The PI(E) Truce: Ryder Twins Book 1, page 12
“I didn’t say start!” He calls out, jogging after me.
“We’ll call it even!” I shout back. Running in dry sand is not easy, I tell you. So it doesn’t take very long for Carson to catch up to me.
We’re neck in neck—or head and neck, since the guy is six feet tall, give or take an inch—and just as I pass a vendor, I trip on a small hill of sand and fall stomach-down onto it.
“Diana!”
I find myself laughing as I pull myself up to a sitting position because I can’t remember the last time I felt so… light. Without a care in the world. When was the last time I felt that way?
“I’m okay,” I assure him in between laughs. “It doesn’t hurt.”
He bends down to my level. “Your wrist isn’t hurting?”
Shaking my head, I reach for his knee and snake my hand around to the back of his ankle. “I am just fine.” With one motion and two hands, I reach for his foot and trip him. Carson falls on his back with a light thump—dry sand doesn’t hurt as much as wet sand, luckily.
“Warn a guy, don’t you,” he jokes.
I move so that I’m lying myself next to him, turning on my side so I face him. I couldn’t care if I got sand in my hair. “Where’s the fun in that?”
He turns onto his side so he faces me, and our faces are merely inches from each other. “You are something else when the whole world isn’t on your shoulders.”
And the butterflies are back. My face is already splitting in half with how big my smile is. “Is that a good thing?” I ask, my breathing getting heavier with each second.
Maybe I’m imaging this but Carson moves much closer. In fact, so close that our noses are almost touching. Is it really going to happen? Please let this be real because I will be pissed if a beach ball interrupts this.
If this isn’t happening, send me a sign.
A beat passes, and nothing happens. Well, nothing except for the swift movement where he closes the distance between us and I freeze. Wait, I wanted this to happen. Why am I not doing anything?
Before I can reciprocate, he pulls back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t read that correctly, did—”
I bring my hand to the back of his neck and pull his soft lips to mine, doing what I should have done when he made the first move. Gosh, I’ve been wanting to do that since the maze on my birthday.
Thankfully, he kisses me back, with much more confidence and I find myself melting into it. His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me right to his chest and I melt into his touch, wishing that he doesn’t let go.
I’m staying in the moment. Not letting another fear get in the way of this because I know one thing: he wanted this too.
So why should I try to talk myself out of it?
22
Together
Carson
My memory can be spacious, but that kiss has taken over my entire brain.
It only happened about an hour ago and I still wish that stupid beach ball didn’t spray sand all over us. I couldn’t even find it in me to care that I got sand all over my jacket.
But the moment was ruined. That didn’t stop my brain from spinning in circles at the events.
I kissed Diana Blanco.
I fucking kissed her and she kissed me back!
She wanted to kiss me. This almost feels like a high school crush even though we’re both twenty-year-olds in our third year of university. But the giddiness of kissing the girl I’ve fallen for still feels the same. Except, while my teenage self was filled with nothing but nerves, this time around I feel a sort of coziness.
We’re now sitting at a bench on the pier, looking over the very same beach. I don’t want to break the silence between us, but we’ve literally said nothing else since that happened.
All we did was grab sodas—I’m halfway through a water bottle while she’s slowly sipping a cherry Coke, to no one’s surprise—and place ourselves on this bench.
One minute we were talking about our biggest secrets and the next…nothing but the sound of silence fills the space between us.
A silence that one of us has to break. And it might just be me even if it’s with something stupid.
“What do we do now?” Like this. Yeah, that’s a question I just asked. Way to fucking go, Ryder. My nerves are bouncing inside my head like a crazy table tennis ball because I am truly speechless.
We both are.
“It’s only one, right? We've still got time,” she responds, her gaze still aimed at the beautiful view in front of us. Though my eyes only focus on her.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, Diana.”
She sighs, shifting herself so that her entire body faces me. Her hair still has some bits of sand and I reach my hand out to dust it all off. Diana doesn’t say anything for a while but once I move my hand away from her hair, she speaks.
“Maybe we should just start walking,” she suggests before standing up from the bench. Wow, she’s desperate to avoid this topic, isn’t she? “What?”
Oh shit, I must have been staring.
“I’ve never been here, you know,” she continues. “Might as well see what this pier has to offer.”
“Okay.” I stand up from the bench and follow her.
We pass a couple of the restaurants before finally reaching the farther end of the pier, away from the screaming kids on the rollercoaster and wannabe rappers. Diana leans forward on the railing, soda still in hand, twirling the top of the bottle between her fingers.
“I don’t know.” Her eyes are trained on the top half of the bottle she’s fiddling with. “I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. It’s a little scary.”
“Scary?” I arch a brow.
“Not knowing what to do next,” she clarifies. “I mean, I went from calling you an overgrown child, which I’m sorry about, by the way, to now and—”
“Let me guess,” I interrupt, dismissing the small apology. “It’s terrifying?”
She nods and her hazel eyes finally stare into me. “Very. It’s easy when I can just figure this all out on my but I can’t now.”
