Page 27 of The Hookup (Firsts and Forever #13)

He quieted me with a gentle kiss, and I straddled his lap as he took a seat on the edge of my bed. “Please just let yourself enjoy this, baby. I’m here because I want to help you feel better, not to cause you more stress.”

“You’re definitely helping.” I cupped his face between my palms and kissed him again. Then it dawned on me that I was probably pretty gross right now, so I climbed off his lap and said, “Give me a minute, okay? I need to freshen up a bit.”

He said, “Take your time,” and I grabbed some clothes and hurried to the bathroom.

When I caught my reflection in the mirror above the sink, I muttered, “Fucking hell.” At least I’d showered this morning, but everything else needed help. I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and changed out of my pajamas before stepping back and taking another look at myself.

The long, black tunic sweater and leggings were a step up from the ratty pajamas, but I still looked pale and exhausted. No wonder he’d hopped on a plane. He probably thought I was minutes away from needing medical attention, and he wanted to be there to drive me to the hospital.

When I returned to my bedroom, I found he’d cleared some space on my desk and was unpacking a bunch of takeout containers. “I asked your friends to stop off at a couple of restaurants on the way here,” he said. “I’m starving, so I thought we could have dinner together.”

I took a seat on my desk chair while he sat on the edge of my bed, and I told him, “Thank you. This all looks amazing.” He’d recreated our first virtual date with my favorite sushi, salad, and cheesecake for dessert, in addition to getting several things for himself.

Ryder pulled a couple of mason jars from a bag and removed the lids before handing me one. After I took a sip of my mojito, I asked, “How long can you stay?”

“I have to fly back Saturday morning. Dwight needs Sunday off for a family event, and Tank’s about to head to the UK for several weeks.”

“Is he taking a vacation?”

“No, one of the sports magazines he works for commissioned him to write a series of articles comparing rugby culture in the UK and the US.”

“Well, since you’ve never been here before and your time is limited, let’s get an early start tomorrow. There’s a lot to see, so we should start with the classics, like the Golden Gate Bridge.”

He shook his head. “There’ll be other visits to San Francisco, and more chances to see the sights. This time, I’m here to make your life easier, not to give you more to do. I want to cook for you, run errands, do your laundry, give you a massage—just help you, in any way I can.”

“There’s no way I’d want you to fly all this way and end up doing my laundry.”

“When you visited me, you fed chickens, filled water troughs, cooked with me, and did all sorts of other things that would never appear on a vacation itinerary,” he said.

“That was fun, though.”

“It would mean a lot to me to know I took some of the pressure off of you, and that I left you in a better place by the end of this visit.”

I couldn’t really argue with that. “Okay. We’ll do it your way.”

“Excellent.”

“I’m excited about introducing you to the rest of my housemates, and Logan, and his family. But tonight, all I want to do is climb into bed after dinner and curl up in your arms.”

That made Ryder smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

Sure enough, after we finished our meal and cleaned up, we got ready for bed and slid under the covers. “This feels so good,” I murmured, as I snuggled against his chest and he wrapped himself around me.

“It really does.”

“I can’t thank you enough for dropping everything and coming here like this. It’s the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“I care about you, Hal, and your happiness is everything to me.”

His actions had already told me that, loud and clear.

The next morning, I woke to find a note from Ryder on my nightstand. It said: Hi, baby. I’m downstairs in the kitchen, come join me whenever you’re ready.

I stopped off in the bathroom to fix myself up a bit before heading downstairs. A familiar smell filled the air, which told me he’d baked his freakishly delicious blueberry muffins.

Everyone was gathered around the long picnic table in the backyard, including Logan and his husband and son. As soon as I stepped outside, Ryder stuck a cup of coffee in my hand, kissed my forehead, and said, “Good morning, baby. How’d you sleep?”

“Wonderfully, thanks to you. Did you do all of this?” The table was covered with several quiches, bowls of colorful fruit salad, three types of muffins, banana bread, and pitchers of orange juice.

“I wanted to make sure you ate a good breakfast, so I had some groceries delivered and made enough for your friends while I was at it. Kit was a big help. I couldn’t have done it without him.

” Kit smiled shyly from the other side of the table.

“I didn’t know what time you were gettin’ up, so I went with stuff that would hold at room temperature. ”

“Thank you. It all looks amazing.”

