Chapter 5

I wake up to the sound of my head throbbing. I blinked a few times more, trying to remember what happened.

Well I remember I was at Nathan's party, drinking and dancing with some guy with black hair. We kissed on the dance floor. Then we just giggled and kept dancing. Becca didn't drink so she drove me home.

As I checked my phone I got 2 missed calls and 5 messages all from Ryder. Shit, I have a date with him today. I quickly called him, on the third ring, he answered " Sky, Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Sorry I was busy last night"

"Oh..."

"No, I mean... I was at a party last night and I didn't hear my phone ringing."

"Hope you didn't cheat on me" I laughed. Well I was drunk and we're barely dating so I choose to keep quiet. "So, can you give this day to me?"

"Ow yeah, I forgot to ask you, what should I wear? I mean casual, a dress?"

"A dress would be nice," he said.

"Okay, and I would give you my Saturday, Mr. King"

"Thank you. I will pick you up at one?"

"Okay, bye"

"Bye" I ended the call and exhaled heavily and went to the bathroom.

*****

I looked at myself in the mirror one last time. I was dressed in a grey up to my knees dress with white snickers. I left my dark hair down. I have some mascara on and lip gloss with nude eyeshadow.

Ryder texted me that he was here 15 minutes ago. I can't believe I'm 15 minutes late on our first date. Well second but whatever. I quickly went downstairs to the living room to inform Leslie that I was going out. I closed the door behind me, and started walking. Ryder was waiting for me at the place he left me two days ago. It's 3 houses away.

Once I saw him, I felt butterflies in my stomach. He was leaning on his car, his arms crossed. He was wearing white button up shirt. His sleeve was folded up, showing his strong pale arms. Underneath he was wearing dark jeans. As he saw me, he stood straight smirking.

"Hi," I said. My head was blank, I didn't know what to say. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I reached around his shoulder when I stood across him.

"Hey, you look beautiful," he said softly.

"Thank you, you don't look bad yourself" I say with a smile. He opened the passenger door for me and I took a seat. As he started to drive "sorry for being late" I said with a guilty smile. "Oh, don't worry. It's fine"

The rest of the ride was a comfortable silence. Ryder stopped the car at a restaurant, I didn't ask him where we were going because I didn't want to know. I wanted to see it. We both hopped out of the car. "Would you please let me open the door for you" he said, amusement dancing in his eyes as he walked towards me. I don't have the patience to wait for people to open my door while I sit there and it's right there beside me.

"I don't like to wait like I don't have hands," he laughed. "But I'll try next time," I said, smiling. He nodded and held my hand. I liked how my hand felt against his. It was rough and large. We entered the restaurant and the waiter led us to our table which I think Ryder reserved. It was in another room, there was only one table. One side was glass, from the ceiling to the floor. The view was AMAZING. The paintings on the wall looked so meaningful, full of emotion and passion. He pulled back the chair for me and I sat. After he took his seat, the waiter immediately came with menus.

"Here are your menus." he said, handing us each one. The meals were very expensive. After we ordered, Ryder was staring at me intensely. I don't know why so I just ignored it.

"This place is nice, I like it," I said looking through the glass. "It is," he said. I looked at him and he was still staring at me.

Our food came and we ate in silence, the forks and plates were the only sources of sound in the room. It was comfortable though, I didn't feel awkward. When I finished, I leaned back in my chair. I looked at Ryder, he chewed on his food and leaned back on his own. He looked so handsome.

"I really like you, Skylar Baxter" he said all of a sudden. I widened my eyes for a second at his sudden outburst but composed myself quickly. I'm sure my face is a tomato right now. His eyes were soft, big, looking at me with hope, adoration, nervousness?

"I like you too," I said, smiling. His eyes widened with surprise. And I don't know how but they dilated and softened with warmth. I think he's eyes are going to be my favourite part of his face. I was happy that we confessed our feelings to each other. He looks like a keeper, that's what people say right? Whatever.

We stared at each other smiling for what felt like eternity but I'm sure not more than 5 minutes. I like to look at his face. His eyes, nose, the scar he has on his cheek, his lips. I do really like him. He is lowkey but makes me excitedly nervous. He is nervous too and even though he masks it he tries to show you you're not the only one. Does that make sense?

"How's work?" I ask, breaking the silence. He sighs, "It's good, but I have some assignments for my online education which is so tiring" he groaned and I laughed "oh come on, I'm sure it's not that bad"

"See the papers and you would already feel exhausted" he said.

******

"Where are we going?" I ask, Ryder was driving. He held my hand when we left the restaurant, which caused goosebumps to rise all over my body.

"To watch a movie, you told me you like John Wick" he said, turning his face to me with a small smile for a second, then he looked back to the front. I couldn't stop grinning, my cheeks hurt.

"Chapter 3?" I ask, the excitement visible on my sound. "Yep" he said , grinning too. I was half happy to see the movie, half happy because he remembered and made an effort. I told him that I wanted to see it, but didn't have time. John Wick is so hot, especially when he fights, how his biceps flex, his facial expression, the way he talks...ok I think I should stop.

"Thank you" I said, softly. He looked at me and I gave him a genuine smile. His eyes softened, shone with something I couldn't recognize, he smiled back and said "Thank You for coming." I smiled and nodded, having nothing to say.

He quickly looked back to the road as if he had forgotten it for our two seconds of staring. He tightened his hand on the wheeler, concentrated on the road ahead.

"What's your dream?" I ask. He narrowed his eyes, thinking about my question.

"I have a lot, about what specifically?" This is my answer when someone asks me this kind of question. I told you I like him.

So I told him, "Exactly what I say when asked this question. Okay, about your job?" he turned to face me with a mischievous grin " really? " He asked, " Yeah. " He thought for a while, "Well, I want to be a DevOps Specialist. It's basically about coding. How code is tested, built and deployed. I've been interested in that field since I was in middle school. I also want to support my future family enough financially, you know not too much, but not small either. A little bit higher than normal. You got me?" he asked.

I nod, shaking my head "Absolutely." I really like his way of thinking and that he thinks about his future family is really cute. I like people with goals. Don't get me wrong, I like people who don't know yet what to do with their life either, because it's natural. You shouldn't know everything you would do, sometimes it's good to not know, to not have a plan so you can be neutral and choose the best.

"What's yours?" he asks, he turns to me for a second before turning back to the front.

"I haven't thought about my future family like you" he chuckled and I was grinning "but I want to be a Director or I want to have an Advertisement company." He nodded, with a grin on his face. "I like your future" he said and I laughed "I like yours too."

The car stopped in front of a Theater after some minutes of silence. We both hopped out of the car, I forgot to wait till he opened the door. He put his hand on the small of my back and led us inside.

We bought some popcorn and soda, well he did, and went inside the theater to take our seats. There were two minutes left till the movie started. I leaned back on my chair getting comfortable and then I put my head on Ryder's shoulder. He stiffened at the first 30 seconds, which was awkward and I was thinking of just sitting straight but then he relaxed.

I popped some popcorn in my mouth then the movie started.