From the Beginning_A Prescott Family Story Page 5

  He simply shrugged one of his shoulders, as if he were dismissing it. “It’s not that big a deal.”

  And then it happened.

  And it shocked the hell out of me.

  Noah Prescott bent to kiss me.

  My lips were soft against his, but he ended it before it could go any further than an innocent, goodbye kiss.

  He took a step back and shoved his fingers into his pant pockets. “It was nice to actually meet you, Ryleigh.”

  He was back to his truck before I was able to form the words. I spoke them anyway, silently. “You too, Noah.”

  Chapter Nine

  Chicken sizzling in a pan on the stove, I nearly missed the beep signaling I had a text message. One more quick flip of the chicken and it would be done; the text could wait until then.

  Once satisfied, I transferred the meat to a plate, grabbed a knife and fork, and walked to the bar-top counter, where my phone sat, to eat.

  More interested in my dinner at the moment, I cut the chicken into relatively large pieces.

  I thought back to the other day when I’d dropped Ryleigh off. To when I gave in and pressed my lips to hers. It was the gentlest of kisses, but it hit me hard in the chest. I had kissed her on a whim; I wasn’t going to. I’d been talking myself out of it, as a matter of fact, when suddenly I found my lips on hers.

  I don’t think she realized it, but she had smiled softly just before I’d pulled away.

  It was that innocent smile, that unassuming, simple smile, that had me wanting to go back for seconds.

  Instead, I had left with a goodbye.

  Stabbing a piece of chicken, I finally took a look at the text. Seeing it was from Jason, I figured it could probably wait even longer, but instead, I decided I’d check it. Chewing on my chicken, I pulled it open.

  she likes u

  Well no shit, Sherlock.

  It didn’t take a genius to know who he was referring to. One handed, the other stabbing a piece of chicken and bringing it to my mouth, I typed out, so?

  I flipped my phone over so the screen wouldn’t distract me, and slid it down the counter. No sooner than taking another bite, though, it beeped again. Dammit.

  I reached down the counter and pulled the phone back toward me.

  ive got her number want it?

  I frowned, first at Jason saying he had her number, but then while contemplating if I wanted it.

  Sure I did. But I could get it without his help.

  That’s not what I text him, though, and within moments I had it.

  I was eternally grateful for no run-ins with Noah the following week. Now, as Savannah and I sat at the arena waiting for pre-game warm-up, I could only hope he wouldn’t look in my direction

  Hey, I wasn’t going to stop going to the games because I made a fool of myself not once, but probably a handful of times, only for him to kiss my lips.

  It was a peck really.

  Meant nothing, I’m sure.

  A week without those gorgeous eyes was good for me. If he continued to ignore me today, I would be thankful that everything returned back to normal. He, a big up and coming hockey star; me, simply a fan.

  Everything appeared normal through the game. I can’t say that I wasn’t slightly disappointed that he didn’t look in my direction, but I was happy for things to be normal. However, that feeling didn’t last long.

  Thirty minutes after leaving the game, after another win I might add, I received a text from an unknown number.

  It’s Noah

  That’s all.

  Did I reply? If I did… then how?

  I chose to ignore it.

  After Savannah dropped my off, though, my phone alerted me again.

  whats your preference?

  Huh?

  Not able to let this one go, I text him back.

  Excuse me?

  As I pulled into my spot in the garage, I was alerted that Ryleigh replied. With a chuckle, I put the truck in park and cut the ignition. I grabbed my hockey bag from the back before grabbing my phone.

  Was it a dick move to start with sexual references? Yep, probably. But there was something about the woman’s blush that got to me. As I exited the truck, locking the doors, I thought back to the heat and anger Ryleigh managed to throw off all while blushing in embarrassment. I found it, and her, sexy as hell.

  I read her message as I made my way up the stairs, wondering if I should put an end to this thing I barely just started.

  Nah. There was something satisfying about riling her up.

  Did I think that the next time I saw her, we should jump in bed and get it on?

  Well, no. A, as much as I said differently, I really didn’t see Ryleigh being that way. And B, I found myself wanting to do this thing right with her.

  Well, mostly right.

  Replying with a simple ‘Sex’, I really wished I could see her face when she read it. I was ninety percent, hell, make it ninety-nine point nine percent, sure she would blush. And maybe kick me in the balls.

  But damn, the thought of her blushing made me want to see where this would go.

  Sex?

  He wanted to know about sexual preferences? What did that even mean? And who the hell asked that in a text message?

  I was straight as they came, so I was pretty sure that’s not what he was referring to, but honestly? The most I knew about positions were what Cosmo swore were the tickets to heaven. Not that I would admit to that.

  Wait, back up. That quickly, I went on defense mode.

  Did I not tell him I wasn’t into sleeping with the team? Did he honestly think I was out to… to… bed him?! Good god, how could I have been more wrong?

  Not once, but twice. The morning after the party and now this.

  My face burned and my temples itched. This was a catch-22 I was sure. If I replied, he’d think I was lying and really only out to sleep with him. But if I didn’t reply…

  I took a deep breath and remembered the soft kiss earlier in the week.

