"He said that?!" Ava asks for the millionth time. I just nod. "You sure?".

"I do not have a hearing problem" I said rolling my eyes. "Even if I do, you was standing so close to me when he said it".

"Wow"

"I'm still in shock" Raina says.

"Imagine how I was yesterday" I say. The images of yesterday coming rushing to me like a flood.

"What did you do?" Ava ask.

"I just kept staring at him dumbfounded".

"What did he do or say?" Raina asks.

"He just left the room, leaving me speechless" I sighed.

"Wow" Ava says again.

"What are you going to do?" Raina asks.

"Do you want to go on the date?" Ava follows up. I just nod smiling.

"I'm sorry but I have to rush to class, we would continue this later" Raina says.

"We have class too, see you after". Raina waves and runs off while Ava and I walk into our second class for the day, a boring class.

After class, Ava suggest we sit on the grass on campus field to soak up some vitamin D and do a little work before going home to rest. There were other students on the grass, Ava and I found a comfortable spot, I start work on a project while Ava lies down soaking up the sun. Ava likes doing her school work at night when there is no distraction. I agreed to staying on campus a while longer mostly because I don't want to go home and face Ryan, he doesn't have any lecture today so he's home. I was typing on my laptop when my phone dings, its a message from Ryan. My heart starts racing even before I open the message, that is how much effect he has on me, just a text from me makes me feel giddy and excited.

What you doing? -R

Trying to do an assignment - M

Trying? - R

Yeah, someone just distracted me - M

I wonder who- R

I smile at his reply.

"Why you smiling?" Ava asks opening one eye.

"Ryan sent a text" I replied not looking up from my phone.

"What did he say?" she asks.

"Nothing really, just asking what I am doing". She smiles and goes back to what she is doing.

What are you doing? - M

I send to him.

Nothing, Would you go out with me?

That is enough to send my heart over the moon.

Are you asking me on a date, Mr. Black?

Yes, Mrs. Black

Where are we going?

It's a surprise

How should I dress?

I would let you know

Okay, what time are we leaving?

I will pick you up at 7?

We live together, Ry

I know, play along.

Alright, pick me up at 7 :)

:)

I shut down my laptop, place it in my bag with my books.

"Where to?" Ava asks.

"Home, I have a date" I answer full on grinning. She laughs and we leave for her car, she drove me to school this morning. The ride home is normal, Ava keeps teasing me about my date and even calls Raina.

'Hello'

''Rains, still at school?'' I ask trying to distract Ava. She sees through me.

'N-'

She gets cut off by Ava, ''Rains, guess who has a date tonight!'' Ava practically screams.

''Mae?"

"Yes!''.

'Mae, make sure to wear something sexy so we would not be able to take his eyes off you.

Raina has got to be the weirdest sister on earth.

'Where is he taking you?'

"It's a surprise"

'Wow'

"I know"

'I want to hear all about your date later. Sorry, I have to go. Love you guys'

"I also want to hear about your date" Ava says after Raina hung the call.

"Fine''.

''Decided on what to wear yet?''. I shake my head.

"But Ryan is not going to be able to take his eyes off of me"

I am excited about the date with Ryan, it's been so long since just the two of us went out. Ava drives through the gates and parks. We run upstairs cause I do not have much time left. I have three hours to get ready and it is not enough time to pick an outfit, style my hair and wear my makeup. We hear Larson and Lucas in the living room probably playing video game but we ignore them and take the elevator upstairs. When I enter my room, I see the most beautiful bouquets of flower on my bed. There would be about five or six of them. They are gorgeous, I pick one of bouquets up and sniff it. Heavenly. It's been so long since I got flowers.

"They are gorgeous" Ava says voicing my thought.

"I know". There is a note.

Wear the dress hung in your closet - Ryan.

We didn't have to be told twice, we walk into the closet and I see one of the most beautiful, sexy dresses ever.

"I love this dress" Ava says running her hand through the fabric.

"Its beautiful"

"Let's get you ready, there is not enough time" Ava says and we get to work.

I take a quick shower, to wash off the sweat and muck of the day off. I put on my make-up and straighten my hair before putting on the gown. The plunges to the waistband and the back opens up to my waist, the lower part of the dress is form fitting and ends in a mermaid cut with a long slit in front exposing one thigh. The only thing holding the dress up are two tiny spaghetti straps. The red lace heels gives me a monochrome look I am living for.

