So, the whole production crew knew that he was going to be bunking with me? I don’t know if I should feel happy or sad or something else. I just stare at him in shock. This is not what I imagined my last night here would be. I never imagined sharing a room with Ryder.
Though, I have to say, seeing him after eight days, its feels good to see him up close and in the flesh. He is dirty. His hair is a mess, but his eyes, they shine bright against the dirt and grime covering his face. I stand up to go to him, but he holds up a hand.
“Mind if I shower? I need to get clean before you kiss me.” He says.
All I can do is nod. I watch as he goes into the attached bathroom and shuts the door. He is here, in my room, with me. Because Lacey, our assigned production assistant, made it happen.
****
After about half an hour, Ryder comes out with just a towel wrapped around his waist. He looks a little thinner than I remember. His muscles are still noticeable, but smaller, somehow. His hair lays flat against his head, with water dripping down his face. His abs are on perfect display and I can see the delicious V between his hip bones. I feel myself lick my lips and I slowly raise my eyes to his. He is smiling at me. I motion him to come closer and as he walks to me. I watch as he loosens the towel from his waist, and it hits the floor. There between those perfectly sculpted thighs, is his length. Jutting forward as if begging me to say hello.
I slide off the bed and onto my knees. When he stops in front of me, I can’t help but smile up at him. Ryder has his eyes glued to mine, as I open my mouth and take him inside, as far as I can. I gag a few times, but I don’t let that stop me. I work my mouth up and down his length. Squeezing his balls and stroking the part of the shaft that I can’t fit into my mouth. I feel his hand digging into my hair as I work him. Not caring that he is moaning or that his grip, on my hair, keeps getting tighter and tighter. The sting of the pain spurs me on. I keep doing what I am doing, while listening to him moan for me.
The sounds he is making, makes desire pool between my thighs. I can hardly sit still in front of him. My breathing is getting heavier and heavier. My grip on his penis, gets harder and harder, until just when I think he is about to finish in my mouth, he pulls out of my grip and steps back from me. I frown up at him.
Did I do something he doesn’t like? I thought he was into it. I thought He liked what I was doing to him. He liked it when we were in our private villa. I remember that.
He pulls me to my feet and crushes his lips to mine. All the while working my shorts past my hips, so they easily fall to the floor. I step out of them and kick them aside. He pulls back enough to remove my cami. Then, just like that I am standing before him naked. I watch as he rakes his eyes over me. Looking at me like I am a snack waiting to be eaten.
Then almost as if he could read my mind, he has me in his arms and his mouth is crushing mine again. I feel myself being pushed backwards. When my knees hit the bed, he takes his lips from me and shoves me on the bed. He watches me as I position myself on the pillows. He smiles as he slowly crawls up the bed and over me. I smile at him as he is now face to face with me.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about our time in our private villa. How I missed kissing you. How I missed touching you. How I missed sleeping with you in my arms. I vowed that once this was over, I would do whatever I could to have you in my arms before we went home.” He whispers to me as he kisses my neck.
“I missed you too.” I tell him.
He lifts his head as I spread my legs to accommodate him. I feel him position at my entrance and slowly he starts pushing into me. So slow, that I want to go crazy. That I feel that if he doesn’t speed it up, I will combust. Inch, by agonizing inch, he slowly pushes into me. When he is fully inside me, I can’t help but rotate my hips. Making us both moan at the sensations.
“Next time, I will be enjoying eating you, like you enjoy sucking me.” He says before he starts moving.
He moves slow at first, then faster and faster. Harder and harder until I am moaning in his ear, clawing at his back, and biting his shoulder. I can’t help myself. The pleasure I am feeling, keeps mounting and I can’t seem to find the release I am wanting. I am going crazy.
I gasp as he pulls almost all the way out of me. He pauses and stares at me. I look up at him, pull his face down to mine for a kiss, and just as our lips meet, he slams into me. Making me cry out as I finally reach the climax that I have been dying to reach.