  But what if he really was interested in me?

  Damn, damn, double damn.

  I chewed on my thumbnail, contemplating. With a deep sigh, I quickly typed out, ‘you can let me know’.

  It was a trick answer. I knew that I would be the only one who knew the meaning to that statement.

  I hit send before I could erase it, semi-wishing it to come back undeliverable. When the ‘delivering’ icon turned to ‘sent’, I sat back against the couch and closed my eyes.

  Oy.

  Vey.

  You can let me know?

  What was that supposed to mean?

  I closed out of my phone and contemplated as I pulled clothes from my duffle, adding them to my growing laundry pile. Nothing better to do, I started a load, my head still working around Ryleigh’s answer.

  I had asked where and how she liked it, more or less.

  She replied, you can let me know.

  I could let her know.

  I could let her know, what? If she liked it in the bed, against the wall?

  She…

  She didn’t know?

  Could that be it? What kind of guys had she been with that she didn’t know? Or maybe…

  I closed the top of the washer.

  That would explain the blushing and uncomfortable shifting she tended to do when I looked in her direction.

  Well, damn.

  I started the wash, smiling to myself. I could definitely imaging having fun helping her figure out what she liked bed.

  Definitely.

  With one last quick text, I headed to the shower.

  Virgin?

  My face had been in a constant state of red since this message started.

  I wasn’t quite a virgin, but I really might as well be.

  I puffed out my cheeks and squeezed my eyes shut. I stood from the couch and headed to my bedroom.

  No, I hadn’t started this ridiculous conversation, but I had partaken in it so I damn well could answer him.

&nb
sp; A simple ‘mmhm’ would have to suffice, though, as I text him the simple non-phrase, right before turning my phone off for the evening.

  That was all I could handle tonight.

  Chapter Ten

  It had been a good night.

  I got in all of my checks, assisted in a goal, and my plus-minus for the game was plus-three, meaning I was on ice when we scored three different times.

  It had actually been four, but my line was also out when Rockford scored, taking down that plus-four rating.

  Since the previous weekend, I’d still texted with Ryleigh but the conversations had been much more PG. The past two days, though, had been relatively silent on the Ryleigh front. That being said, I was a man with no expectations tonight. The team had been on a quick away-weekend trip and my first stop tonight was going to be Ryleigh’s. After a good weekend on the ice, I could only think of one thing that would take the icing.

  I would take what I could get though. I was ready for whatever this was to move on from the easy texts about what she did that day and how I played another day.

  Had I been shocked by Ryleigh’s semi-admission last weekend? Sure. She was twenty-three, after all. When I’d been twenty-three, I probably slept with ten people that year alone. My partner selection in the last five years, though, had become a bit more… picky, for the lack of a better word.

  With Ryleigh I should have seen it coming, with her quiet and shy ways. On the bright side, I knew going into it that she was inexperienced, rather than finding out in the middle of the good times.

  And good times they would be.

  And if for some reason it wasn’t? Hell, my apartment was only a building down.

  I really wanted tonight to go one way, though. My hand was getting old.

  Absentmindedly, I hit the lock on my truck as I headed for her door.

  I was going for broke tonight.

  I heard his truck before I heard the single, then double, knock on the door.

  So this was it.

  I had a feeling tonight would be the night. After a week of easy, if not mundane, texting, I just had a feeling things would change. I quickly glanced at the clock and figured he must have just come back into town. Knowing I was likely his first stop made me both happy and nervous.

  I took the stairs down slowly and pulled the door open. My grin was definitely on the nervous side.

  Noah’s though, was playful. “Hey, Ryles.”

  It was a shortening I had never heard for my name, so it took a moment to process. The smile on my face this time was definitely filled with joy, I’m sure. It was a moment before I realized I had him standing outside my door awkwardly, so I asked if he wanted to come in.

  I didn’t move, though, when he nodded his head yes.

  “Ryleigh?”

  Oh my gosh, I’m screwing this up. “Oh, sorry.” This time I moved out of the way and allowed him in. Noah took the stairs as I closed the door. When I turned, he was already near the landing.

  “Noah?” Everything was suddenly starting to feel rushed. Well, more rushed. And it was making me nervous.

  More nervous.

  You know what I mean.

  “I think this is going too fast. We just met and…” Everything was starting to be scrambled in my mind.

  “Just thought we could talk. About the games or something,” he said from the top. He was slow to move when I reached the landing, too, and I had to stop myself from putting my hands on his stomach to move him out of the way.

  “Did you follow any of the games?” he asked. He took my hand and pulled me to the couch, sitting to my left. When I tried to scoot away, just a little, he snaked his arm to rest on the back of the couch, his fingertips running over my shoulder.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Did you see—“

  “I listened,” I said, cutting him off. The nerves coursing through my body weren’t a pretty thing.

  I took a few more deep breaths.

  “Did you hear about—“

  “I listened to the entire game. Both of them.”

  Rather than seem to get annoyed with me, he just grinned. “Nervous?”

  “About the game?”

  “Ryleigh.”

  “Huh?” I looked up at him. Just the sound of my name from his mouth grounded me.

