by K E Osborn
Opening my eyes a little wider, I read the message four times to make sure I’ve read it right. Typing back with shaky fingers, I smile slightly.
Me: Okay, what do you have in mind?
His reply comes in quickly.
Ryan: Nothing fancy, you, me, on the rooftop for an early breakfast at the office?
Smiling, I wipe a tear from my cheek and sniff.
Me: Sounds great. What time?
Ryan: Before sunrise, I wanna watch the dawn of a new day with you.
My eyes shoot open at this sudden romantic side of Ryan that he’s showing me. I’m not sure where it’s coming from, but I like it.
Me: That would be lovely. See you in the morning.
Ryan: Sleep well.
Taking in a deep breath, I roll over as Piper stands up and walks up the bed to me. She nuzzles into me, her chocolate fur tickling my arm and I cuddle into her.
This is a turnaround, let’s just hope he doesn’t freak out again.
Chapter Nine
A shrill piercing dinging echoes through the room waking me up from a peaceful sleep. My heart races as I sit bolt upright in my dark room while trying to gather my bearings as to what’s happening. After a moment of looking around the darkened room, I remember I’m meeting Ryan before dawn for a sunrise breakfast.
I turn to my bedside table to see my cell vibrating and flashing brightly with the alarm sounding. Moving over, I turn it off and push back the covers throwing my legs over the edge. Flicking on the side light, I hurry about getting dressed for the day, not only to impress Ryan but also for a day of work. I say my goodbyes to Piper and Hunter, and then head out the door with an empty stomach and decaffeinated for the morning. It’s hard to keep functioning without my morning cup of Joe, but I manage to make it all the way to the office without running a red light or staying stationary at a green and being honked at.
I can’t help but wonder what I’m going to find when I step out of my car and head for the office block. My stomach is flipping on itself, and I honestly haven’t felt this nervous about anything in years. I unlock the main door and head inside, making my way straight toward the fire escape where Ryan told me to meet him. The lights are mostly out, so it’s quite dark everywhere I go. It gives quite an eerie sense to the building I know so well making me even more nervous.
Reaching the door, I head up the steps and onto the roof. My smile doesn’t escape me when I see little lanterns lighting a path to the edge of the roof where blankets are set out. Little pots of various blooming flowers are sporadically placed making it look even more like a rooftop garden.
My grin is wide as I walk the path to the edge to see a banquet of pastries, fruit, and juice sitting there waiting to be devoured. The whole vibe is chic picnic and very romantic. Biting down on my bottom lip, I look around to see if Ryan is here but I can’t see him anywhere. So I sit down on the blanket looking out into the darkness of the crisp morning, lit only by the dull hue of the lanterns.
The fire escape door opens and the strumming of a guitar makes me turn to see Ryan walking toward me. A smile pulls on my lips as he plays. He really is so gifted on that thing. Then he opens his mouth and his deep tenor fills the air.
“The day you came into my life,
I knew it would never be the same,
It turned upside down,
But I’m so glad you came.”
“I never thought this could work,
And I still don’t know,
But I guess we could try,
And give this a go.”
“I’ve been a fool for so long, but I need you to know,
I’m not that fool anymore,
I’m just a fool for you,
I’m just a fool for you.”
“My life is a mess, a world of chaos and music,
But if there’s one thing I know,
is that one person can fix it.”
“I think you might be that girl,
And I swear that it’s true,
The only woman I can think of right now,
is you.”
“I’ve been a fool for so long, but I need you to know,
I’m not that fool anymore,
I’m just a fool for you,
I’m just a fool for you.”
He continues with one more verse, and as I listen to the words I know he’s singing it for me, and I now know why he does backup vocals because he’s a really good singer too. Ryan is super talented and as he serenades me with these amazing lyrics, my thighs clinch together dulling the throbbing as he saunters toward me. My chest rises and falls quickly completely entranced in his song. He’s singing so beautifully and to make it even more wonderful he’s singing just for me and that makes me smile a smile so wide I must look like a fool.
He stands next to me and finishes the song, then places his guitar on the step. I clap as he kneels down next to me. Pushing forward, I thrust my arms around his neck and hug him so fiercely, he falls backward onto the blanket, forcing me to drop on top of him. He lands with an ‘oomph’ as we both chuckle, while my body presses on top of his entirely.
His hand rises up and moves a small strand of my hair behind my ear, and I look down into his eyes which sends a tingle straight down my spine. Our breathing becomes ragged as we continue to stare at each other. I inadvertently lick my lips as his hand moves from my cheek to the back of my hair.
Unexpectedly, he grasps my head forcing me forward, surprising me as our lips crash together. My eyes open wide as all air is pulled from my lungs. A current so powerful filters through me, sparking all of my molecules to life. Ryan’s tongue slips into my mouth, and I moan as my eyes close, finally surrendering to the kiss I was not expecting. His fingers dash through my hair as mine hold me up either side of his head. His other hand runs down my back to the top of my ass, and he pushes his crotch into my pussy showing me his painfully obvious erection.