Stars dance in front of my eyes, as I am overtaken by wave after wave of pleasure, as he continues to pound into me. Before long he is growling his own release. I can’t help but pull his head into my neck as he collapses on top of me.
Our breathing labored and our hearts racing. He wraps his arms around my back and squeezes me into his chest.
“I swear, I will never get enough of you.” He whispers in my ear.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Ryder
I wake up with Ari in my arms. The feeling is amazing. I missed holding her. I missed smelling her as I slept. I missed waking up in the middle of the night because she was moving around. I just missed being with her. It has felt like forever since I had held her in my arms. It felt like I hadn’t seen her in years. But last night was amazing. I loved every second of it. I loved making love to her. She is so special to me.
I hate to know that we are leaving to go home today. I hate that I won’t get to see her after today. At least not for a while.
Caleb was helpful in answering questions I hadn’t had a chance to ask Ari. He told me where they were from, where she worked, and her favorite flowers. He told he that she liked surprises if she didn’t know they were coming. He answered any question I had asked. But the shocker came yesterday, before we went to the last elimination challenge, that wasn’t a challenge, he told me that if he had to pick someone for Ari, he would pick me. He said that when she looks at me her eyes light up.
Now don’t get me wrong, I was pissed at Caleb for a while after Ari’s elimination. I was pissed that he had flipped on her. I was pissed at him because I lost my chance to have Ari with me in the end of the game. But that changed over time. I realized that he wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be. I realized that Rachel had made him flip with the promise of him being in the final two with her. But I realized that I couldn’t stay mad at him. I realized that I didn’t want to be mad at him. I wanted to be friends with him. So, that’s just what I did.
But I saw firsthand how her eyes light up when they see me. I saw firsthand how she seemed so happy to be around me. For weeks I spent every waking moment with her, that I could anyways. Of course, hearing Caleb tell me this, makes me even more happy and excited for what will come next.
Movement against my chest stops my thoughts. I look down at Ari as she is waking up. Her eyes open slowly, and she looks up at me. I smile at her. She kisses me softly. I just keep looking at her, because I want to remember what she looks like when we are away from each other for a while.
“Good morning.” She says.
“Morning.” I say.
I look at the alarm clock and groan. I let her sleep for too long. Now we can’t have morning sex before leaving. Lacey said they would be around to gather us up to leave at ten. Its nine right now and by the looks of her duffel bag sitting on the floor by the dresser, she hasn’t packed yet.
“You haven’t packed.” I say. “Lacey will be here in an hour to collect us.”
Her eyes grow wide as she jumps from the bed. She races to the dresser and pulls out some clothes. I watch as she goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. I smile as I get out of bed and put on some clothes. I start picking up all of her little items that are strewn around the room. I place them on the dresser before grabbing the menu and ordering us a quick breakfast of an all in one breakfast sandwich. I don’t know if she will like it, but I hope she will. I want her to eat a meal before our flight out of here.
My attention is pulled to the bathroom door when it opens. Ari steps out wearing a
jean skirt, that hits about mid-thigh, and a white flowy top. Her hair is pulled back into… I don’t know. Half of it is up in a ponytail and the other half is down. I don’t know what it’s called, but it looks good on her. She has on black flip flops. She looks amazing. Beautiful, delicious. Just seeing her makes me want to take her, but we don’t have time. Our food will be here soon, and she still needs to pack.
I watch as she puts her empty duffel on the bed and starts pulling things from the dresser and carefully setting them inside. I watch as she works her way around the room. When there is a knock on the door, I open the door and take our food from whoever brought it.
I convince Ari to stop and eat for a few moments. Watching her eat is so refreshing. Normal women don’t like to eat in front of a man. Most women hate eating fatty foods such as sausage or carbs. But Ari is different. Ari is eating the food like she would die without it. She doesn’t complain about how the food will make her gain weight. She doesn’t say anything. Just eats her food then gets right back to work on packing her bag.