  He tugged on my loose ponytail ever so lightly. “You expecting something tonight?”

  I was starting to feel foolish. “Aren’t you?”

  With his head shaking back and forth, he quietly said, “We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. I want to get to know you, Ryles.” He grinned a bit cockily at me, a dimple flashing in his right cheek. “Personally and intimately, but we can do this on your timing.” The slight deflate of his grin actually eased my nerves a little. He sounded genuine when he said it was up to me.

  “I just don’t think you have a very good impression of me, not a true impression of me, and I’m afraid this will just make it worse,” I admitted softly. “If I sleep with you, it’s only adding to the impression that I’m just another girl out to sleep with a hockey player. And honestly, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I don’t date. Ever. I think my last date was in college. High school may be more accurate, even. But I swear, I don’t see you as a hockey player. You’re just another guy to me.”

  “I am just another guy. And I’m here because I want to be. I noticed you before the note, Ryles. I wasn’t sure what to do about it, didn’t figure I would do anything about it, and then the note just left me confused, if we’re being honest. You’re not my normal type of girl—“

  “Oh I know.”

  “I wasn’t finished,” he said with a small smile. “Your note, as unconventional as you say it was, was a starting point. I’m not a saint, but I try hard to not sleep around with random hook-ups. I wouldn’t have pursued you.” He held up his hands, the one over my shoulder brushing my ear as he did. “Not because I don’t think you’re pretty, because you’re gorgeous, Ryleigh. But because you and I stood on different sides of the ‘glas.” His hand rested back on my shoulder. “But you gave the go-ahead. And I was just trying to find the right way to go about it. I want to get to know you, Ryleigh.” Just like that, my nerves evaporated. “So tell me. What is it you love? What makes you Ryleigh?”

  “Well,” I said before pausing. I wasn’t really sure where to go with everything he’d told me; I just knew it surprisingly helped. “Um, well my degree is in elementary education. That’s what brought me to Beloit—a permanent sub job. But my passion is photography.” Talking about photography always made me happy. “I love all sorts of photography. Animals in the wild would be awesome, but I’m too afraid I’d get mauled. No zoom lens is big enough for that. I stick with people and sports. You know, normal stuff.”

  “Do you have any of your work around?”

  “Actually…” I leaned forward and away from his arm so I could point to the large canvas behind the couch. It was a black and white photograph of a trail disappearing between trees. It was slightly overexposed, complimented with rich, bold grays and blacks. It was one of my favorite scenic photos. “That’s mine.”

  “That’s really nice,” he said while looking back over his shoulder. His face showed he was again being genuine. I was starting to get the feeling that he was truly an honest, good guy.

  “I would love above all else to own this plot of land. Imaginary, mind you, but surely I could find something like it somewhere.” I was starting to get excited in my speech, and it showed in the fact that I used my hands while talking. I leaned back into the arm of the couch, pulling my leg up between us while I faced him. “I don’t know where it’s at, the true location doesn’t really matter, but it has to be big enough so I can do outdoor shoots and it has to have a house or something on it so I can live close to my job. It has to have trees and a pond, a split-rail fence.” I grinned wide. “But there’s this place that I’ve driven past a few times around here. I don’t think it’s ever going to
go up for sale, though, not that I could afford it right now. It’s this huge house just on the north end of the city. It’s not so big that it screams ‘money.’ I couldn’t live with that. I just want a place to call home, that’s comfortable. This house screams ‘family.’ Someday I want kids and this house would be perfect for that. How could I say it to make you see...? Maybe I’ll drive past it and take a picture for you.”

  “Why don’t you just make that your dream house then, rather than just the land?” he questioned, interested.

  “I’m not sure that it’s something I could ever afford.”

  Noah just shrugged. “You can dream.”

  “Oh, I can, and I do,” I said around a big, if slightly crooked, grin. My eyes searched his and after a moment, I bit down on my lip. Storytime over, I turned back around on the couch, my back near his arm, my side to his side once again.

  I wasn’t usually so talkative about myself. I should probably stop before it got any more out of hand.

  As the minutes lapsed by in silence though, my mind was doing the racing instead. Finally, I blurted, “You see, I can be a confident person. But not when I’m around attractive people. Or, more lately…. You.”

  I knew she’d thought I was attractive, but hearing it did something to me. I wasn’t a guy who got a big head with fawning ladies, but I won’t lie and say it wasn’t nice to hear, especially coming from someone you were attracted to as well.

  Like I told Ryleigh, she wasn’t my normal type. The girls I usually spent time with were usually thin and blonde. Yeah, yeah, that makes me an ass, I’m sure. Ryleigh wasn’t big, but she wasn’t tiny either. She had hips and an ass and a soft face.

  And I enjoyed looking at her. Whether she was in jeans and a baggy hoodie, or a sexy black dress, or her current attire of a comfy and soft looking tunic tee and yoga pants, I liked looking at her.

  I really was digging the yoga pants.

  She turned toward me again, this time the movement causing her shirt to slide off and expose a shoulder. My eyes traced the curve of her neck before looking back into her eyes. I turned toward her this time, wanting to look directly at her.