We both groan into each other’s mouths as I grind against his cock needing to ease the pressure. Abruptly, he spins us and I’m on my back, with him on top of me. My legs wrap around his waist as he grinds into me. Gasping with delight, his tongue dances with mine while he rubs against me slowly.
This is rapidly becoming hot and serious as my hands run up into his hair holding his head to mine while kissing him feverishly. It’s intense, the chemistry is incredible and undeniable. Every part of me feels alive as he crushes into me again. The ache in my throbbing clit is almost unbearable as he pushes again, and I swear if he keeps doing that I might come just from the intense pressure of his hard cock. The kiss deepens, and I moan. But suddenly he pulls back breaking the kiss and halting his movements as he looks deep into my eyes, his are completely hooded and full of lust.
He pants hard as we both fight for breath and he smirks shaking his head. “Fuck! Sorry! I have to stop… or I won’t be able to.”
I nip my bottom lip and grin in understanding. We were getting hot and heavy, and it’s only our first kiss.
We need to slow down.
“Some first kiss, though,” he says.
“Yeah… some first kiss.” I giggle in agreement.
He leans in slowly pressing his lips to mine again briefly, then pulls back and slides his body off mine sitting back on his heels. “I’ve been waiting to do that since I first saw you.” He smiles and looks past me to where the sun is starting to rise. He moves in behind me as I sit up, wrapping his legs either side of me and slides his arms around my waist as his head nuzzles on my shoulder.
“This is nice,” he says.
“It really is. It’s nice to not have you pranking me. Wait… is this a prank?” I ask turning my head to look at him.
He chuckles. “No, this is real, now watch the sun rise.” Ryan leans in and kisses my cheek.
“Yes, sir.”
The sun rises over the hills in endless vibrant hues. It’s a magnificent sight as the sky is filled with a powerful glow as it splashes the clouds with its endless rays of beautiful s
un-drenched color. My stomach is a swarm of giddy butterflies as Ryan holds me tightly in his embrace while I’m mesmerized by Mother Nature.
It’s so nice to finally be on the same page. I just wonder what all this means for us now. Where do we stand? Are we a couple? Do we tell people that we are a couple? I have so many questions but I don’t want to spoil the mood of the moment. Ryan kisses under my ear making me smile as I gnaw endlessly on my bottom lip. I like this side of him and I could get very used to it. He exhales as the sun finally rises and the orange fades into yellows and the yellow fades finally to blue. The day has dawned and the sunrise is officially over.
“That was beautiful,” I say.
He nods against my shoulder. “Yeah, it sure was. All the better with you being here. It’s so lonely when I do it on my own.”
I turn to face him. “You come up here on your own?”
He nods. “Sometimes. Not often. I think I’ve seen the sunrise up here twice… three times now.”
I smile and tilt my head. “Well, thank you for inviting me.”
“My pleasure. Right, shall we eat?”
I look down at the food on the platters and nod in delight as my stomach growls inadvertently.
He chuckles and hands me a croissant.
“Thank you.” I take a bite and look down at the blanket wondering if we’re going to talk about us at all.
Ryan exhales and takes a sip of some juice and crosses his legs sitting up taller. “So, I guess we have to talk about where we go from here?”
Glancing back up, I swallow my mouthful and half-smile, not sure if I’m excited or terrified by the prospect of the conversation that’s about to take place. So I simply nod.
“Tillie, I want to be honest with you.”
Oh God!
“I like you and it scares me, but I’ve finally admitted that I do actually like you.” I smile, but let him keep talking. “The thing is, I’m not sure I’m ready to go public with anything massive just yet. I want to see where this can go. So, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to keep it just between us for now while we figure out what we are. I don’t want to rush anything.”
Swallowing hard, I take a second to process. He wants to be with me, just not publicly. I take a deep breath. From a publicist angle I see where he’s coming from, I would probably say the same thing, but not telling the band and our families, well, that’s a little different. It makes me feel a little like he might be ashamed of me, but I’m not sure if that’s the case or if he doesn’t want the other members of the band to get angry at him. After all I do work for them, and if things go south then it could be bad and they would be pissed. So I can see why he wouldn’t want them to know.
“I’m fine going slowly. I just want to get to know you, the real you.”
He smiles wide taking my hands in his. “I can deal with that.”
“Just so I’m clear, we’re going to try this… you and me… but no one knows?”
He winces slightly. “Yeah, I can’t promise that I won’t be a mess at times and that I won’t stuff up. Because Tillie… I’m a wreck. But I’m hoping you’ll put me back together.”
I’m not sure what’s happened in his life to make him think he’s a mess. Yes, he’s a little left of center and he has some stories that he hasn’t told me, but I’m hoping with time he’ll let me in.
“I’m here for you, and I want to be your rock, a safe place. Because even though you treated me like crap, I like you, too.”
He smiles wide and furrows his brows. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“It’s forgotten. Boys always treat the girl they like a little meanly to start with.”
He laughs, picking up an apple and taking a bite.
Chapter Ten
We ate our breakfast and talked a little more about our relationship, what it meant for us and how it would work. Ryan had some demos to record, and I have media to attend to, so we came back inside at the start of business hours and headed our separate ways. He gave me a long passionate kiss before we parted ways and now I’m in my office looking over this week’s statistics on Recoil’s social media pages.
