Love Begins with Fate (3 page)

“Not sure
,” she paused

“A lot I assume then?” Ryder asked. Hannah nodded.

Ryder shook his head. His taught abdominal muscles flinched as he reached toward the door and Hannah fought the urge to whimper. “Keys?” Ryder asked.

“Yeah
” Hannah muttered as she held out her hand. When Ryder’s skin grazed hers taking the keys she couldn’t hold in her whimper any longer.

“You’re cute.” Ryder chuckled. “Thanks again.” He said yanking the door open. Hannah watched as Ryder carefully unbuckled Kelsey and slipped his hands underneath her lifting her up with ease. She could see his biceps flex and sighed. “Goodnight.” Ryder prompted as he shifted Kelsey in his arms.

Silence.

“Well okay then… are you
staying the night with Kels?” He asked.

Hannah nodded her head frantically.

“Okay then come on.” Ryder shook his head toward the door. He was still getting use to Kelsey’s presence in his home and getting use to Hannah’s strange behaviors. He had known she had lived next door but rarely did they talk, except that one fun night.

Walking inside Ryder waited until Hannah was inside before locking the door and turning off the lights as he walked up to Kelsey’s r
oom. After walking up the stairs and down the long hallway, Ryder shifted Kelsey in his arms and pushed the door open. He walked over to the bed tipping Kelsey back into his body some so he could reach down and pulled the covers back before setting his sister down and covering her with the blankets.

“Night
” He said to Hannah before walking away.

“Ni
ght…” Hannah replied nervously. Ryder just shook his head and walked down the hall. Hannah sighed in relief. Her crush on Ryder was going to start causing people to question her sanity. They had barely talked if at all since they had that special night nearly a year ago. Hannah curled herself up on the couch in Kelsey’s room with a blanket and went to sleep.

Chapter 4

Ryder had returned to his room and was no longer interested in his girl of the day. Telling her to leave he climbed into bed and began to think about Hannah. She was super cute if only
hadn’t been Kelsey’s best friend. Then he shook his thoughts from his mind, his sister’s best friend was not a good idea.

When Ryder woke the next morning, he viewed his phone and chuckled when he noticed a text from his friend.

“You missed the most amazingly sexy girl ever.” - PJ

He chuckled. Quickly moving his fingers over the keys Ryder texted back.

“Awe that’s too bad, but Georgia was good fun until my sister came back drunk. Do I know her?” – Ryder

“So when do I get to meet Kelsey?” – PJ

“She’s not your type.” – Ryder

“Too bad.
Don’t think you know the girl. I didn’t even get her name.” PJ

“Ha!” – Ryder

“Man I can’t get her out of my head, the way her body moved and how sexy she was…” - PJ

A few minutes later, Ryder figured he should go check on his sis. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Hello son.” Erik said from behind his newspaper.

“Hey.” Ryder told him. With a slight smile, it wasn’t like his father was home much and yet he demanded Kelsey came here. Ryder loved his sister but he wasn’t sure if she would fit in here in the city. He figured that Kelsey’s strange behaviors along with her weird friend, but hot friend, Hannah, would both bring down his reputation, even if just a bit. He was still contemplating ignoring her but he hadn’t had her in his life for so long that he missed his sister too much to ignore her in school.

“Are you going shopping with your sister today?” Erik asked.

“Uh… I don’t think so.” Ryder cringed.

“Ryder give her some help… it’s not like she’s been here much.” Erik offered.

“Speaking of my sister,” Ryder said “I’ve got to go.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a bottle of pills from the cupboard. He turned around and left without saying another word to his father. He wouldn’t see him around later today anyway. Erik was seldom home. Ryder had, at one point, wished he was able to live with his mother but then he wouldn’t have had the same experiences, friends, and fun he has now.

“Knock, Knock.” Ryder said as he pushed open Kelsey’s bedroom door.

