A Friend's Love Ch. 04

"Well..." Ryan paused, keeping his ego with his friend aside. He really wanted to prove Dan wrong and tell him that he actually did get with Jessica, but he didn't want to showboat his stuff with Jessica as he did with other girls he had gotten with. It just felt wrong to him; he wanted to keep that memory and all of its details private.

"Well, what?" Dan shook his head acting as if he were in suspense.

"Well, I guess I'm gay then," Ryan began to laugh, knowing that would shut his buddy up.

"Shit you gotta be gay," Dan laughed back.

"Who's gay?" Olivia questioned jokingly.

"Oh, hey Libby," Ryan smiled as he saw Olivia standing there with them.

She was wearing a hot pink sports bra, spandex booty shorts, and knee-high socks. Ryan and Dan both looked at her in slight amazement at how hot she was.

"Hey, why do you gotta dress like that? You're gonna be a distraction to everyone in the gym!"

"Oh," Olivia said raising her hands up to her voluptuous breasts and making them bounce, "are my tits distracting you from your guys' workout?"

Olivia looked over at Dan, who was trying to keep his eyes off of her jiggling breasts. Dan and Olivia were friends in high school as well, and she knew Dan always thought she was attractive. So she couldn't help but laugh at Dan's struggle.

"What's the matter, Dan?" she joked, still bouncing her chest. "Does this distract you at all?"

Dan looked off into the distance, a smile of honest embarrassment showing across his face.

Olivia then looked back at Ryan, who had a small smirk and was shaking his head while not breaking eye contact with her.

"See, look at Ryan, Dan," she replied, making Dan look over at Ryan whose gaze remained fixed. "I might be a distraction to every guy in here, and maybe to some girls, but I'm not to Ryan. You know why?"

Dan looked at Ryan knowing what she was going to say. He rolled his eyes and smiled, "Why?"

"Because," she paused, shooting Ryan a wink. Her wink wasn't seductive, or wicked and hinting at anything sexual between the two of them, but rather a one of trust. It was a wink that said she had his back. "Because Ryan's already touched, licked, sucked, fucked, and came on these tits about... what do you think Ryan... ten to fifteen times?"

Ryan finally broke contact with Olivia to look away. He laughed in amazement at her bluntness. He looked back at her. "Yeah, I'd say that's in the ballpark." He looked over at Dan, seeing a look of sardonic defeat and comedic shame wash over his friend's face.

"Exactly!" Olivia exclaimed. Then she looked back at Dan and met his eyes, chuckling, "All that... from a gay man!"

Dan and Ryan both broke out laughing.

Olivia continued to push the point even further. "Oh, and Ryan," she grinned back at him, "I'm off tomorrow just in case you wanted to... get together again."

"Thanks, Libby, but I can't," Ryan chuckled more, surprising Olivia with a decline. "I actually have a date tomorrow night."

"Oh yeah?" she smiled. "Do I know this chick... or guy?" she said grinning at Dan.

"It's Jessica Larsen," Dan said, as a matter of fact, knowing that Olivia and Jess were good acquaintances.

"Oh, no shit?" Olivia smiled back at Ryan in pleasant shock. "It's about fucking time, dude! It's been obvious for years that you always liked her!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ryan laughed and rolled his eyes, "I get it. I should have tried to get with her before and I'm gay because I didn't."

"Yes," both Dan and Olivia replied simultaneously, causing them to laugh.

"You just said I wasn't gay," Ryan burst out in laughter.

"Yeah," she smiled, "until you just said you never tried to get with Jess... Yeah, you're gay!"

"Goddammit..." Ryan laughed and ducked his head in shame.

"Thank you, Libby," Dan grinned, looking back at Ryan. "Like I said, bro. You gay, homie!"

"Fuck it," Ryan chuckled some more. "You two are tag-teaming me!"

Dan held out his fist in Olivia's direction and Olivia nonchalantly fist bumped him while giving Dan a little seductive wink as well.

"Alright, boys," Olivia said picking her bag back up and starting to walk away. "Go lift some heavy shit. I've got a class. So long, gay boys!" she shouted back in her best Leslie Chow voice while sashaying her firm round ass away from the boys.

"Hey," Ryan subtly said, pulling Dan's attention from her ass to look at him, "you want to know what that ass looks like in doggy style?"

Ryan began to laugh as Dan shot him a 'fuck you' look in jealousy.

"Yeah... well, you're still gay," Dan replied boldly as he walked toward their next exercise machine.

.........

Ryan could hear the doorbell ring through the front door of Jessica's new apartment.

