006. Warming You Up...
1112 Words
The cold water swallowed me whole and immediately silenced the loud music of the party.
I panicked as my heavy, wet dress got tangled around my legs. I kicked my legs up and broke through the water surface gasping for air as I wiped the burning chlorine from my eyes.
Next to me, Chloe was thrashing like a wild animal in the water. Her perfectly styled hair was plastered onto her face. Her makeup was running down her cheeks in dark, ugly streaks.
"Are you crazy?!" she shouted, slapping the water. "You ruined my dress! You ruined my phone yesterday and now my dress!"
"You pushed me first!" I yelled back. My teeth were already starting to chatter from the chill.
The people above us were going crazy. Some were pointing, laughing and shouting. Some of them were even recording us with their phones. Through all the blur of faces, one person pushed his way to the edge of the pool.
Ryder.
He stood at the edge of the pool. His dark hair was messy. His icy blue eyes looked over the water. His jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle ticked in his cheek.
Chloe spotted him and her angry shouts turned into a pathetic, high-pitched whine. "Ryder! Oh my god, Ryder, help me! She pulled me into the pool!" she cried, reaching her hand up toward him.
Ryder did not even look at Chloe.
Instead, his eyes locked on me. He got down on one knee at the edge of the pool, and reached his large, tattooed hand down into the water.
"Grab my hand, Amy," he ordered.
"Ryder! What are you doing? I'm right here!" Chloe screamed, hitting the water again.
"Figure it out yourself, Chloe," Ryder said without looking at her. "Hand. Now."
I reached up and wrapped my wet fingers around his wrist. In one motion, Ryder pulled me out of the deep end of the pool like I weighed nothing.
My bare feet hit the concrete and I stumbled, shivering violently as the cold air hit my wet dress. Before anyone could get a good look at my completely see-through top, Ryder took off his heavy, black leather jacket.
He put it over my shoulders, pulling the lapels tight across my chest. The familiar, intoxicating scent of mint and worn leather instantly filled my senses, calming my panic.
"Amy!" Maya pushed through the crowd, looking like she was out of breath. She was holding my black purse. "Oh my god, are you okay?"
"I'm freezing," I said, my teeth chattering as I pulled the leather jacket tighter around myself.
Maya gave Ryder my purse. "Take this. Get her out of here before Cole sees this. If he sees this, he’s going to be really angry."
Ryder didn’t ask any questions. He took the purse, then leaned down and picked me up off my feet. One of his arms went under my knees and the other wrapped around my back.
"Hey!" I said, wrapping my arms around his neck to keep from falling. "I can walk!"
"Not a chance, intern," he said, holding me tight.
He carried me through the side gate of the backyard with ease, ignoring the whispers of the frat party. We left the lights of the pool behind, stepping into the quiet dark driveway.
We reached his matte black sports car parked illegally on the grass. He opened the passenger door, set me carefully onto the expensive leather seat and dropped my purse into my lap.
He slammed the door shut, went around the car quickly and got into the driver’s seat.
Click.
The doors locked, muting the party noise stopped and leaving us in total silence. Ryder hit the ignition, and the engine roared to life. He turned up the heater and warm air instantly hit my freezing, wet legs.
I sat there, holding his jacket tight, water dripping from my hair onto his car seats. "I'm getting chlorine all over your seats," I said.
"I don’t care about the seats," he said.
I thought he would be annoyed. Instead, Ryder leaned back in his seat and let out a low, rough chuckle.
"What's so funny?" I asked, still shivering.
He turned his head to look at me, and there was a wicked, amused smile on his lips. "You're completely crazy, you know that, right?"
"She dumped a sticky red drink on me and pushed me into the pool!" I argued. "I was not just going to let her walk away."
"I know," he replied. His eyes softened just a fraction, lingering on my flushed face. "Pulling her into the deep end with you? I have to admit, I'm impressed. Didn't know the quiet little equipment manager had it in her."
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
"I'm starting to figure that out," he said quietly.
The tension in the car shifted instantly. The air suddenly felt thick, and my mind went to the memory of the teasing texts he had sent me the night before, and the brief moment that followed.
I shifted nervously in my seat, hyper-aware of his gaze.
Ryder didn’t put the car in drive. Instead, he reached over and leaned across the center console, completely invading my space.
I pressed my back against the passenger door, my breath catching in my throat. "Ryder, what are you doing?"
"Warming you up," he whispered, his voice dropping low.
He was so close I could feel the heat from his chest. His ice-blue eyes looked slowly down from my eyes, landing on my lips.
"You know," he said softly, lifting his hand to brush a strand of hair behind my ear. The touch of his fingers sent a huge shock wave down my spine. "That's twice I've had to play hero in forty-eight hours. Meaning you now owe me ‘two’ thank yous."
My mouth went completely dry. "I… I told you, I—I didn't ask for your… your help."
"You didn't have to." He leaned in closer, his gaze dropping to my lips again. "Say it, Amy."
I held my breath.
The space between us was almost gone, charged with electricity. I was half a second away from leaning the rest of the way in, completely forgetting all the reasons why this was a bad idea.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I jumped out of my skin letting out a startled gasp.
Ryder’s head snapped up.
A heavy fist slammed against the passenger-side window next to my head.
I turned toward the glass. Standing in the dark driveway with his chest heaving and his fists balled was Cole. And the look on his face was pure anger.
- Writer