Diana takes a breath to continue but I hold my hand up. “Sorry, but can I stop you right there, again?”
“Yeah.”
“All on your own? That seems exhausting,” I remark.
She shrugs helplessly. “I’ve managed to do a lot on my own. It’s not that hard.”
“But you don’t have to. You should never feel that you have to do everything on your own, no matter what. If you want to, that’s a whole different scenario.”
“I can take care of myself, you know,” she argues.
“There’s no doubt about that,” I agree. “But there’s a lot of people in your corner who would do anything to help you. Including me.”
Her eyes widen slightly.
“Do you know the one thing I admired about you most?” I ask her. “That you wouldn’t visibly judge me and it made telling you stuff a lot easier than it would with someone like Jake. Or even my sister.” And those two have known me longer than Diana. I don’t tell either of them about how it feels to not do something for myself.
But I told Diana.
“But I’m—”
“Not great with talking?” I had a hunch when she kept herself silent around me after the pie incident. “I don’t want you to feel scared to talk to me. If that’s the case, then I’m not doing my job of being a somewhat decent person.”
“I’m not,” she tells me. “I’m just worried this”—she motions her hand between us—“could be too fast.”
“Then we’ll go slow.” I take her free hand in my own, holding it lightly since it’s her right hand that I know still flares up. “We talk about it, and we figure it out. I want to figure this all out, too, but I want to do it with you.”
She stops twirling the bottle with her left hand but keeps a firm grasp on it.
“I want to do it with you too,” she says softly. I could kiss her again right now but I hold myself back. “But I’m scared.”
“Then we’ll be scared together.” I smile softly at her, hopefully assuring her that she’s not alone. “Besides, if we can get through calculus, then I think we can survive anything.” I wink and a small laugh escapes her lips.
“Yeah, nothing was tougher than optimization,” she groans.
“We’ll have to do it all over again for the final,” I remind her, to which she shakes her head vehemently.
“Fuck. That.”
I shake my head and we both start laughing.
“Could it really be that easy?”
“Talking? Simple. Just like this.” I let go of her hand, stepping closer to her. Placing one hand on her cheek, I inch myself closer to her. “Can I kiss you?”
Her breath tickles my nose and she nods. I close the distance between us and she pulls me closer with the straps of my sweatshirt until there’s just about no space left between us.
It doesn’t feel fast to me. If anything, it feels fucking right. There will be times when we don’t agree on random shit but something tells me that, regardless of what happens, we’ll be alright.
Besides, this is only the beginning.
Hard to believe that this all started with a pie to the face, right?
Epilogue - Full Circle Moments
Diana
December
“You sure he’s not gonna see me here?” I ask Jake before stepping inside the closet, along with Lucia and Carly.
“Don’t worry,” he assures me. “It’s dark in there and he won’t see you girls.”
After finishing my finals this morning, a lightbulb lit up in my head and I had to relay it to Jake—because it’s a surprise for Carson. Sure, it requires me to hide in my boyfriend’s bedroom closet, but it will be so worth it.
Everyone else has left for the holidays except for us—me, Jake, Lucia, Carly, and Carson—so I planned this little hurrah to celebrate the end of the winter term. And for the dreaded calculus finally ending.
Thank the fucking gods that Scott’s useless lectures are over. Though I have to give him credit—if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have spent all that time with Carson. We still kept up with those sessions—though he started calling them study dates instead.
“Thanks, anyway.”
“So I bring him here and you will attack him with the pie?”
I nod.
“What a full circle moment,” he mutters, mostly to himself.
“Yeah,” Lucia agrees from the other side of the closet. “Nothing says romance like exacting revenge.”
“I’m confused,” Carly says, holding the pie with both hands. “What revenge?”
Jake and Lucia then explain to Carly the day Carson and I met and she chuckles in response. “That does not sound like Carson. I’m supposed to be the troubled twin.”
“Not troubled enough,” Jake mutters. Carly reaches over me to punch Jake’s arm with her free hand. “You know what? I’m going to leave you girls here and not earn any more bruises from Rocky Balboa here.”
Jake slides the closet door closed and the three of us sit alone in the dark. At least, until Lucia speaks up.
“Uh, Carly? Your arm is tangled in my braids.”
“Sorry! I’m trying not to get meringue all over them.”
I pull out my phone from my back pocket and turn on the flashlight, allowing the girls to see better. One of Lucia’s braids is wrapped partially around Carly’s elbow and the two girls untangle it the best they can. I jump in to help but I’m not sure that made the process any faster.
I grab the pie from Carly’s hand with my left hand and try to balance it with one hand while waiting for Carson to take the bait.
Almost instantly, I hear shuffling from the other side of the door and I shush Carly and Lucia.
“Jake, why did you leave Bailey’s gift in my room?” Carson took the bait.
“Because it was easier to hide in your closet! You have all those sweatshirts.”
“When was the last time you saw my closet? Because I haven’t seen half of those things in the past month.”
My cheeks heat up, knowing damn well that half of his hoodies have surprisingly ended up in my room. They’re super comfortable, okay? Especially the red one I’m wearing.