“Take a seat, and I’ll make you a plate.”

I slid in next to Logan and said, “I see you met Ryder.”

“I did, and he’s incredible.” I had to agree with that.

“Lark messaged me last night and told me about your surprise visitor. Then this morning, Ryder knocked on our back door, gave us a basket of freshly baked muffins, and asked us to join everyone for breakfast. We’ve been invited over for dinner tonight, too.

Apparently he’s making empanadas. Lucky and I are both very excited about that.

” He grinned at his husband, who was cutting a slice of quiche into bite-size bits for their son.

Lucky glanced up and flashed him an adoring smile in return.

I watched Ryder as he made his way around the table, selecting things he knew I liked while chatting and sharing laughs with my friends. He was perfectly relaxed, as if he’d known these people for years.

After a minute, he put a full plate in front of me and took a seat. “I made the banana bread with pecans, because you’re slightly allergic to walnuts,” he explained. “And I made sure not to include pineapple in the fruit salad, because it upsets your stomach.”

I said softly, “The way you pay attention and remember the most random things about me is nothing short of amazing.”

He grinned and kissed my forehead before saying, “Dig in. I know you’re going to tell me that’s way too much food, but I wanted to give you a chance to try all three kinds of muffins. We can share ‘em if you want.”

Not surprisingly, the food was absolutely delicious. After we ate, Vee, Lark, and Dylan insisted on cleaning up, since Ryder and Kit had done all the cooking. Ryder turned to me and asked, “What would you be doing now, if I wasn’t here?”

“I’d probably go to my studio on campus for a while. I’m still trying to come up with some ideas for a better collection.”

“Okay. So, let’s do that.”

“Won’t you be bored?”

“Definitely not. I’d love a chance to see your campus and the stuff you’ve been working on.”

I got ready to go and invited Kit to join us, since Ryder was splurging on a Lyft. My housemate had other plans though, so we set off on our own.

On the drive, I tried to gauge Ryder’s reactions to the city. I knew there was no way he could ever move here, but I still wanted him to like it.

“This is so different than the other big cities I’ve been to,” he muttered after a while, as he tilted his head to try to see the top of a tall apartment building. “It’s like they crammed as much as they possibly could into a limited amount of space.”

“That’s exactly right, actually. San Francisco is on the tip of a peninsula, so the only way to build was up.”

“That they did.”

I had to ask. “Do you hate it?”

“No. I think I’d feel kind of hemmed in if I lived here, but I guess you get used to it.” That was about what I’d expected him to say.

I asked our driver to drop us off on the far side of my campus.

It was filled with artwork done by former students, so I led Ryder on a meandering walk and showed him my favorite pieces.

He snapped a few selfies of the two of us along the way, and I said, “Those will probably end up as your only souvenir of your visit to San Francisco. I still wish you’d let me show you some of the sights. ”

“I’m seein’ all kinds of cool stuff, including this, which really speaks to me.” He gestured at a nearby sculpture. It was about twelve feet high, and it looked like a huge fork supported by a few strands of spaghetti.

When we reached my studio, he went straight to my collection. “Oh wow,” he murmured, “these are gorgeous. I’ve seen them on our video calls, but it’s different seeing them in person. I missed all these pretty details.” He indicated an intricate fold on a skirt.

“Thanks.”

“Tell me again why you aren’t excited about showing this collection.”

“Because it’s not original, on-trend, or particularly creative.”

“The fact that it’s beautiful has to count for something, though.”

I shrugged. “Not really. It’s a highly competitive field. In June, a whole new crop of aspiring designers are graduating and hitting the job market. All of us know how to make a pretty dress. I need a collection that’ll make people sit up and take notice, and this won’t cut it.”

“But you can see what’s good about it, can’t you?”

I stepped back and took a hard look at the six outfits.

The colors were black, white, and cream with a few pops of red, and the lines were clean and restrained.

As Ryder admired another piece with an unusual fold, I said, “It’s well-constructed, and I like the fact that it reflects part of my heritage.

I learned origami when I was a kid, and I wanted that to be my inspiration. ”

“That’s really cool.”

“It’s been done, though. Two other students in my class are planning to show stuff that’s similar to this.”

“If you don’t use these clothes for the fashion show, will all this effort go to waste?”