"Just a second!" Jessica shouted from somewhere inside the house.

Ryan looked down and smiled to himself. Hearing her voice always put a little extra pep in his step. He was genuinely excited for the date night, but he was nervous as hell too. He stood there thinking about all of the different combinations of dress shirts, jeans, and shoes he tried on. Going from blue to red to darker blue to grey and then back to a darker red then maybe a green... he chuckled at himself thinking about the number of times he tried on his wardrobe.

Just as Ryan was laughing at himself and worrying about the possibility that they might not be a good fit in that sense, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door's deadbolt unhinging.

He looked up as the door opened and instantly felt like he was beside himself. Jessica was standing there wearing a beautiful white and navy blue blouse and a pinstriped miniskirt. They hugged her flawless chest and hips with perfection. Accompanied by a pair of matte black stiletto heels and a black leather clutch, she was a knockout!

At that moment, looking at Jessica again, Ryan lost all sense of anxiety and fear of the unknown. As far as he was concerned, as it always had been, being with her at that moment he didn't care about the future or what it might entail. All he cared about was enjoying whatever time he had with her for the night and making it as memorable as possible.

"You look astonishing," Ryan said with a joyous smile.

"Thank you," Jess smiled back bashfully. "You look really handsome yourself."

"My, oh my," Ryan let out a little laugh. "Is Jessica Larsen being shy? Not the Jessica I know, she wouldn't get bashful over a man's compliment like that."

"Over yours I do," she smiled back at him with a small appeal of innocence. "Regardless of this being our first date, you've always said the nicest things about me and I've never known how to take them properly."

"Well now I'm not complimenting you as your friend," Ryan said with a loving smirk, "I'm complimenting you as your date for the evening." Ryan held out his hand, "Now if you'll follow me, please."

Jessica locked her door with great haste, turned around, and grabbed Ryan's hand. He led her out of the building to the passenger side of his car. He opened the door and held her hand as she bent down to sit in the low-riding Mercedes.

"Such a gentleman," she complimented Ryan.

"Always," he winked back as he closed the door.

A few minutes later they were out of Jessica's apartment complex and heading down the freeway toward dinner.

"This is a beautiful car!" Jess exclaimed to Ryan, who smiled at her comment. "Between your house and the car, I take it you're doing well with the company?"

"Yeah, we're doing pretty good so far," Ryan smiled. "We are actually already having our best year so far, and it's only like halfway through!"

"That's awesome!" Jess smiled, elated. "So... where are we going to dinner?"

"I'm taking you to Verano's," Ryan grinned, passing the much slower cars on the freeway.

"Ohhhhh?" Jess questioned with vigor. "I love Verano's! How did you get a reservation there on a Saturday night? They are, like, booked for months!"

"I talked with the owner and convinced him to give me a table," Ryan said looking at the gorgeous woman sitting next to him.

"Oh, you just 'convinced' the owner that you needed a table more than people who were already reserved?" Jess laughed in question.

"Well," Ryan paused to laugh slightly, "by convinced, I mean I paid him a convincing amount to change the reservation."

"Okay Mr. Money Bags," Jess giggled. "You may be Ryan Taylor, the new millionaire bachelor in Vegas... but don't forget that I actually know you for who you really are: a goofy-ass nerd!"

"Shhhhh!" Ryan exclaimed, putting his finger up to his mouth. "Keep that shit down! We don't want people knowing about my 'Simpsons' collection, okay?"

Jess started to laugh at Ryan's sarcasm, as well as the truth behind it. She knew he actually did have a rather extensive portfolio of collectibles from 'The Simpsons' that he had been accumulating since he was a young boy.

"Oh, god," Jess continued to laugh, "I forgot about your collection! I remember you lost your shit when 'The Simpsons Movie' was coming out and you just HAD to go to all of the Kwik-e-Marts in the valley to get even more collectibles!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ryan laughed, acting nonchalant about it, "I know. I'm a nerd, I'm a goon, and I enjoy anything strange, creepy, or weird!"

They continued to laugh and Jess proceeded to poke and prod at Ryan's nerdiness. He drove off the freeway, up the hill, and pulled into the parking lot of the beautiful Italian restaurant. After parking his car in the back row, Ryan got out, ran around the car, and opened the passenger door to help Jess out.

"Thank you again!" she smiled as she took his hand to stand up.

Ryan let her walk in front of him toward the front door, mostly to be gentleman, but to also watch Jess's perfectly round and full ass sway from side to side in her mini skirt. He was fixated on it. He couldn't stop looking at her ass as she sashayed in her stilettos.