Hannah was sprawled on the couch; she turned but still stayed asleep, while Kelsey didn’t even flinch. Chuckling Ryder sat down beside his sister on the bed. Pushing on Kelsey’s shoulder Ryder spoke again. “Kelsey!” he yelled.

Kelsey rolled over groaning and nearly fell from the bed. “Dang, Ryder!” She whined back.

“Sorry, I just had to do it. It’s not every day I get to see my favorite twin with a hangover.” Ryder chuckled. “Here, this will help.” He said sticking his arm out offering the pain killers and water bottle.

‘Thanks,” She said rubbing her head. Hannah had sat up from the couch and was glaring over at Ryder. “What happen last night?” Kelsey questioned.

“Don’t know, you came home passed out. You should ask your friend over there.” Ryder shrugged and pointed his finger over at Hannah.

Kelsey turned her head toward her couch and frowned. “Do I want to know?” Kelsey cringed, looking over to her friend.

“You had fun…” Hannah muttered.

“She talks!” Ryder yelled, as he stood up getting ready to leave.

“Quiet.” Kelsey hissed.

“Sorry
Kels,” Ryder laughed. “I want to know what got you so wasted.” Ryder pouted.

“I don’t remember.” Kelsey groaned “My head hurts.”

“Yeah, hangover,” Ryder shrugged.

“Oh I remember.” Hannah giggled. “But I don’t think you want your brother to know about it.”

“Gotta hear it now,” Ryder chuckled, as he sat back down, lying back on his side watching Hannah intently.

“
Uhh…” Hannah mumbled.

“Well, she’s silent now that it gets to the good part.” Ryder groaned. “Fine… I got to go anyway. Don’t forget to go shopping dad’s been complaining already this morning.” Ryder rolled his eyes as he walked out.

“So…” Kelsey said as she walked over to the couch were Hannah was sitting. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.”
Hannah answered.

“Yeah, figured so.”
Kelsey replied in a duh tone.

“
Kels, don’t worry about it.” Hannah told her.

Kelsey let out a huge sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Come on Kels…” Hannah said standing up. “Let’s go shopping,” Hannah clapped.

Chapter 5

Kelsey and Hannah dressed and made their way down stairs. “Hey Ryder,” Kelsey called looking around for her brother.

“In the kitchen,” Ryder called back. Kelsey made her way to the kitchen finding her brother’s head in the fridge.

“What are you doing?” Kelsey asked.

“I’m getting a snack before I head to practice.” Ryder shrugged,

“Okay…” Kelsey dragged out.

“I have practice till three and then I’ll be at one of the guy’s houses for a while.” Ryder told her.

“Oh, okay…” Kelsey yawned. “When will you be home?”

“Uh… We’ll probably be busy. You know how it is.” Ryder told Kelsey.

“Oh, uh okay. I guess I’ll eat dinner with Hannah then.” Kelsey frowned. “We’re going shopping, I’ll see you later.” She hurried out of the kitchen.

Once she made it out to the truck with Hannah, Kelsey opened the door of the truck and slid in numbly. Hannah sensed the change of mood in her friend and began to wonder.

“Kelsey, are you okay?” She asked cautiously. Kelsey had seemed fine before she went to talk to her brother but now, something was just off.

Kelsey sighed, a tear slipped from her eyes as she slowly raised the key to the ignition Hannah reached over and grabbed her friend’s hand. “Kelsey, let me drive.”

Kelsey nodded and slid toward the center of the truck while Hannah hopped out and raced around to the far side. “Come on Kelsey, talk to me.” Hannah sa
id as she started the truck and pulled out of the driveway. Kelsey remained silent. Hannah sighed. Together the girls drove to the mall.

The girl
s were walking through the mall, entering their third store, when Hannah just had to ask, “Kelsey are you going to pick something?” Hannah asked curiously.

“Go ahead.” Kelsey murmured.