“Fine,” Carson huffs as he slides the closet door open. I don’t give him enough time to react before…
Splat!
The pretty face is now covered in pie. Yes, I finally got him! I jump and laugh in joy and celebrate, while Carly’s head pops out of the closet, taking in the scene. She joins me in my laughter and Lucia follows shortly after.
Carson wipes the filling from his eyes and gives me a questioning look. It’s hard to take someone covered in pie from the neck up seriously. I’m holding back giggles to the best of my ability but—as handsome as he is—my boyfriend looks so fucking goofy with lemon meringue pie all over his face.
I’m still not used to calling him my boyfriend, by the way. I went from calling him an overgrown child back in July to calling him my boyfriend.
“I thought you were Jake right there,” I say. He can’t even get mad at me for this.
Thankfully, he doesn’t. Instead, he just shakes his head while licking some of the meringue from his mouth. My eyes dart to his mouth quickly before moving back up to his eyes. Keep your composure, D.
He chuckles. “Oh, I see how it is, D.”
“How what is?” I ask innocently.
“You can’t fool me.”
I shake my head. “I’m not fooling anyone.”
“Just gloating about your revenge.”
“What does gloating look like?” I question with my chin raised.
That smirk I’ve come to know so well appears. “Why don’t you step closer and find out?”
“Okay,” Lucia’s voice interjects. “I’m going to step outside right now because I refuse to get any pie filling on me with God knows what you’ll do next.”
“Same,” Carly agrees, following Lucia out of the bedroom. Jake is the last one to leave. While walking out, he mutters: “I can’t look at pie the same way since that movie,” but I don’t ask what he’s talking about.
I don’t care, either because now it’s just me and Carson. Alone. In his room.
“How long have you wanted to do that?” He asks.
I grin mischievously. “Since three hours ago.”
He raises a brow, not completely believing me.
I sigh. “Okay, since the day you threw that pie at me.”
“I regret nothing,” he hums, snaking one arm around my waist. “I got to meet you, didn’t I?”
“Yep,” I answer. He leans closer and just as my eyes flutter shut, waiting for our lips to press against each other, something sticky grazes my cheeks. My hands rise to my face and feel the pie filling. I narrow my eyes at Carson. “Oh, it’s on.”
I reach for the pie tin on the floor and grab a handful of pie before smearing it over his face. Some of the goop falls onto the floor, while the rest lies right on top of his shoes.
He retaliates by attempting the same, but I manage to dodge it by ducking under his arm as he attempts to reach for me a second time. Unfortunately, it lands on my hair and I fall onto his bed, with him on top of me, laughing.
With that, Carson brings his hand behind my head and pulls me in for a kiss. Just a peck at first before I place my hand around the back of his and pull him closer, deepening the kiss. I smile against his lips. Even if we weren’t just flinging pie filling at each other, Carson would still taste sweet.
“You know, I’m going to get you back for that,” he murmurs against my lips, causing me to giggle.
I pull away, breaking the kiss. “Nah, you love me too much to tip the scales again,” I joke.
He sighs. “Yeah, you’re right.” His fingers play with my curtain bangs. “I can just call it payback for all my missing sweatshirts.” Carson eyes the one I’m wearing and smirks.
“I think we should just stick to the pies and call it even.” I pat his chest before maneuvering myself around Carson to stand up. I reach for the ceiling, stretching my arms out. “Besides, you promised me another driving lesson.”
Since Marbella Beach, Carson’s made it his mission to teach me how to drive until I feel comfortable enough to take the test. It might be a while until I’m ready but I’m one step closer because of him.
Mom would love that I’m doing this. And she would have loved Carson as much as I do.
“But I also want to spend a few more minutes with my girlfriend,” he insists, taking my hand and pulling me back into his embrace. “While we still have all this space.”
I giggle, resting my head onto his chest. “We’ll still have time later.”
“But we can spare a few minutes before.”
I lift my head slightly to meet his eyes—those pale blues that I’ve familiarized myself with and look forward to seeing everyday because I just know that I’m getting stronger and more confident in myself. And Carson Jameson Ryder will be in my corner.
Granted, I’m a girl who can stand her ground but I couldn’t face a lot of obstacles head-on for years. It helps to surround myself with people who believe in me everyday.
“Alright,” I relent. “Maybe a few minutes.” Smiling, I press my lips to his for only a moment before quickly pulling away, trying to look as serious as I can in the moment. “But then you’re teaching me.”
Carson smirks. “Yes, ma’am.”
Loved this and want to see more of Carson Ryder? Stay tuned for book 2 in the Ryder Twins duet, Carly's story!
Acknowledgements
Okay, if you were to tell me two years ago that I would be publishing this story, about this SPECIFIC pairing, I would have laughed in your face. This is just crazy to me. I still can't believe it, even as I'm typing this.
There's a lot of people I want to thank for making this possible. So let's get started.
Now, firstly, I want to thank my beta readers. You seriously are amazing and I appreciate your patience with me. Adelaide, Esther, Summer, Brooke, Reggie. Thank you girls!
