She blinked a few times to gain clarity, still sleepy. Once she was more awake, she was able to make out a figure dressed in dark clothing standing in front of the bed, just staring at her.
A shriek escaped her as she sat up, suddenly very glad that she had slipped on Thelonious' shirt last before dozing off to bed.
"Don't scream." The stranger held up his hands in surrender and backed away from the bed a little, speaking in hushed tones so as to not wake Thelonious who was still in a deep, blissful slumber behind her, his arm wrapped loosely around her waist, not at all aware of the scene that was unfolding around him. "Please don't scream again."
Her fingers rushed to do up the last two buttons in attempt of covering herself more. "I'm going to scream louder if you don't tell me who you are in the next 5 seconds!"
His eyes widened, rushing to get the words out of his mouth before he ran out of time and she started screaming at the top of the lungs. Thelonious might have managed to sleep through a surprised shriek, but he was certain that there was no way he would remain asleep through her frightened scream. "I'm Ryland."
"Am I supposed to know who that is?"
"Thelonious never mentioned me? I'm his best friend." His words were laced with mirth.
Understanding dawned on her face. She knew exactly who he was now, but that didn't mean it still wasn't creepy that he was watching them sleep. "I thought Mac was his best friend."
"Now that hurts. I'm his other best friend."
"The janitor that travelled to the other side of the country to chase after a girl?"
"That's me."
"But that doesn't explain why you're watching us sleep."
He shrugged. "I came to see Thelonious and when I saw a girl in his bed, just needed to make sure you were real."
Darcy rolled her eyes and sat up straighter. "That's still creepy."
He shrugged again. "I guess you could say I was shocked. When Thelonious wakes up, let him know I'm here?"
"Sure," she nodded and watched as he turned around to head out. "Wait!" She whisper-yelled at him before he could get out the door.
He turned around; the door slightly ajar now.
"Did you get the girl?"
"No." Ryland smiled a sad smile and shook his head, closing the door gently behind him.
Once he was gone, Darcy sighed and turned to look at the sleeping man beside her. She was surprised that he had managed to sleep through it all, especially the part where she had screamed in fright at having a stranger watch them sleep. Well, not a complete stranger it seemed.
"Thelonious." She attempted to wake him by shaking him gently but when that didn't work, she leant down and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. A quiet hum sounded from him and when his eyelids fluttered slightly, she proceeded to lay another kiss on him, this one lasting longer than the first.
She knew he was awake when he bit down on her bottom lip and tightened his arm wound around her waist, pulling her flush on top of him.
Darcy giggled against his mouth and braced her arms by his head on the pillow, propping herself up in attempt to put some distance between them.
His charcoal black eyes blinked up at her, a dangerous glint in them despite the innocence from having just woken up. "Good morning, vixen."
She smiled down at the man underneath her, his tousled black hair, sharp jaw and plump mouth an absolute sight for sore eyes. "Morning," she breathed out before leaning down and gently sucking along his jaw, her mouth moving downwards.
His fingers inched up the back of his shirt that she was wearing, grazing the fingertips against the slope of her back. When her teeth grazed the bottom of his ear, tugging on it, he bucked his hips up and changed up their positions so she was now lying on her back with his body covering hers. She was trapped between his arms and under his weight, not that she had any intentions of attempting to escape.
The feeling of his body against hers was just too delicious.
He laid open mouthed kisses against her neck, and his fingers gripped her thigh as she turned her head to give him more space, soft mewls passing her lips at the sensation. His hand moved up her thigh and towards where she wanted him, where she ached for him but before his skilful fingers could reach his destination, she groaned and pushed at his shoulders.
"What's wrong?" He asked, easing up on her slightly, the concern evident on his face. "Are you sore?"
She closed her eyes, annoyed that the thought had popped into her head just when things were about to get interesting. "No. I mean, yes, but that's not the problem."
"Did I hurt you?"
"No," she shook her head but then grinned. "Only when I wanted you to."
He smirked and leaned down to capture her lips with his. "Tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it for you, vixen." He whispered the words against her mouth, his tongue thrusting in and out of her mouth, mimicking the way he wanted to plunge in and out of her warm, tight core with his throbbing appendage.
A quiet moan escaped her and she pushed him off her before sitting up. "I can't think straight when you do that." She frowned, but reached down and brushed the hair out of his eyes, a tender look in her eyes.
"Ryland is here."
He paused before reacting, not having expected to hear those words. "Ryland? He didn't mention to me that he was coming back."
She nodded and sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "I woke up this morning to find him staring at us. Apparently, he was making sure that I was real."
"Sounds like him." He chuckled and sat up.
She tossed him a coy smile. "He said you've never had a girl in your bed before."
"He's not wrong, vixen. You're the first." He leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss, prolonging it with a few expert manoeuvres of his tongue.
"I'm glad I got to pop your cherry."
He smirked against her mouth, his hand trailing down to kneed her ample bottom. "I was far from a virgin when I first sunk into you, and you know that better than anyone."
She giggled against his mouth and rested her hand against his cheek, stroking it softly. "I don't think he got back together with his girlfriend."
Thelonious frowned, pausing to think for a moment. He pressed his lips against her temple before swinging out of bed and reaching for the trousers he was wearing last night. "Let me go speak to him. I want to make sure he's alright."
