“Forceps, lantern, flame thrower…” Nick spit out his words with laughter.
“Move, I’ll do it.” Janelle was getting impatient.
“No! I got this!” Ryan gasped between laughs, trying to pull himself back together.
He hesitantly pulled the diaper back, briefly exposing the green explosion that awaited clean-up.
“Oh!” Nick shouted loudly.
“Damn baby! What are they feeding you?” Ryan teased.
“Beer and eggs with a side of peas, obviously.” Nick laughed.
Janelle dove right in, cleaning up her daughter.
“Now stop. I can get it.” Ryan elbowed her out of the way. “They sell these baby wipes by the truckload, right?”
“Yeah. We buy that stuff by the pallet,” Nick volleyed, laughing. “We don’t mess around with the single tubs anymore.”
“You could always take her outside and hit her ass with the hose,” Ryan suggested.
“Nah, we save that for when she’s got the shit smeared all the way up her back,” Nick answered.
“I’ll take you both outside and hit you with the hose,” Janelle warned. I couldn’t stop laughing at their banter.
Ryan had the baby all cleaned up and was wrestling with the new diaper when he told his dad and brother to pay up. He handed Sarah off to Janelle.
I was standing with my arms folded when Ryan sauntered over to me. “Next one of those is all yours.” He cracked me hard on the butt.
“Go wash your hands. It’s time for dinner,” Ellen ordered.
We were gathered at the dinner table when Nick started in on me.
“Taryn, Mom tells me you haven’t seen any of my brother’s movies.” Nick leered at me.
“I think I’m the only one on the planet who hasn’t,” I joked. “He thought I was lying when I told him that.”
Ryan kicked me under the table so I kicked him back. I clipped him right in the ankle by accident and he winced from the pain. He pinched me in retaliation.
“We should watch it tonight. Break her in.” Nick pointed his dinner fork at me.
“You can do whatever you want, but I’m not watching it,” Ryan stated firmly.
“What do you say, Taryn? You want to watch Seaside?” Nick asked. “See what a big-time actor he is?”
Ryan scoffed at his comment.
“No, that’s okay.” I knew that it would make Ryan uncomfortable. “Maybe some other time.”
“You should watch it. It’s really good!” Janelle added. “I’ve read all the books too. Then you’ll know why all the women worship him,” she said teasingly.
I looked over at Ryan and smiled. I knew why they worshipped him, but their reasons were completely different from my own.
“I’ll watch it sometime, but not tonight. Besides Nick, Ryan tells me that you’re a lousy poker player. I was curious to see if he was right.” I felt Ryan squeeze my thigh.
After we cleared dinner away, we started playing cards. Ryan was right; Nick couldn’t bluff his way out of a paper bag if his life depended on it.
Needless to say, the poker game didn’t last too long before egos got in the way.
We played a different board game, which was a lot more fun. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I think I fit right in with his family and their teasing, although Nick seemed harsh on Ryan sometimes.
Little Sarah was hungry and needed a bottle.
“Give her here,” Ryan requested, removing Sarah from her grandmother's arms.
The visions of him holding and feeding her added one more reason for worshipping him to my private list.
It was close to midnight when we finally crawled into bed together. I was tired from the flight and the delicious dinner that filled my stomach.
Ryan’s bed was only a full-size; not quite as roomy as the queen-sized bed we shared at home even though we never slept apart in it. Hmm… at home… the thought of those words made me smile.
Ryan’s body molded around mine, keeping me snuggled and warm in my comfortable cocoon. My back rested on his chest as it does every night.
Ryan huffed in my ear. He was grouchy and restless.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” I whispered.
“I can’t sleep.” He tugged on my T-shirt. “Can you take this off? I need to feel your skin.”
I hesitated. At home we always slept naked, but we weren’t at home.
“Don’t worry, my mom won’t come in here.”
I took my top off and tossed it to the floor.
“Ah, that’s better!” he snickered. “This is sort of exciting! Might get busted by the parents having a naked girl in my bed.”
I giggled softly when he squeezed me. I understood what he was talking about. I felt like a teenager breaking the house rules.
“We’ll have to be quiet then,” I whispered flirtatiously.
He rubbed his stubbly chin on my shoulder before opening his mouth to playfully bite me. It made me giggle again.
“I love it when you bite me!”
He twined our fingers together.
“I know,” he whispered. “And it also drives you crazy when I run my nose down your neck.”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “And it drives you insane when I bite your earlobe.”
I turned over to face him.
“My parents think I’m sleeping over at Jenny’s house tonight. Are you sure your parents are sleeping?”
He smiled and laughed softly, growling when he palmed my rear in his hand.
“Maybe tomorrow night we can go parking in that fancy car of yours,” I teased.
“I’ll have to do you on the hood,” he groaned seductively. “We can’t go parking in the Shelby tomorrow. We have a limo taking us to a hockey game, remember? How about this? If I promise to respect you in the morning, will you give me your virginity tonight?”
“Is it going to hurt?” I shyly asked, batting my eyes.
“I’ll be very gentle, I promise.”
The sound of Ryan’s mom clanging pots and pans down in the kitchen woke me up. I had promised her I’d help since she had planned to cook a feast.
“Ellen, this pie is ready to go in the oven.” I slid the glass pie dish out of my way and wiped the flour off of the recipe card. “What’s next?”
She handed me another recipe card.
“This is Ryan’s favorite,” she whispered.
“What’s Ryan’s favorite?” Ryan asked. He was sitting at the dining table with his legs stretched out, scanning through his cell phone.