the broadcaster announced the time, letting Ryleigh know it was four pm. “Are we going out for dinner or just drinks?”
“I’m not telling you anything, Ry. You’re mighty impatient, aren't you?”
“Oh, am I riling you up again?” She slid her hand on his thigh and let it rest on the inside, connecting the back of her hand against his rapidly growing crotch.
“Fuck. I can’t do this, Ry. Safety first.”
Hmm. She retreated her hand and tapped her index finger against her chin. “Are we going to the arcade?”
He guffawed and said, “No.”
“Are we going to a restaurant?”
She watched him shake his head. “Nope.”
What could he have planned for them? “Did you bring me another pair of shoes? I can’t do anything on my flip-flops.”
He didn’t fall for her trap and said, “Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t.”
With her bottom lip sticking out, she looked over at him. He plucked at her lip with his thumb, letting it plop back up.
“Okay, I’ll give you a hint….”