She nodded and watched as he scrambled to get dressed, looking for the shirt he was wearing last night. It was pretty comical to watch as he looked up and realised that she was wearing it. He winked at her and grabbed a jumper from his wardrobe. Pulling it through his arms and over his head, he stalked up to the bed and leaned down for a kiss. "I'll see you at breakfast. Any requests?"
"Scrambled eggs?"
"I'll have them ready for you by the time you come down."
She watched him leave before getting out of the bed and heading into the bathroom for a shower, slightly sticky from last night's activities.
Stripping herself of her shirt, she turned on the shower. While she waited for the water to warm up, she did her business on the toilet and brushed her teeth with the tooth brush she had left in his bathroom. Seeing as she had practically stayed at the hotel while she was having that fight with her dad, she had left a lot of toiletries, makeup and skincare in his room. He didn't seem to mind and that just made things easier for her. They hadn't talked about their living situation, but he was always more than happy to have her stay and spend the night.
After a quick shower, she got dressed in a long-sleeved maroon turtleneck dress that fell about mid-thigh with a pair of sheer black tights. She paired the outfit with dainty earrings, a few rings and suede black knee-high boots. Thelonious had promised to take her out to the London eye since she had never been before. With the addition of dinner and a walk round a park, it had turned into a rather promising date; a motivation to get through the long and extremely tiring exam period. Before they headed out, she would run upstairs and grab her teddy coat due to the late winter chills that had followed them into January.
Darcy took the elevator and headed down to the ground floor where she found Thelonious, Ryland and Romeo sitting at their usual table at the back in the dining room area.
Just as promised, her eggs awaited her. Sliding next to him in the booth, she placed a kiss against his jaw in thanks before picking up a fork to enjoy her eggs. Scrambled, just the way she liked them.
Romeo sat in front of her and Ryland next to him, in front of Thelonious.
She held eyes with Romeo and when he smiled, she knew he had spent some time mulling over what she had said last night.
"I hope we can start over," Ryland addressed her with a smile. "I promise you'll never wake up to me staring at you again."
She grinned and reached out a hand for a handshake. "I'll hold you to that."
"Ryland," he introduced himself. "Ryland Oliver. Thelonious' best friend."
"Hey, I'm his best friend." The young Romeo Bourne piped up in protest but when everyone overlooked his outburst, he pouted and stuffed more cereal in his mouth in a rather animal-like fashion.
"Darcy Blake. Your best friend's girlfriend." She grinned, and when Romeo looked up at her, she winked. He smiled back, happy at her omission of words and refusal to believe Ryland was Thelonious' only best friend. These boys played too much with each other and Romeo being the youngest of them all, often found himself on the receiving end.
Ryland didn't look surprised at the label which suggested that the man in question had already mentioned it.
Thelonious wound his arm around her waist and shuffled them further along the booth, pulling her closer into him to make just enough space for Mac to saddle up next to her with some buttered toast and hash browns for all.
Mac nudged her playfully with his shoulder and when she turned to face him, her mouth full of eggs, she was met with a teasing smile. "You never did come back down for your chicken pie."
Darcy grinned. "I ate upstairs."
He made a choking sound, clearly surprised with her answer. "I didn't expect you to answer like that."
"What? You expected me to blush and look away?"
Thelonious and Romeo grinned, Ryland stared in wonder at the whole situation and Mac laughed so hard he had to drink some water to calm himself down.
The boys were quick to help themselves to more food seeing as they had already finished their eggs and bacon. Most likely, Mac had intended all of the food to be eaten together but it appeared that his friends just couldn't wait.
He should have known better.
"Thanks," she smiled as one of the waiters brought her some coffee to wash it all down with.
"Where's your woman?" Darcy watched in disgust as the milk sloshed around in the bowl at Romeo's hasty movements to shovel more cereal in his mouth.
Ryland's shoulders slumped down at the sound of the question, a cloud of sadness hanging above his head. "With her man." He mumbled, a pained expression on his face despite how hard he tried to cover it by appearing to be nonchalant.
Thelonious frowned as he watched his friend's face contort in pain as he re-lived the memories over the past few months. "Ryland? What exactly happened?"
"I followed my heart and she broke it." He sighed and bowed his head, unable to make eye contact with anyone around the table. "I didn't give up on her, even when she got engaged. I waited around until the last moment. I even attended her wedding and the moment she said her vows, I walked away."
Darcy watched shocked at his confession. She couldn't image what he was going through.
"I can't do this right now." Ryland muttered under his breath before standing up and walking away, his strides long and fast as he quickened his pace trying to get away from them.
They all watched his retreating back but none of them stood up to follow him.
"Should you go after him?" She leaned over and asked Thelonious.
He shook his head. "I know Ryland. He needs some time by himself."
After breakfast was over, Mac headed back to the kitchen, Romeo retreated to his post at the front desk and Ryland â well, she wasn't quite sure where Ryland went.
Thelonious turned to Darcy. "Let me do one sweep of the hotel before we leave."
"Perfect," she smiled up at him. "Take your time. I'll be in your room."
He nodded and pressed his lips against her temple. Once she had finished her coffee, she headed upstairs to his room where she had left her laptop. His round around the hotel usually took just under an hour, giving her enough time to work on the company website that she was building for him before they had to leave.
-
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Layla Knight
07.05.2020