"You look gorgeous" Ava says.

"Thanks". My hair falls straight to my back. The red gown matches my red lipstick. I opted for a simple natural look makeup, I want my lips to catch his attention, make him want to kiss me. Three more minute to seven, Ava and I go downstairs. I go to the door while Ava goes to the living room to join Lucas and Larson who are still playing games.

A limo is waiting out for me and Ryan is standing by the door holding yet another bouquet of flower. His face lights up when he sees me.

"You are beautiful" he says and kisses my cheek so close to my lips.

"Thanks, you look handsome yourself" I compliment. His all black suit ensemble makes him look so hot. Makes me wonder what is underneath.

"Thank you" he says and opens the door for me.

"A gentleman"

"Only for you". I smile.

"Would you tell me where we are going now?" I ask as the car peels out of the gate.

"Vineyard, they are having a wine tasting event"

"Are you just looking for a elegant way to get me drunk?" I tease.

"Guilty" he laughs.

The journey was simple as is, we finally got to the vineyard and it wasn't as crowded as I thought. Apparently only a few people got invited and Ryan used is connection to get us in. We walk in arm-in-arm into the event center. It is beautiful, the room is a bit dark but the string lights everywhere make it look magical. There are tables scattered around with name place cards on them. Ryan and I are led to our table where a glass of wine already waits.

The night is magical, Ryan and excuse our selves from the event and take a walk round the compound.

"Are you enjoying the night" Ryan asks as walk in the dark, our only light are the dim ones along the pathway.

"Yes". We keep walking till we find a garden. It wasn't looking like much now cause of the lack of lights but you just know it is beautiful.

We sit here for a while taking in the night sky.

"Mae" Ryan calls breaking the comfortable silence.

"Yeah?"

"I love you". If I was holding a wine I would have spilled it. Instead I cough having involuntarily swallowed a saliva. "Sorry" Ryan says patting my back.

"Thanks". I look back up to the sky trying to avoid Ryan.

"Mae" he calls again.

"Do you still love me?" he asks.

"Are you drunk?" I have to ask.

"No"

"Maybe I am". He turns me to face him.

"Do you still love me?" he asks and I see the seriousness in him. He was genuinely asking.

"Yes" I manage to voice out. His face breaks out to a childish grin and he looks back to the sky.

"Do you still love me?" I ask. He turns to look at me.

"More and more everyday". That was enough to send my heart on a dance frenzy.

We went back to ceremony, tasted some more wine and leave for home. During the ride back, Ryan takes my hand and starts kissing slowly all the way to the my shoulder.

"Ry" I call him.

"Ryan" he corrects. He stops the kisses and interlocks our fingers. I rest my head on his shoulder and enjoy the ride back home. No one was in the main house when we get home, but then again, it's past midnight. Fingers still interlocked we rode up the elevator and walk down the hallway leading to our room. He kisses my cheek when we get to his room door saying goodnight. I don't want the night to end like this.

"I need help with my dress" I tell him before he enters his room. I actually don't, I just need an excuse to get him to my room and what better way than to help me with my dress.

"Alright" he follows me to my room.

I put my hair to one side exposing my back and neck to him and ask him to help. His hand touches my bare back and like always wave of desire washes through me. He pulls the straps down my hand kissing my neck down to my shoulder blade. I suck in a deep breath as his lips made contact with my neck. He pulls my hair to the other side and proceeds to the same thing. I hold the dress up in front to prevent it from falling to my waist.

"Can you help untie my shoe laces" I ask and sit on my bed.

"Sure".

He takes his time with my leg making sure to brush his thumb on my ankle anytime he got the chance, he removes the shoe and picks my other leg up and proceeds to untie it. Instead of letting my leg go, he traces kisses up my leg to my thighs and stops where the slit of the dress stops. He is driving me crazy and he knows that. He looks up at me still crouched in front of me, he crawls towards me making me lie flat on the bed, he places his arm by my head to support himself and just looks at me. He puts his other hand around my waist and flips us. He looks at me while I look down at him, kneeling over his torso. I let go of my dress and it falls round my waist, Ryan eyes clouds and he just looks at me. Holding me in place, he sits up suddenly. Taking me by surprise, I quickly wrap my leg round his waist. He keeps looking at me and I can't take it anymore. I wrap my hand round his neck and push him to me, kissing him. He responds passionately. I put my hand between us and unbutton his shirt, pulling it off, I trace kisses down his neck and shoulder.