“Hey-ho,” a chirpy voice echoes through my doorway breaking the intense concentration on my notebook screen. I glance up to see a pink framed head popping in through my doorway with a bright cheery smirk as she stares at me.
I furrow my brows at her strangeness and shake my head. “What?”
She steps into my office and walks up to my desk with a spring in her step. “So… I went up the fire escape and it looks like there was a date or something up there?”
Swallowing hard, I look away from her back to my screen. “Oh, it does?”
“Yeah. Know anything about that?”
“Hmmm… nope.”
“Liar!”
I giggle and shrug gesturing to zip my lips shut. She smiles throwing her hands in the air. “Yes! I knew it.”
“I know nussing,” I say in a terrible German accent.
She laughs and pats my shoulder. “I’m happy for you two. Like so ridiculously happy you don’t even know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, so you’re keeping it quiet. I get it. I won’t say anything. Just know that I think you’ll be good for him.” She squeezes my shoulder and walks out leaving me feeling happy that people are on our side.
Taking a deep breath, I get on with my day. Getting lost in interview schedules and marketing campaigns, I find myself busy for the next few hours. But after lunch I want to take a break from it all and head to the studio to see how things are traveling with the band.
Making my way into the studio the band is in full recording mode. I stand back in the sound room listening as they record a track for a new album. I watch how the band move together, the way they flow and sync so well. I’m loving their new songs, and I sway my hips to the sounds as I watch Ryan with a smile on my face while he plucks at his guitar, singing into the mic occasionally. The song finishes and instinctively Ryan looks up and right at me. He smiles and I do the same.
“Okay guys, feel free to have a quick break. You’ve earned it,” Oliver announces.
Ryan puts down his guitar as Danger takes a giant drink from a water bottle.
“I’m just going to the bathroom,” Ryan calls out quite loud as he glances my way.
He heads for the hall between the studio and the booth, and I exit to meet him in the hall where we’ll have a small window of opportunity to have some private time. As I enter the hall Ryan smiles at me.
“You sounded great,” I chime and he smirks stalking toward me. I take a step back, my body hitting the wall as he steps up against me. He licks his lips, tilting his head and slowly leans in pressing his lips to mine. My body melts into his as my arms wrap up around his neck and I kiss him back passionately, holding him tightly while we kiss feverishly, but slowly. His body presses against mine and I ease into him, we continue kissing getting lost in each other, our tongues dancing together sending out sparks of magnetism. My fingers move up tangling in Ryan’s hair pulling him closer, needing him closer. He grinds into me making me whimper into his mouth when suddenly someone clears their throat.
My stomach flips as Ryan pulls back from me and we both turn to see Nate standing there smirking at us. “So, how long’s this been going on? Was the whole arch enemy thing an act?” he asks.
Ryan tenses and pulls back from me. “It’s new… as in today new. So don’t go around telling everyone.”
Nate raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to do a press release saying you’re off the market now, Ry?” He chuckles.
I watch for Ryan’s reaction as he becomes increasingly more irritated. “There’s nothing to tell right now, Nate. Stop being a child,” I berate and he smirks.
“Wow! Queen bossy pants has spoken. Is she that feisty in the sack too, Ry?”
Ryan clenches his fists and pushes Nate up against the wall, hard. “Shut. Your. Mouth. You tried to get int
o Danger and Lunar’s heads, I won’t let you do it to me.”
“I don’t have to try to get into your head, you’re in your own head enough as it is Ryan. Am I right?”
“You don’t know what you’re on about?”
“Oh no? So it hasn’t crossed your mind that Matilda here works for us and she’s doing an amazing job. What happens when this fling turns to shit? She’ll leave, and we lose the best PR we’ve had ‘cause you had to wet your dick.”
“Jesus Christ,” I murmur as Ryan shifts him higher up the wall.
“Learn to shut your mouth, Nate. We all know you have serious commitment issues. Don’t force your views onto others.” He lets Nate go and his feet hit the floor as he smiles.
“I won’t tell anyone, if… you do something for me, Tillie.” Nate smirks.
“Fuck off, Nate,” Ryan berates.
“It’s just a small thing, it’s for the band really. I think it’s the next step in our evolution.”
“You’re fucked in the head! Since when is blackmail your thing?”
“It’s fine, Ryan. What do you want, Nate?” I ask.
“I want you to get an A-lister actress to star in a music video of ours. It will boost our popularity, don’t you think?”
Raising my eyebrows, my lips turn up and I nod. “Yes. Why didn’t I think of that? If I can get someone to agree… someone big… then that will draw more attraction to you. Nate, you’re a genius!”
He shrugs and nods. “I know.”
“You have a shit way of showing your genius, though, dip shit,” Ryan says, and Nate chuckles.
“I’m not going to tell anyone about you two, I promise. I just really wanna meet a hot A-lister.”
“I would have done it if you had just asked normally, you know?” I tell Nate.
He smiles. “I know…” he raises an eyebrow, “… but this way was much more fun.” He walks off back into the studio and Ryan turns to me.