With Thanksgiving break now underway, I sat atop Ryder's bed while he emailed some college scouts that he has been in contact with. When he finished, he turned to face me.

"Excited for the Thanksgiving party tonight?" asked Ryder.

I groaned and flopped back onto the pillows. "No. Remember what happened last year?"

Long story short, my dad is hosting dinner for the football team and their families tonight at our house, but when he did that last year, it was a disaster. It was the root of me having to move to LA because it was when he publicly found out about my relationship with Ryder.

"He likes me now. Besides, don't you think he already knows?"

"No, and let's keep it that way until I'm 18."

Ryder chuckled and climbed onto the bed beside me. He combed his fingers through my hair and dotted kisses on my head.

"I feel like he already knows. He let you walk with me on senior night after all."

"No, he doesn't. I would be in LA right now if he knew," I responded as I started to gather my things because I needed to go home and get ready for the dinner.

He pulled me into his arms and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "It'll be alright, though. He likes me now anyways."

"He will until he finds out you aren't with Ella anymore. That's probably why he didn't care about letting me walk with you."

"Whatever, I think he likes me."

-

I sat up in my room and watched as the cars began to flood into the driveway. I finished up my hair and then made my way downstairs and to where everyone had gathered.

Jane, my aunt, stood by the stairs, and so did Alice, my four year old cousin. She threw her arms around me when I stopped by them so I picked her up.

"Hi, Al," I said. "Excited for dinner?"

She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I would say that's a yes," Jane said with a smile.

I also smiled and glanced across the room, just as Ryder walked in with Braxton. I literally just saw him two hours ago and I still can't help but go weak.

"Are you two back together?" she asked after following my gaze to Ryder.

I glanced at her and blushed. "Pretty much. We don't have a title or anything, but..."

She smiled and my mom stopped beside us. "Ains, Ryder is here."

"We were just talking about him!" Jane exclaimed.

"Jane, if only you could witness their relationship," my mom gushed, "they are so cute together."

I groaned loudly as she took out her phone and began showing Jane pictures of Ryder and me.

"Mom, can we not do this with Dad in earshot?" I hissed because my dad was just about to welcome everyone.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Ains."

My mom and I made our way over to my dad and stood beside him. With that, everyone seemed to take the hint to quiet down, so all eyes in the room went to us. My dad smiled at everyone before beginning to speak.

I basically tuned him out though because I was looking at Ryder.

"You look gorgeous," he mouthed, which made me smile.

"Love you," I mouthed back.

When my dad finished his speech, I made my way over to Ryder and Braxton.

"My girl, how are you?" asked Ryder.

"I'm great, how are you?"

"Never better," he whispered as he looked me up and down.

"I'm right here," Braxton said, quickly ending the moment.

Ryder ignored him and looked around the room. "Mind covering for us?" he asked Braxton.

"Considering you're so horny right now, go for it."

This time, Ryder kicked him in the shin. "That's not my intention," he hissed.  

I laughed at both of them and turned to Ryder. "I'll be upstairs."

As I walked away, I had to bite my lip to not laugh because Ryder laid into Braxton.

But a while later, as I sat on my bed, Ryder walked into my room.

"Sorry about him," he said as he approached me.

I laughed softly and put a hand around his neck so I could draw his lips to mine. He kissed me gently but things ramped up as we laid back onto the bed. 

Ryder rolled us over so I was on top and he let his hands wander my body. I buried my hands into his hair and sighed against his lips as the kiss only seemed to deepen.

Without breaking the kiss, I started to make quick work of his belt. Just as I nearly freed him from it, a knock came from my door.  

"Holy shit!" I whisper-shouted as I flew off Ryder.

"Ains, are you in there? Dinner is almost ready."

It was my dad. Ryder and I shared looks of panic.

"Go hide in the closet," I hissed as I pushed him towards the door.

"Ains?" came my dad's voice again.

"Yeah, one second!" I yelled as Ryder gave me one final kiss.

I shut the door to the closet and ran to the bedroom door.

"What's up?" I asked, nearly out of breath.

"Dinner is almost ready... Why is your hair a mess?"

I ran a hand through my hair, which was originally styled into a low bun with braids leading into it. I could feel many strands out of place.

"Guess I just didn't style it correctly. I'll be downstairs in a minute."

He looked me up and down and I know for a fact he did not believe me, but I guess he chose to let it go because all he did was nod.

"Okay, and if you see Ryder, Nancy is looking for him."

He walked off and I shut the door. A big sigh left my mouth because I was so thankful he didn't put two and two together.

Ryder came out of my closest and shook his head while wearing a small smirk. He pressed me up against the door and initiated yet another kiss. I smiled against his lips, but unwillingly pulled away when I heard the dinner bell.

His lips traveled down to my neck and I wanted so badly to continue with him, but we would get caught for sure.

"We need to go," I rasped.

He sighed loudly and kissed my forehead. "I can't wait until I can have you all to myself," he growled before pushing open the door.

He then walked away causally, as though he didn't just say what he did.

-

After dinner, we made our way outside, just like last year... the exact place where everything went downhill.

"Alright," said my dad after everyone had gathered on the lawn. "I'll be coaching the parents' team, and Ainsley agreed to coach the players' team."

This game had been planned out earlier, and the head coach of defense was supposed to coach the player team, but he could not make it tonight. Therefore, my dad asked me to coach. I'm definitely not complaining though.

"You're going down, Coach," Braxton yelled as we entered the huddle.

"Alright, Coach Mini Sloane, what's the plan?" asked Jackson.

"Normal positions. We can switch things up too, but for now, let's do a passing play."

The team nodded. "Maybe Bear-7?" asked Ryder.

"Yeah, that's perfect."

One of the other coaches, who was reffing, blew his whistle, so everyone took the field. 

"Get ready to lose, Ains," my dad taunted from where he stood on the other side of the lawn.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I have one of the best teams in the state playing for me right now. Losing isn't something we do."

"You can thank me for that!" he called out.

I shook my head while laughing. "But who coaches the five star quarterback?" I responded.

Ryder sent me a small smile before receiving the ball from the snap. He executed the play perfectly, throwing right to Braxton, who ran the ball for a short while until he was tagged out by his dad.

The entire game was a lot of fun. We completely destroyed the parents, but my dad will not admit it.