The next couple of weeks went by quickly. Jason hadn’t come back yet, and none of us were complaining. The weather took an abrupt cold turn and it snowed a week after we got back from the camping trip. That was part of the charm of living in Canada though. The weather changed so quickly that you could be sunbathing one day and wearing a parka the next.
Ryan and I were getting closer as every day went by. The only thing that bothered me was that he still hadn’t revealed his secret to me. But even that was only a minor annoyance. He never pressured me into anything that I wasn’t comfortable with, and I was getting more confident every day.
On a cold Saturday, Ryan decided to take me ice-skating. I was not at all sold on the idea, but he insisted that it would be fun. When I reluctantly admitted that I’d never been skating before, he just said that that was all the more reason for us to go.
So that was how I ended up at the ice rink with him on that Saturday afternoon. I was looking dubiously at the skates in my hand while Ryan tugged me over to the bench so we could change out of our shoes. Once I had put my skates on, I stood up and nearly toppled over.
Ryan wrapped his arm around my waist and chuckled. “Come on, clumsy, let’s get you on the ice.”
I balked. “If I can’t balance here, how the hell am I supposed to manage it on a very slippery surface?”
“I won’t let you fall. Come on, it’s fun!” he said.
I grumbled but allowed him to help me onto the ice. I clung to his arm for dear life as he started to skate slowly, pulling me with him. As he went around with me a few times, I gradually loosened my hold, but I still refused to let go of him.
After we had skated for fifteen minutes, he glided to a stop. He turned to face me and grabbed both of my hands in his. “Okay, now that you’ve gotten used to the feeling of the skates, let’s get you moving on your own.” He started skating backwards, pulling me along with him. I started imitating the movements of his feet and I found myself skating on my own by the time we’d gone around two more times.
I looked up to grin at Ryan and suddenly lost my balance. I stumbled forward and would’ve fallen if Ryan hadn’t caught me in his arms. He smirked down at me. “I know I’m hot, but you don’t need to keep falling for me.”
I rolled my eyes as I straightened up. “That was so corny,” I told him.
He grinned cheekily. “Yeah, but it’s true too.” He put his arm around my waist again. “But you can keep falling, because I’ll always be there to catch you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That was corny too. But very sweet,” I added.
We skated for the next hour and then we changed back into our regular shoes. Ryan was fiddling nervously with his keys as we started walking back to his car and I looked at him curiously. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I was just, um, well, I was wondering if you wanted to come meet my mom? She told me to invite you over for dinner.”
I stopped in my tracks. “When did she tell you this?”
“Um, two days ago?” he said it more like a question.
“And you’re just telling me this now?” I asked incredulously.
He gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
I groaned. “I wish you’d given me more warning. I mean, what if she doesn’t like me? I don’t know how I should act around her. Does she know about Jason? What will we talk about?” I was starting to panic.
Ryan pulled me against his chest and stroked my hair. “Shh, calm down angel. She’ll love you, you should act normal, she knows a little about Jason, and you’ll talk about whatever you want.”
I blew out a breath. “I kind of hate you right now,” I whined.
His chest rumbled as he chuckled. “No you don’t. So is that a yes, you’ll come to dinner?”
I nodded. “I’ll make you pay for this later,” I warned him.
“Oh I know.”
When we pulled up to his house, I was almost shaking with nerves. Ryan got out of the car and came around to open my door. He held my trembling hand and gave me a reassuring hug. “You’ll do fine, Sammy. Just relax.”
“Easier said then done,” I mumbled. But then I sighed and stepped out of his embrace. “Come on, let’s go inside. It’s freaking freezing out here.”
We went into the house and Ryan took my coat. “Mom! We’re here!” he called out.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” his mother called back.
Ryan took me into the living room and a moment later, a tall woman came from the direction of the kitchen. She had the same hair color as her son, but her eyes were a chocolate brown instead of hazel. She was beautiful and looked younger then I knew she had to be.
She walked up to me with a big smile. “You must be Samantha,” she said.
“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. MacDonald,” I said nervously.
“Oh, please call me Nancy. I don’t like formalities. Why don’t you and Ryan have a seat in here? I’ll be back in a moment, I just need to check on something in the kitchen.” She hurried off back in the direction she had come from.
I sat down on the sofa and Ryan sat right next to me. He took my hand and rubbed circles on the back of it with his thumb. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“I guess not. But we haven’t really talked yet,” I replied.
“Everything will be fine. I’m right here.”
I laid my head on his shoulder. “Good, because otherwise I’d be running out of her like a bat out of hell.”
Nancy came back in after a minute and sat on the chair facing the sofa. “So, Samantha, Ryan told me you have a younger brother?”
“Yeah, Charlie. He turned fifteen about two months ago, but he likes to pretend that he’s my big brother instead of my younger one.”