Of course, Ryan wanted to be the perfect gentleman to Jess on their date... but he still couldn't stop the fact that he found Jess completely irresistible. From head to toe, he absolutely loved every single inch of her. As far as he was concerned, she didn't have a single bad thing or any imperfection on her body. He was so caught up in his few seconds of practically drooling over Jessica's body that he didn't even notice her turning her head around to look back at him.

"Were you staring at my ass?" Jess asked with a playful smile.

"I, uh," Ryan stuttered, pausing for a second to collect his words, "sorry Jess. I shouldn't stare, but you really do look perfect. I couldn't help myself."

Ryan felt a little ashamed for staring at her. This was their first date and he didn't want to go about it like a typical douche bag ogling over his date's ass. But alas, his young hormones got the better of him.

"Well then," Jess said as she turned her head back around, "I'm glad you like what you see!"

As Jess started to walk toward the front door again, she swayed her hips just a little bit more. Ryan chuckled to himself that Jess practically baited him; wearing those clothes knowing it would solicit a response from him. He ran past her to get the door to the restaurant and open it.

As they walked inside, the owner greeted them.

"Ahh, Mr. Taylor," the owner exclaimed, seeing the two of them walk in. "It's good to see you!"

"Hello Louis," Ryan smiled, "it's always good to see you!"

"Oh," the owner replied, looking at Jessica, "this must be Miss Jessica! You weren't kidding. She is beautiful!"

"Oh, well thank you!" Jess replied with a big grin. "It's nice to meet you! So, uh, what else did Ryan say about me?"

Jess looked at Ryan, seeing him blush slightly. She loved that she could make him blush, after the oceans of time they knew each other. It was refreshing to her to see that she still had that effect.

"You," Ryan said, pointing to the owner laughing, "don't answer that... and you," he pointed at Jess, "don't be trying to get classified info out of him."

Mr. Verano, laughing at Ryan's defense attempt, grabbed a couple menus. "If you two will follow me, the view of the strip is particularly amazing tonight."

Ryan and Jess walked together, following the joyous restaurant owner through the well-decorated Italian grand hall and out the back door to the patio.

"Oh wow," Jess said in amazement, "that is beautiful!"

Jess walked up to the balcony rail and looked at the beautiful view of the Las Vegas Strip encased by one of Vegas' noteworthy red and orange-filled desert sunsets. The entire strip was perfectly clear from north to south and east to west. With the sunset casting a fiery glow over the valley, the view really was breathtaking.

"Yes, it is," Louis said happily. "Now which table would you like for the evening?"

"Oh," Jess replied, looking at the 12 different tables on the patio, "are there any that are reserved?"

"They are all reserved," he said, looking at Ryan with a smile then looking back at Jess. "They are reserved for you."

Jess looked at Ryan with a slight look of confusion across her face. She didn't really realize what Mr. Verano meant. But as Ryan smiled at her with a subtle wink, she realized what was going on.

"Ohhhh!" she realized, looking back at the owner. "We have the whole patio to ourselves for dinner?"

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled in return. "I'll just leave the menus on this table. You go ahead and pick whichever table you want. My staff will be out momentarily."

"Oh, well thank you!" Jess grinned all giddy and turned back to look at the strip and the sunset.

"Thanks again, Louis," Ryan said, shaking the owner's hand.

"For you, Mr. Taylor," he paused, looked at Jess, and then back at Ryan with an ear-to-ear grin, "anything!"

As Mr. Verano made his way inside the restaurant, Ryan turned to look at Jess and ask her where she wanted to sit... but he couldn't help but just stand there and look at her. He didn't look at her sexually or lustfully, and he certainly didn't look at her in the older sense that she was his friend. He looked at this gorgeous, tan-skinned beauty of a woman standing there in front of him. Her skin glowed from the sunset and her hair lightly danced from the subtle breeze.

He was just beside himself again. He felt lucky, lucky to be at that restaurant, lucky to be able to rent out the whole balcony for dinner, but most of all, lucky to be doing it with Jess.

It was still baffling to him, that he, Ryan Taylor, was on a date with Jessica Larsen, the girl that poisoned every corner of his brain with infatuation. He didn't even see himself as the successful millionaire that he was when he was with her. His brain only saw him and her back when they were younger. He only saw himself as the nerdy, goofy, smart kid that was best friends with the hottest girl in school.

They were actually on a date with each other. Not a date as friends, but an actual date; something he had hoped would happen for well over a decade.

