Not What I Expected

Part 11

"Take my mind off things for a little while baby," Chad murmured against her lips, "I don't want to think anymore."

"God," Nicole said as she threw the pizza crust on the plate and set the plate on the coffee table, "I couldn't eat another bite if I tried."

"You've become a lightweight over the past 13 years," Ryan commented with a smile, "The Nicole I knew could put back an entire large pizza on her own and still not gain a pound."

Nicole burst into laughter when he brought that up. The two of them used to have competitions to see who could eat their pizzas the fastest. They both loved pepperoni and mushroom, but they both ordered larges because they weren't willing to share one with each other.

"I'm still that way," Nicole replied, "It doesn't matter how much I eat, I still don't gain weight."

"Such a horrible problem to have," Ryan teased, "I don't know how you deal with it!"

Nicole punched him playfully in the shoulder without thinking and before she knew what was happening Ryan had her on her back and was tickling her. She cried out in fits of giggles and tried with all her might to push him off, but her struggle was futile.

"Ryan, please," Nicole laughed as she continued to try and push him away, "Please stop, I can't breath..."

"Why should I stop?" Ryan questioned with a smile on his face, "Give me one good reason."

"I can think of one," Nicole squealed, "Unless you want to explain this to Hudson when he comes downstairs and sees us in this precarious position, you might want to get off me."

Nicole grinned as Ryan pulled away from her and sat back up. He straightened out his t-shirt, ran a hand casually through his brown hair and reached for another slice of pizza. Nicole watched his every move, he was no longer beautiful or cute like he had been all those years ago. 40 looked amazing on this man sitting beside her. Now he was handsome and ruggedly sexy and he rocked the hell out of it. She desperately wanted to reach out and touch his face. The stubble on his face brought out the ruggedness. She could feel the hotness in her cheeks as she realized how much she still wanted Ryan.

Sure enough, not five minutes later Hudson stumbled down the stairs with his short little legs and walked into the living room with a little smile on his face. His hair was a mess and his cheeks were red and his eyes were tired. He stood in front of both of them with his little hands on his hips.

"Momma I's tired," Hudson said quietly, "It past bedtime."

"You're right baby," Nicole replied as she reached out and tried to smooth out his hair, "Let's get you into bed. Run upstairs and get your pyjamas on. I will be right up."

"Ok momma," Hudson said with a grin, "Thank you Mr. Ryan for the pizza. It was yummy."

"You're welcome little guy," Ryan said with a smile, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Hudson waved at Ryan and flashed his beautiful little smile before he turned around and ran up the stairs to get ready for bed.

"I shouldn't be too long," Nicole said quietly as she turned and looked at Ryan, "You can wait if you want, if you don't have anywhere else to be that is."

"I'll wait," Ryan replied quietly, "I have nowhere else to be."

"Ok, I'll be right back," Nicole said happily as she stood up and quickly made her way up the stairs.

Her heart beat in her chest excitedly as she reached the top of the stairs. She knew it was horrible to have the thoughts that she was having, but being with him now brought back every memory that she had had with Ryan. She remembered the way she felt with him and she was experiencing those feelings again now. She closed her eyes and tried to will the memories away, but when she closed them a different memory haunted her thoughts.