I posted Chapter 1 and 2 in the last two weeks. Each week, I’m going to try to post another chapter of my short stories. These stories were fun to write, so I want to share these amazing characters to my readers. 

Here are the links to Chapter 1 and 2, so please read first before continuing.             Chapter1

Chapter2

Best Friends

Chapter Three

The day consisted of hiking the trails of the nearby lake park and a picnic. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves-even Ryan. Kat couldn’t help but notice how Jenna kept migrating close to Ryan every chance she got. She wasn’t sure if she was the only one who noticed and what Jenna’s boyfriend thought about her flirting. Apparently, Ryan seemed to enjoy the attention from her.

Kat’s attention shifted to Jeff and his new girl. She was disgusted with how clingy Angel truly was toward Jeff. She held his arm and acted like a damsel in distress as she hiked. Jeff was more than willing to be her knight in shining armor, as he steadied and guided her through the narrow trails. For the life of her, Kat couldn’t understand why guys were attracted to such pathetic women.

Besides the annoying people around her, including Ryan, she enjoyed the warm breeze and the fresh country scent. She lived in downtown Chicago, so this tranquility was definitely a nice change. Kat was determined to stay to herself and allow nature do its magic on her. It wasn’t until she heard Jenna scream and grab onto Ryan’s arm that she knew she had enough. Kat was well aware that Jenna had pretended to lose her balance to have Ryan’s arms around her to steady her. It was the oldest trick in the book.

Kat deliberately walked to Ryan and said, “Babe, come here. Let’s take pictures by this spot.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the crowd.

“Hey, Kat, this is fun, isn’t it?” Ryan asked, smiling innocently.

She rolled her eyes and when she knew they were away from earshot, she said, “Jenna is all over you. I know you can see that.”

Ryan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “She’s a looker, Kat. I’m enjoying the attention.”

“Clearly!” Kat hissed. “We’re supposed to be in love, remember? I mean, you went through this elaborate story of serenading me—which by the way, I was not prepared for—and now, you’re giving me no attention.”

“Oh, are you jealous, darling? Maybe you miss me?” Ryan teased, watching her squirm from frustration.

“You’re impossible. Look, we had a deal, okay? Don’t mess it up. Besides, I can tell that Jeff is jealous of you, and I keep catching him looking at me.” Kat smiled at the thought of Jeff still having feelings toward her.

“Who cares? He’s an ass.”

“Again, we had a deal. Just don’t screw it up. Please!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll behave. I promise.” Ryan grabbed her hand and led her back to the group, giving her tender kisses on top of her head along the way.

When they returned to the cabin that evening, Kat was exhausted. She immediately jumped into the shower, needing to wash the sweat off. Once in their room, she changed into a clean pair of shorts and tank. While she was freshening up, she heard Ryan laughing and mingling with everybody. She had no idea why that was bothering her. He was clearly being friendly with everyone, and it was obvious they all loved him. And why wouldn’t they? He was very charismatic and had the gift of winning everybody over, especially women.

When Kat heard the knock at the door, she assumed it was Ryan. “Come in,” she yelled.

To her surprise, Jeff walked in, closing the door behind him. “Hey, Katrina. I’m glad I got a moment alone with you.”

Kat was suddenly nervous, not used to having Jeff in such close proximity since their break up. “What do you want? I don’t think you should be here.”

“Why not? Two friends can’t catch up?”

“I’d hardly call us friends, Jeff. Besides, I’m sure your girl, Angel, would not like you to be in here.”

“What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” he replied, walking toward her.

Kat began taking steps back, needing the distance from him. She had no idea what he was doing here, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. “You need to leave, Jeff. I know Ryan wouldn’t like you being in here at all.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Kat and Jeff swung their heads around to see Ryan standing in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. “Is there anything you want with my girlfriend, Jeff?”

Kat watched the two men and was astonished by the difference between the two. As tall as Jeff was, Ryan still had an inch or two on him. Where Jeff liked to have his hair nicely groomed, Ryan preferred the messy look. Kat was used to seeing Ryan in jeans and t-shirt, where Jeff typically dressed up. After the hike, Jeff had changed back into his kakis and his polo shirt, while Ryan remained in his shorts and t-shirt. Ryan never was the one to particularly care about his looks, but Kat clearly remembered Jeff spending more time in front of a mirror than her.

Ryan continued to glare at Jeff. “Do you need anything, Jeff?”

“No harm done, man. Just checking on her. We were close at one point, if you remember.” Jeff chuckled under his breath.

“That was history. I want you out of our room, now.” Ryan stepped in and opened the door wider, gesturing him to exit.

Without causing a scene, Jeff strolled out, and Kat released a sigh of relief. She had no idea why she had been holding her breath.

Closing the door, Ryan turned to Kat. “Why did you let him in?”

She could tell he was annoyed when she noticed the familiar frown on his forehead. “I didn’t let him in. He walked in,” she answered.