"Mae" he moans as I kiss him. I push him on the bed kissing his chest and down the middle of his torso to his waist pant.

"Let me return the favor" he says and flips us again.

He kisses my neck and nibbling on a sensitive spot. It sends new wave of current through me.

"Ryan..." I moan.

"I love the sound of my name in your mouth" he keeps kissing me down to my collar bone, my shoulder blade and the middle of my breast moving down slowly all the while sending shock waves down my spine. I bring his mouth up and kiss him.

***

I turn in bed adjusting my head on Ryan's chest. I feel a kiss on my forehead. I look up at him and smile.

"Good morning" he greets kissing me.

"Morning". He keeps looking at me.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I ask.

"You are beautiful, especially when you are happy" he says all serious. I grin at him and snuggle into his chest.

"I am happy" I say and fall asleep.

I turn around in bed and cannot feel Ryan, I gently open my eyes, I am alone in the room. I feel sadness at the back of my throat. Why did he leave? I search for my phone, I wonder where I put it last night. Found it, it is on the floor beside my bag from last night and red dress. The red dress brings memory from last night, happy memories. I smile to myself and go to the bathroom. Good thing I don't have anything going on today. I get to lounge around the house. Perfect. The bath was perfect. I decide to wear a black t-shirt, white corset and a black short.

I decide to bake cookies, I love cookies. Here is the thing though, I'm not good at baking, at all but I'm going to try, What is the worse that can happen? I make my way to the kitchen, no one in sight. Suzie is still visiting her family. The kitchen is so spacious and I love it, everything is black with gold accents like the cooker, tap and range. The island is black marble and large. Ryan, Raina, Ava, Lucas and I used to eat breakfast here before things changed. The fridge, ovens, microwaves and dishwasher are also gold.

'Now where is Ryan's mum's cookbook'.

When we were younger the squad and I loved, still love, going to Ryan's house 'cause there is always something baked at their house, from cookies, to biscuits and cake. It always smelt like Christmas, we loved it. Ryan learnt to bake from his mum while my own mum taught me to cook. Baking and cooking are two different things. If Ryan cooks, it's more like poison than a delicacy, the same goes for me and baking, but to-day I am going to follow the cookbook word for word, measurement for measurement, no mistakes. I look through all the drawers and shelves searching for the cookbook but couldn't find it. Ryan must have taken it. I go to his home office and search there, nothing. I decide to check the den, library, game room, dirty kitchen, still nothing. The only place left is his room. Ryan can be weird like that 'cause why else would the cookbook be in his room. I run up the stairs trying to be as quiet as possible and stop in front of his door, I open it noiselessly and tiptoe inside.

Ryan's room is similar to mine, the only difference is that he has a small office in here. There is a king-sized bed to one wall, and a chair which is currently covered with last night's suit. The blinds are down and Ryan is sprawled on the bed. He is cute while he sleeps, I am tempted to stand there and just look at him but I am here on a mission. I sneak past his bed trying my best not to make a noise, I start checking the drawers in his table. Finally, I find it under a bunch of files.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asks yawning in bed. I quickly hide the book behind me.

"Nothing" I answer smiling. He turns around and goes back to sleep. That was close, I hurry out of the room and down the stairs.

In the kitchen, I bring out all the ingredients listed and get to work following the instructions. Two hours later, the whole kitchen is full of smoke. I really don't know what went wrong, one minute everything is fine and the next, I have almost burnt the house down. The island is a hot mess, there's flour, sugar, butter and various liquid everywhere. The smoke alarm goes off, I try blowing the smoke out the sliding door, leading to the garden, but to no avail. I think it even made the smoke angry. It's a disaster.

"What the heck, Mae" I hear Ryan shout as he wears a mitten, opens the oven and uses the fire extinguisher to quench the fire, he then switches on the vents. Within seconds, the smoke begins to clear out. The stupid smoke alarm is still beeping, so I throw a pan at it shutting it up.

"I could have switched that off" Ryan says sitting on an island chair.

"I know".

"What were you trying to do?" he asks scanning the kitchen.

"Cookies" I answer hanging my head low.

