I snap my head toward the door to see who it is. I know who I want it to be.
Ryker pops his head in, and the grin on his face causes a rapid-fire beat in my chest.
"Hey there, Blondie." He walks all the way in and closes the door behind him. "I was hoping you were here."
"Oh, yeah?" He was looking for me? I tramp down the excitement building in my stomach.
"Do you realize that you never gave me your number?" He carefully places his satchel on top of the desk.
I scrunch up my face. "Uh. I didn't even think about it. You're right, but you could have gotten it if you really wanted to, right?" I mean, it's his thing.
"Blondie." He places his hands upon his chest and stumbles back a step. "I'm hurt that you'd think such a thing. I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy. I'll wait until you're ready to give it to me."
I shake my head but smile. "You're exactly the kind of guy who would find a girl's number by hacking into the school directory."
His eyebrow dips. "You wound me."
"Is this your way of asking for my number?"
He walks toward me with his hands in his jean pockets. "Nope." He pops the word as he says it.
"Uh, huh." I cross my arms. "Would you like my phone number, Ryker?"
He's standing next to me, staring out the window when he shrugs. "Nah. I've already got it."
I can't help it. I reach up and push him. From my angle in the seat, I know the force isn't strong, but he pretends it is as my hand moves away from his upper arm. He's got a huge smile on his face when he looks down at me.
That smile is real; it's not the smolder he pulls out when he's trying to get me to swoon. But a real smile, one I cause by just being me. It does things to me. Mostly, it causes warmth to pool deep in my belly.
I cock my head at him. "Do you really already have it?"
His return smile tells me all I need to know. "Nah, I wanted you to be the one to give it to me." He lifts a shoulder as if his reply isn't one of the sweetest things ever.
I smile up at him. Trying to tamper down my inner girl, who's doing a happy dance and squealing over him wanting my phone number.
He nods to the large sketch pad in my lap. I look down to study my work, a charcoal drawing of the inside of this very tower. I'm actually quite pleased with it.
"Will you draw me like one of your French girls?"
When I look up at him, his eyes are sparkling and he's sucking in a smile. My face scrunches, and I mentally try to figure out why the line sounds vaguely familiar.
"Please tell me you were able to watch movies back home. I know you were sheltered, but..." he trails off and scrubs a hand over his chin.
I can't fight back my laugh. He's cute.
I did watch movies all the time, and I remember what movie he's quoting now.
"As long as you promise to never let go." The relief on his face makes me roll my eyes good-naturedly.
I shake my head. "O ye, of little faith."
He smirks, but then something happens. We stare at each other, grins on our faces, saying nothing. My heart starts to beat harder as the moments tick on. He's smiling at me, I at him, and I couldn't be happier than at this moment. My body is drawn to his, though I don't let myself move. My fingers itch to reach for him, but I slide them underneath me, sitting on them and trapping them.
He snaps out of it first, his grin disappearing. Before my own can falter, he flashes me an all-knowing smirk. Whatever is about to fall from his mouth will probably be entertaining. He's so darn charming even his arrogance makes me smile. I'm almost always smiling when I'm around him.
"I came up here to find you for a reason." He balls his hands into fists at his sides.
"Yeah? What's that?" I place my sketch pad to my side, so it's no longer in my lap.
"Brace yourself, Sweetheart."
And I do, I grip the edge of the window beneath me, waiting patiently for his news.
He smiles slowly as he says, "I found your parents."
My eyes widen. I take a second, and then another, and then another to process what he said. "You mean..." I trail off, unable to let myself believe it.
"Yeah." He nods, understanding laced on his face.
It all sinks in. He found my birth parents.
Oh, my God.
I launch myself off the window and into his arms. I don't feel the floor under me, only Ryker's arms as he catches me. I pull him into me while I laugh, which is uncontrolled excitement mixed with shock. He's laughing too, most likely at my erratic behavior. I'm hugging him as if my life depends on it. Just as I start to worry that maybe I'm going overboard, I feel him hugging me back just as tightly.
I lean back, bringing us face to face. I gaze into his eyes. "Ryker. You have no idea how happy this makes me." I'm fearful my smile may split my face in two.
"Oh, I think I can guess, Blondie." He doesn't let me go. We just stand there, well he stands there, me in his arms, nearly nose to nose, smiling at one another.
His gaze drops to my mouth, and I bite my bottom lip on impulse. I want to kiss him so badly. I start to lean in just as my phone pings with an incoming text.
How such a tiny noise has the ability to break such a massive moment between us, I don't know, but his grip lightens as I slide down and out of his arms.
I ignore the alert on my phone. I'm way too interested in what he has on my parents to care. I take a few steps back and lean against the window.
"So, tell me everything." I pull a piece of wayward hair from my braid and twist it around my finger.
"Their names are Fred and Anna Corners. They live in Golden Springs, Texas."
I repeat their names, trying them out for the first time.
Ryker continues, "It's about a fifteen-hour drive from here."
Fifteen hours, that's so close yet so far away.
"They also know about you."
I straighten at this. "I would hope so, but explain." I motion with my hand for him to go on.
"I reached out to them. I needed to make sure it was the right Fred and Anna. So, they know you were looking for them."
"What... what does that mean?" I stumble over my words.
"It means they want to meet you." His voice is soft, but I can read the underlying tone. He's concerned.
I chew on my lip. They want to meet me.
Meet me.
This is nearly information overload. My overactive thinking is interrupted when Ryker clears his throat.
"Are you mad that I contacted them before I told you?" I slide my gaze to his worried face.
I think about it for a moment. "No, I'm not mad. I'm not sure I would have been able to reach out to them had you put the ball in my court. So, thank you."
He lets out a relieved breath and starts to say something just as Cameron walks through the door. He doesn't hang out with me a lot up here, but he occasionally does. I'm guessing he might have been the one texting me moments ago.
"There you are. I was waiting for you." He stops, then looks between Ryker and me. "What did I just walk in on?"
"Ryker found my parents."
"Shut the front door!" Cameron walks to the table and plops down on top of it, his feet on the chair.