Hannah’s face lit up and she greedily grabbed at clothing. “You should have said something sooner!” Hannah complained; her arms now full of clothing. “I guess we have to go back to a few stores.”

Kelsey’s father had given her a credit card telling her to spend as much as needed on her wardrobe. “You should have known.” Kelsey muttered. She really wasn’t interested in changing her wardrobe but her father and friend had insisted. Hannah nearly died when Kelsey openly refused.

Once the girls had purchased as much as they could in their hands they went out to the truck and dropped off the bags. “You want to get lunch before we continue?” Hannah asked. Kelsey simply nodded which made Hannah groan.

Hannah snapped her hand around her friend’s wrist yanking them both to a stop. “Kelsey.” She said in a firm tone. “I am demanding you tell me what’s wrong.”

Kelsey frowned looking up at her friend’s worried expression. With a huff Kelsey spoke “I think my brother hates me.”

“What?” Hannah chuckled. “He’s your twin you two are like …” Kelsey interrupted.

“He’s not coming home for dinner… I’ll be all alone.” Kelsey whimpered.

“Awe sweetie, he’s just having a guy’s night. I’m sure it’ll be better as school goes on. He’s not used to having a sister around.”

Hannah pulled Kelsey into a hug. “Yeah I guess.”Kelsey’ murmured. “Thanks Han.”

The two girls ate their dinner together then continued to shop; Hannah insisted her friend had a few more pieces to get before they left.

When they were finished shopping Kelsey said goodbye to Hannah, “See you later Han.”

“Later
Kels, make sure you wear the outfit I picked out.” Hannah said as she walked toward her home next door.

“Yeah,
yeah, yeah.” Kelsey laughed softly.

The girls waved bye to each other then
Hannah made her way home while Kelsey went the other direction. When Kelsey entered the house she groaned. Kelsey stomped up to the house bags in hand and slammed the door as she continued up the stairs to her room, she was alone. She wasn’t in the mood for anything but sleep now at least at the ranch she had Annie to keep her company if nobody else.

She made her way up to her room dropping the bags onto her bed.
Kelsey had made sure to find a store with hair dye and bought something as close to her normal color than she could. She stripped down into clothing that wouldn’t get damage by the dye and proceeded to dye her hair.

Deciding she needed to put away the massive collection of clothing
, Kelsey pushed her ear buds of her mp3 player into her ears beginning to dance and sing to the beat while her hair was coloring. Once her hair was finished Kelsey washed it out and then wrapping a towel around her hair. She had pulled on her pajama pants and an old flannel since the house was cool. After changing her clothing she had taken out her contacts replacing them with her glasses and pulling her hair up into a bun.

Ryder felt bad that he had told Kelsey he wouldn’t be home to share dinner with her. He had left his friend’s house
early and gone home for the night so he could be with his sister and apologize. Knocking on his sister’s door and receiving no response, Ryder gave up. “Fine then!” He yelled. “I guess I’ll ignore you too!” Ryder yelled stomping down the hall.

What Ryder didn’t know was that Kelsey had been immersed in her music and was busy enjoying her closet restocking. After Kelsey
finished putting away her bags she crawled into her bed, thoughts consuming her as she fell asleep.

Chapter 6

Kelsey woke up to the house being quiet. Their father had already headed off to work and Ryder had already made his way to school for early football practice. She felt totally alone. She pulled herself off her bed and made her way to the neatly folded pile of clothing. Kelsey made her way to the bathroom and showered. Once she was finished she pulled her hair into her regular messy lazy up
do then not feeling eager to head to school she put on her glasses.

The outfit Hannah had insisted on was a skirt and tank top combo but
Kelsey decided it wasn’t really what she wanted to wear. Kelsey knew her friend would be angry but she didn’t care at the moment. She pulled on a pair of her old faded jeans and a black tank top with the words “Cowgirl up!” in bright pink. Once Kelsey was finished she grabbed her black and pink flannel. She grabbed her bag, keys, and purse then headed out to the car.