"That is something quite all right" he says looking at the supposed cookies. "You know baking isn't your forte, why bother?" he asks laughing.

"Wanted to try something new today"

"This isn't new, we all know you are bad at baking". I poke my tongue at him.

"You weren't in bed this morning" I state looking down at my hand. It feels like it's burning and I am right, there's a huge blister on my arm, how did that happened?

Ryan looks at my arm, "Ouch, that looks like it hurts", he goes to bring the first aid kit and a wet cloth. He sits back down, takes my hand and begins to treat the area. I hiss when the cloth makes contact.

"Sorry". He begins to clean it with methylated spirit which hurt like heck, he bandages it up and returns the kit.

"You didn't answer me" I say he throws the cookie in the trash.

"You did not ask a question"

"Fine, why did you leave this morning? It's a question now" I say hands on my waist. He takes a deep breath.

"No reason". I wasn't expecting that to hurt but it did.

"I thought-" I pause. I thought we were good, I guess not.

I start cleaning up the mess I made, I am a mess myself. My face, hands and strangely, legs are covered in flour and sugar and dried liquid, my body is a sticky mess. There is even flour in my hair, one would think I used my hair to mix it the ingredients.

"Go shower" he says noticing the mess I am made of. I sit on the island in front of him.

"Mae..."

I pull him towards me wrapping my legs round his waist inadvertently holding him in place.

"Hi" I greet putting my hands round his neck.

"Hi"

"Don't you like sleeping beside me?" I ask.

''Go shower, Mae".

"Am I a dirty mess, Ryan?" I whisper in his ear. I love how his body responds whenever I touch his ears.

"Mae" he whispers almost sounded like a moan. I take his lips with mine kissing him.

"You are a drug I cannot get enough of, Mae" he whispers as I kiss every inch of his jawline down to his neck. I laugh against his neck, I feel his body vibrate.

"I want you now".

***

"Now I have to shower. I am a hot mess" I tell Ryan. He kisses me before I get up from the kitchen floor. "Want to join me?" I ask as I leave the kitchen.

"You know I do" I hear him say. He suddenly picks me up me and carries me up the stairs. I can't help but laugh.

It isn't till I wake up that I realize I fell asleep. Again Ryan isn't here but I could smell cookies. I dress up in a hurry and run down the stairs. I see Ryan in the kitchen mixing another batch of cookies, the baked ones are on a sheet cooling. This is a sight to behold, he is shirtless showing off his abs, his pant hang low on his waist. I run back upstairs before he notices me, change into a lace see-through top and short shorts, two can play this game of sexiness. I grab my sketch book and go back down.

"Hi" I greet sitting by the now clean island.

"H-, wow, Hi" he notices my outfit.

"Cookies, huh. Looks and smells good" I say pretending not to notice him staring.

"Not as good as you look right now" he walks up to me and kisses my forehead. "Or smell right now" he adds.

"I know" I say winking at him. He laughs and goes back to what he was doing. I sit on the stool watching him batter and mix fully concentrating. His muscles look so sexy with the way they are moving, I take my sketch book and draw the view before me. I love drawing, one of my hobbies. I draw Ryan as he is right now, messy hair, bulging biceps, beautiful abs, everything. I am busy with the finishing touches, I don't notice him come up behind me.

"I don't think I've ever looked any better" He says over my shoulder.

"Ahh" I almost fall off the stool but Ryan catches me by the waist.

"My hero".

"Anytime", he winks. "I haven't seen you draw in a while" he adds. He flips through my sketchbook.

"That's because If I draw while sad or angry, they tend be either depressing or very silly drawings".

"Why are this torn out?" he asked pointing to the torn out pages.

"I... Nothing" I answer. Truth is I'd drawn Ryan as a cow. I was angry at him at the time. I had also drawn him as a goat, snake, chicken, there's also a slimy lizard with Ryan's face, so many animals. I hid those pictures where nobody would ever find them, under my bed. Only a creep goes into someone's room and checks under their bed up. I'm glad I had torn them out. Would have to be explaining a lot now.

"Hmm hmm" he says going back to what he was doing.

The cookie get slightly warm and we enjoy them with a glass of milk in the cinema while watching a movie. Ryan and I cuddle together under a duvet, it's perfect. Today is perfect, I get to be with Ryan alone and eat cookies, what more can a girl ask for.