“He shouldn’t be walking into our room like that. It’s completely disrespectful. He’s clearly trying to make his moves on you.”

“No, he wasn’t. Wait, do you think? Do you think he’s still interested in me?” Kat wasn’t sure if she should be happy or annoyed, especially since his girlfriend was downstairs.

“Stop. Just stop. Here’s how it’s going to be. You want me to play your devoted boyfriend? Fine, I agreed to it, but you better be playing the devoted girlfriend.” Ryan came closer to her and lifted her chin up to look at him. “Do you understand? I won’t be playing this game of yours if it’s just one sided.”

Kat had no idea why her heart was beating out of control as his ocean, blue eyes pierced into her. She had known Ryan her whole life for God’s sake. But, for some strange reason, this was not the same Ryan she had known all those years. This Ryan was a confident, prideful man, who was not going to allow anybody to make a fool of him.

Trying to duck past him, Kat was surprised when he braced her against the wall. “I didn’t get my answer.”

“Why are you doing this? I won’t make a fool of you, okay? It’s only two more days, and this charade will be over.” Kat shoved him away and ran out of their room. Not understanding her behavior, she sprinted straight to the bar and chugged a shot of the whisky.

Later in the night, as the men played pool, Jeff turned to Ryan and said, “I’m still surprised to see you and Katrina together, Ryan.”

“Why would you be surprised?” Ryan asked, as he took another gulp of his beer.

“I mean if you two were going to hook up, why wait all these years? Why wouldn’t you have hooked up prior to this?”

Ryan laughed while Kat held her breath. “What makes you so sure that we didn’t hook up through the years?”

Jeff almost choked on his beer, and Kat had to walk away to pour herself another drink. “Nah, I doubt that. I’m just surprised because, frankly, I thought you were gay all this time.”

This time, it was Kat’s turn to choke on her drink. The room became silent as everybody’s attention shifted to their conversation.

Ryan smirked and asked, “Why would you think that?”

“Well, Katrina is clearly hot. No man would wait all these years to finally make his move on such a hot girl.”

Ryan remained calm and collected as he finished his beer. “Well, that’s where you and I differ, Jeff. You see Kat as a hot girl. I see her as so much more.”

Kat closed her eyes, processing what Ryan had just said. She moved toward them and took his hand. Staring straight at Jeff, she said, “Ryan is nowhere near gay, Jeff. I should know.” Smiling seductively, she turned back to Ryan and softly kissed him, seducing him. She caught a hint of surprise in Ryan’s eyes when she finally pulled away.

“Well, that’s our cue. Time for us to go to bed,” Ryan announced and guided her to their room.

“Thank you, Ryan,” she said when alone in the room. “What you said and did downstairs…well, I appreciate it.”

“Anything to get that kiss from you, darling,” Ryan teased.

Kat rolled her eyes, grabbed her toiletry, and hurried to the bathroom down the hall. She noticed Ryan had the same idea because he headed toward the second bathroom. Kat wondered if maybe she had drunk too much alcohol because she was feeling lightheaded and was having difficulty focusing.

By the time she got back, Ryan was already stretched out on the bed, his eyes closed. She immediately noticed that he had taken his shirt off and was wearing only his shorts to bed. It’s not like she hadn’t seen Ryan shirtless before, but for some reason, her insides were doing somersaults as he filled the full size bed. Blaming it on the alcohol, Kat forced herself to look away.

“You sleeping on the bed?” Kat asked, wondering how she would be able to sleep next to him with such close proximity.

“Where else would I sleep?” he asked, opening his eyes to look at her. “Nice pajamas by the way. Sexy.”

“What’s wrong with my PJ’s? They’re comfortable!” Kat looked down at her black and white, plaid pajamas. They were her favorite pair. Granted, the matching top and bottom were hideous to look at, but she didn’t wear them to feel sexy. Focusing back on the task at hand, she continued, “You can sleep on the floor. I’ll give you the comforter, and I even brought a sleeping bag.”

“I’m not sleeping on that hard, wooden floor. If you have a problem sharing this bed, you can sleep down there.”

“We can’t both fit on there,” she whined.

“Why not?”

“We’d both be on top of one another. There’s no room, Ryan.”

“Again, I don’t have a problem with this. You figure out what you want to do. I’m crashing. Good night,” Ryan said, turning away from her.

Kat wondered what happened to the nice Ryan who had just defended her downstairs. She stared at the bed a few more minutes, contemplating what to do. Giving up, she crawled on the other side of the bed and squeezed in next to him. For several minutes, she remained stiff. Then, reminding herself that it was only Ryan, she closed her eyes and soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

That’s all for now, y’all! Chapter four will be posted next week. 

If you’re interested in continuing with this story or any other short stories, you can get Loving You Hurts So Good on Amazon. It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited. Amazon

If you’re interested in reading any other books, here’s my Amazon page. Link