Right at ten o’clock, Lacey knocks on the door and I take our duffels and we follow her out of the room, out of the villa and to what looks like a bus. All of us are riding on the same bus. This is unexpected. I expected us to leave at different times. Maybe our flights are so close together that all of us needed to go to the airport at the same time.
Once at the airport, we are rushed through security, and taken to private rooms. To my surprise, Ari, Caleb, Rachel, and I are all on the same flight. Since we do live close to each other, it makes sense, but Ari doesn’t catch on.
As we wait for our flight, Ari is silent. Not talking or anything. Just looking down at her hands and playing with the frays at the bottom of her skirt. She seems nervous, and I wish I knew why.
“Are you alright, babe?” I ask her.
The endearment slipping out of my mouth on accident. I didn’t mean to call her babe, because well, we still haven’t talked about what this relationship is. I wish we had, but we didn’t.
“Just thinking about what this means for us.” She tells me.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Well, I don’t know what we are. I don’t know where you are from. I don’t know anything about your family, other than that you are a twin and Rachel is your sister. I don’t know much of anything about your book. How will we see each other? If that is what we choose to do.” She tells me.
“We should have talked about this, this morning. I want to be with you. As in, if someone asks if you are seeing someone you say that I am your boyfriend. As for seeing each other. I will figure something out alright.” I say. “Give me your cell number and I promise I will call and text you. Alright?”
She nods and pulls out a pen and a notebook. I frown at that. I hadn’t seen that earlier when she was packing. She writes down her number, and I do the same for her. Rachel also give her the number to her cell. Saying that Ari can talk to her at any time. Especially, if she wants to surprise me with a visit.
Ari smiles and seems more relaxed. Our flight is called and once again we are led onto a plane, separated from each other and are on our way home. I hate that I can’t be sitting with her. I hate that I am not up in the same row as her. I hate that the producers want us separated.
Don’t get me wrong, I know why they did it, it just sucks because I want to hold her hand and give her one last goodbye kiss before we return back to our normal everyday lives.
TWENTY-NINE
Ari
I have been home a month and life has just picked right up. I am back at work, prepping for next year. The school year ended while I was away, which sucks, because I love throwing end of the year parties for my students. Though, I am also grateful that I am not working, because ever since I have gotten back, I have felt sick. My stomach rolls at the thought of food. I could sleep all day, and I just feel so darn tired. I know it’s probably my body readjusting back to normal life. I am sure it will get better soon.
Today, walking into my classroom, to clean it and get it ready for the first day of summer school, I feel so tired. My stomach won’t stop rolling and I just don’t want to be here. I don’t feel good. My head hurts, and the thought of eating anything makes me want to vomit. I hate feeling like this, but I need to throw myself into this summer school program. I live to teach all year around. This was the one thing I wanted to do once I got back.
Moving around my classroom, and cleaning, I forget that I don’t feel good. I am distracted by cleaning, moving things, and working. Of course, it’s hot in my classroom today. With no air conditioning, its hotter than usual today. But I am making sure to drink water.
I turn around to grab my step stool and the motion has me stumbling and I fall on my butt on the floor. A passing teacher sees and comes rushing in. I try to stand up, by my body won’t let me. My stomach rolls and I point to the garbage can, I don’t want to puke on the carpet I just laid down. The other teacher, who I can’t seem to make out, gets it to me just in time. I throw up the water I have been drinking and the dry toast I had for breakfast this morning. I finish throwing up and move to stand up, but my legs won’t support me. The room starts spinning and suddenly I feel myself falling toward the floor.
I vaguely register that someone calls my name. “Ari!”
Then the room goes black.
****
An annoying beeping sound wakes me. Did I forget to change my alarm over to radio when I set it last night? I open my eyes to see what time it is and frown. I am not at home. I am in a hospital room. I am on a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown, and hooked up to various different machines. I try to remember how I got here, but I can’t remember. The last thing I remember is cleaning my classroom. Did I get sick at work? How did I get here? What happened? Who brought me here? What happened to me?