"So tell me," Jess smiled at Ryan, pulling him back to reality, "you rented out the whole patio for our date, huh?"

"Yeeeaaahhhh..." Ryan grinned hesitantly. "I wanted to make sure we had the view and the space to ourselves."

"I don't even want to know how much that was," she laughed.

"It doesn't matter," Ryan said softly, pulling a seat out at a table for her to sit. "I'm just happy to enjoy your company."

Jessica smiled as she walked toward Ryan and sat in the chair. As he pushed the chair in for her, the waiter walked onto the patio with a bottle of red wine. Their date had officially begun.

They sat there talking, laughing, drinking, eating, and just enjoying one another in a perfect social, yet intimate, setting. They ordered multiple appetizers and different entrees just to try them and rate them with one another. They laughed whenever they disagreed if something tasted good or not.

The wine kept pouring, the food kept coming, and their date was moving along flawlessly. Ryan was elated through the entire dinner that their conversations and laughter kept turning into slightly prolonged smiles and eye contact between the two of them. It was as if the chemistry they already had for years didn't mean anything during the date.

They both were creating new chemistry with each other. The joyous intimacy grew more as the sunset dwindled and the valley of Las Vegas lights engulfed the Nevada desert.

After about three hours of them enjoying one another, the restaurant owner walked out. "Mr. Taylor," he said, causing Ryan to glance at him, "I don't mean to interrupt, but we are starting to close up now."

"Sure thing, Louis!" Ryan exclaimed as he began to stand up. "We'll get out of your hair. Thank you again!" Ryan pulled out Jessica's chair, smiling at her as he held her hand to help her stand up.

"Of course, sir!" Louis replied happily. "Any time you want to come back, no need for reservations, just come on through and you'll have a table. As long as you have this wonderful woman with you!" He smiled at Jessica, then winking at Ryan.

"Of course!" Ryan exclaimed back.

Just as the two of them started to walk toward the entrance, Ryan's phone went off with a rather unusual alarm.

"What is it?" Jessica asked, quizzically looking at Ryan as he pulled his phone from his pocket and up to his face.

Once he saw the icon on his phone, he knew why his alarm was going off. "Goddammit," Ryan said as the two of them continued to head toward the entrance.

"What's going on?" Jess asked again.

"Tim..." Ryan stated, shaking his head in disbelief.

"My ex?" Jess asked, "What about him?"

"Just, wait here for a second," Ryan said as he stopped her from going out the double doors. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, why?" Jessica asked a little more sternly.

"I'll tell you in a second..." Ryan paused as he turned to walk out of the entrance. "I'll be right back."

Ryan walked out the door and scanned around for Tim somewhere in the parking lot. Clearly he was hiding.

"Tim!" Ryan shouted so he would hear him, "I know you're here! Get the fuck out here!"

Ryan started to walk around some of the cars to see if he could find him. As he passed by some of the cars, he smelled something extremely potent. It was a scent that was infused into his brain from his college party days: Jagermeister. He knew where Tim was. He could smell the alcohol on him from behind the next car.

Ryan jumped around the side of the car and shouted, "Tim," Ryan shouted, "If you're going to hide, you might want to not reek of alcohol!"

This scared Tim and made him trip over his own feet to fall onto his ass.

"Goddammit!" Tim shouted as he tried to get up.

"Go home, Tim," Ryan tried to direct him. He could see something metallic somewhat hidden in Tim's right hand. He figured it was a knife of some kind.

"Fuck you asshole!" he said as he stood up, squaring off with Ryan in a slightly inebriated stance. "You're fucking with my woman!"

"She's not your woman, Tim," Ryan paused. He wondered if he wanted to piss Tim off or continue to talk him down. "Your stupid ass fucked that up."

Ryan made his mind up... Tim needed to be taught a lesson in stalking etiquette.

"You son of a bitch..." Tim said, raising the knife to point at Ryan. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Tim, stop!" Jessica yelled from just outside the entrance. Both Ryan and Tim looked over at the concerned, beautiful woman.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Tim shouted at Jessica, then turned back to look at Ryan. With a drop of a hat, he lunged and swung his knife at Ryan.

"Tim! No!" Jessica screamed.

Ryan, being on the edge of his seat since he walked outside, metaphorically speaking, jumped back and just missed the knife.

"Oh my god! Ryan!" Jess shouted, seeing Ryan dodge the knife.

Ryan, not even hearing Jess, immediately sprinted forward. He grabbed Tim by the waist, threw his body into the air, and slammed it down to the asphalt.