She laughed. “Oh yes, boys are like that. They think they have to protect their females, no matter how old they are. Ryan is the same way with me. Sometimes it feels like I’m the child and he’s the parent.”
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not that bad,” he muttered.
I snorted. “Hate to break it to you Ryan, but you are. I’ve seen how protective you get of me. Or are you forgetting that girl that you flattened when we went camping?”
Nancy turned her attention to her son. “You did what?”
Ryan ducked his head. “Nothing ma’am.”
“You didn’t tell your mother about that?” When he shook his head, I sighed. “When we went camping, some crazy girl tried to get into our tent. I woke up and screamed and Ryan jumped up and tackled her to the ground before I even registered fully what was going on.”
“Hmmm,” was Nancy’s response. “I don’t really approve of violence, but it sounds like it was justified this time.”
I poked Ryan in the side. “If your mom doesn’t approve of violence, then why are you so violent?”
He squirmed and I was small enough to enjoy his discomfort. This was what he got for springing this on me at the last minute.
“Oh, it’s not his fault entirely,” Nancy said. “He got that from his father. I loved that man more then anything, but he had a temper on him that rivaled a grizzly bear.” There was a hint of sadness in her voice when she spoke about her late husband.
“Gee, I don’t have any idea what that’s like,” I said dryly.
“Are you two going to gang up on me the whole time?” Ryan grumbled.
“No dear, we’ll move onto embarrassing stories eventually,” his mother said with a smile.
He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “What have I gotten myself into?”
I rubbed his back. “You have no one to blame but yourself,” I told him.
He raised his head to mock glare at me. “Thanks for the sympathy.”
The dinner went surprisingly well. I found myself completely relaxing with Nancy. She was so warm and friendly that I couldn’t help but like her. The dinner was delicious and when it was over, she made Ryan do the dishes while we talked in the living room. She told me some funny stories about Ryan when he was younger and I was laughing when he came into the room and sat beside me. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Your mom was just telling me about the time that you insisted as dressing up as a princess for Halloween.”
He grimaced. “Oh god, please tell me she didn’t show you pictures. I could’ve sworn I burned all the damn things.”
“Relax, you did. Your mom said that when you were fourteen, you went through the house and burned any incriminating photos from when you were younger.”
“Only because I knew that she would try and bring them out at times like this,” he said while waving his hand between me and his mom.
I pouted a little. “I would’ve liked to see the pictures.”
Ryan traced my cheek with his fingers. “You can see the other baby photos if you want. I was a pretty cute kid.”
“Hmm, I wonder what happened?” I said cheekily. Then I squealed when he leaned in to nip at my ear. I slapped his shoulder. “That wasn’t very nice!”
He shrugged and nuzzled my neck. “Neither was what you said.”
“Fine, you’re very handsome and I can see why you would have been a cute kid. Better?”
He kissed my lips. “Yes.”
I looked over to see Nancy grinning at us and I flushed and tried to push Ryan’s head away from me, but he stubbornly refused. “Ryan, your mother is still in the room,” I hissed.
Nancy laughed. “Don’t be shy on my account. It’s nice to see Ryan act like this with a girl. He’s never brought anyone home to meet me before and it warms my heart to see how much you two obviously care about each other.” She stood up. “I’m going out with some friends tonight, so I’ll see you both later. Sammy, it was wonderful to meet you.”
“You too, Nancy. I’ll be taking you up on that shopping trip.”
She grinned. “Good. Ryan, behave yourself while I’m gone.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said as he stood up to kiss her cheek. “Have fun and be careful.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “See what I mean? He likes to think he’s the parent. By guys.”
Once she was gone, Ryan sat back down beside me. “Want to watch a movie?”
“Yeah, but you owe me a chick flick after that stupid horror movie you made me watch last week. I still jump whenever the phone rings now.”
He chuckled. “I just wanted you to want to hide in my arms all night.”
“Whatever, we’re still watching a chick flick.”
He grumbled a bit, but complied and he chose one of his mom’s movies and put it on. We curled up on the couch together and started to watch it. Partway through, something started bugging me. I tried to ignore it, but Ryan obviously noticed, because he paused the movie and turned to look at me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
I bit my lip, debating on whether or not I should say anything. Finally, I decided to go for it. “Ryan, are you ever planning on telling me that you’re Fluffy?”
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BAM!
Bet you weren't expecting her to figure it out and ask him, right? Next chapter will pretty much explain everything about him being a shifter and all of that. I'm actually really looking forward to writing it and sharing it with you guys so that you can see why my story is different then any others that I've read so far.
Dedication goes to isaidlalala for the ice skating idea. There were other good ideas, but I needed one that went with colder weather. That part about Canadian weather is completely true. One year it was like, +20 out one day and then it was about -1 the next. Gotta love living in Northern Canada!
No chapter question, but the comment that makes me laugh the most will get a dedication for the next chapter. Why? Because I like to laugh. Enjoy!