I look around to see if my phone is anywhere, my purse is on a chair, beside Caleb. He has his head tilted back against the wall and his eyes are closed. Caleb is here. What is he doing here? My emergency contact is my mom. Did she send him here? Nothing is making sense to me. I see a Styrofoam cup on the table beside Caleb. I reach for it because I want a sip of water. As I reach for the water, I wrap my elbow on the railing beside me. I bite back a hiss, but the noise wakes Caleb anyways.
“Oh, thank god.” He tells me as he pulls me into his arms. “I was so worried. Mom called me at work and told me that you were being rushed to the hospital and she couldn’t get out of work to come be with you. I told her I would leave work and be here as soon as I could.” He takes a deep breath. “A fellow teacher called the ambulance and came with you. Though she left. She said she saw you fall in your classroom and then you got sick and passed out.”
I frown. I passed out at work. Someone found me in my classroom. This is so embarrassing. What would cause me to pass out? I don’t remember passing out. I don’t really remember feeling sick. I mean, I do remember feeling a little off, but not passing out.
“Have you been sick?” Caleb asks me.
“I… I have been a little off since we got back. Stomach issues, and I have been super tired. I think my body is just having a hard time readjusting back to real life.” I tell him.
“Well, when I got here, the doctor said you were dehydrated. He took blood to run tests to make sure everything is fine, and that you didn’t catch an infection or anything while on the show.” He tells me.
I hadn’t thought about possibly catching something on the show. Could I have gotten sick from something on the show? Eating little more than rice and beans. I mean I had a few reward meals, and we ate dandelion greens. My stomach lurches at thinking about food. I moan and lean my head back. I try to breathe deeply because I don’t want to get sick again. I don’t want to throw up again. But it’s coming and Caleb hands me a bucket. I throw up in the bucket, and as soon as I am done, I watch as he hits the call button for the nurse.
“She just woke up and is throwing up.” He says.
“We wi
ll be right in.” a disembodied female voice says.
I lean my head back against the pillow. I hope that I didn’t get an infection. I pray that this is nothing more than my body trying to regulate back to real life. Even if it’s been a month. I hear my phone ring. Caleb pulls it out and hands it to me. I look at the screen and see its Ryder.
“Hello.” I say.
“Hey, haven’t heard from you in a while. I thought I would check on you.” He says as the door opens.
“Alright, Miss Harper, I hear you have been sick.” The doctor says as he comes in.
“You are sick?” Ryder asks.
I hand the phone to Caleb and I hear him tell Ryder either he or I will call him back and explain things.
“Yes, I am fine. I am sure it’s my body trying to get back to normal.” I say, even though I am sure it should already be back to normal by now.
“Ah yes, I saw you were announced on the contestant lineup for Survival Instincts.” The doctor says. “I have run tests to see what could be making you feel so sick. But before we talk about the results, tell me how long have you been feeling like this?”
I take a deep breath and think. I felt a little off about a week after we got home.
“Three weeks or so.” I say.
“What exactly were you feeling?”
“Stomach upset, vomiting on occasion, and exhaustion. I could sleep all the time if I had the chance.” I say.
“What were you feeling this morning before you passed out?”
“Um, I had the same stomach upset, I was very tired, and my head hurt, I think. I don’t really remember much from this morning.”
The doctor writes a few things down and then turns to the computer. “I haven’t looked at your test results just yet. I heard you woke up vomiting and thought I would come in and talk to you before I did.”
I watch as he types on the computer before frowning at the screen. I feel Caleb grab my hand. I don’t like how the doctor is frowning at the computer screen. Is something seriously wrong with me? Did I catch an infection? What is going on with me?
Playing For Keeps (Romancing The Games Book 1) Page 18