Chapter 12 - This means war

Keegan’s POV

I hated him. I really, really hated him. Not only did he decide to throw a party without giving me a heads up, but he also kept the party going until around three in the morning, so I only managed a couple hours of sleep. I occupied my sleepless hours by putting away the countless bags of clothes that had been delivered in my absence. I didn’t want to know how much all this cost as it was probably more than I earned in a year. Courtney had gone to town when she shopped for me, and I had everything from casual clothes, smart casual, semi formal, and even black-tie attire. She had also provided sleepwear, bathers, shoes, handbags, jewellery and, much to my dismay, what looked like the entire summer Victoria Secret catalogue. What the hell did it matter what I wore under my clothes? It’s not like anyone would be seeing it. But in saying that, she thought that Ryder and I were an item, so she probably just assumed it was needed.

The next day at work, I was exhausted and back to spending my lunchtime sleeping, and after that, I was plotting ways to get back at him for it and fending off questions from all of my work colleagues about my new relationship. If they didn’t watch Sportscentre, they had seen the pictures plastered all over the front page of the tabloids. Mackenna had chewed my ear off for days on end about hiding this from her, and the only way I could get her to shut up about it was to promise an introduction soon. Apparently, she was a Lakers fan and a very big one at that and was excited that she now had a chance to meet the players.

Ryder had caught me off guard twice now, once when he kissed me and once when he ambushed me with fifty of his closest friends. I wanted to get him back, and that opportunity came on the weekend after the party. I was going to go to my grandmother’s house on Sunday to check on her, but Saturday was my day of relaxation. Well, it was until I was in the kitchen grabbing a snack and spied Ryder and some of his teammates playing a game of basketball in the back yard, and I’ll admit I drooled a little watching them run around all sweaty, some of them with their shirts off. I couldn’t help but look for Ryder, and when I did, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Of course, I found him attractive. You would have to be blind not to see that he was a good looking guy. Once I wiped away drool, it suddenly dawned on me how I could finally get him back and make him uncomfortable for once.

Courtney had sent me three bikinis in various styles and colors. One had a thong, so that one was out. I wanted to get him back, but that was a little too much. When I tried on the black one and looked at my reflection in the mirror, apart from needing a little more time in the sun to work on my tan, even I had to admit that the bikini fit me like a glove and showed off all of my curves. I was showing a little more skin than I usually did, but the whole point of this exercise was to be noticed. But I didn’t want to give away too much too soon, so I slipped on a pair of very short, tight shorts and a tank top over the top of the bikini. I didn’t know where any beach towels were and took one from my bathroom instead and threw it over my shoulder.

When I got to the back door, I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide if this was a good idea, a crazy idea or both. I took a final breath to steady myself and walked outside. I think I had gotten halfway when I felt eyes on me. I kept walking along, pretending I didn’t know they were watching, but as I tossed my towel on the deck chair, I flicked my eyes over to the court briefly and saw that the game had come to a complete halt, and all of them were watching me, including my fake boyfriend and he did not look pleased. The look on his face made me extremely smug and brave enough to decide it was time to turn up the heat a bit more, see if I could get the vein in his neck to pop out.

I slowly peeled the tank top off my body and tossed it aside. I was more deliberate in my actions than I normally was when I undressed, sliding my hands purposely down my bare sides until they landed on my shorts so I could undo them as well before shimming out of them. I continued to ignore the eyes on me and picked up a bottle of sunscreen lying discarded on the table beside the chair I was using. It was still in date, so I squeezed some into the palm of my hand, put one of my legs up on the chair and proceeded to rub it into my skin.

I was just moving onto the second leg when I heard footsteps headed towards me, and from the way they were stomping on the ground, I knew I had succeeded in my mission.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Ryder demanded from right beside me.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I replied, not bothering to look up at him as I moved onto the other leg.

“You can’t be out here in that.” He advised me harshly.

I put my other leg down and stood back up, staring him down, “It’s a bathing suit. It’s not like I’m going skinny dipping.”

Ryder rolled his eyes at me, “Might as well be. You’re practically wearing nothing, and my friends are all staring at you.”

I smirked at his discomfort, “Well, you’re to blame for it, your personal shopper sent this over for me, and it was probably the most conservative of the lot. If you aren’t happy with the way this bikini looks, I could always go change into the one that has the thong.”

“No!” Ryder exclaimed quickly, “Do you really have to do this with my friends around?”

“Did you really have to kiss me without permission or through a huge party and keep me up half the night?” I countered.

He straightened up, “So that’s what this is, payback.”

I shrugged my shoulders innocently and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his cheek, “Call it what you want. I’m going for a swim now.”

I purposely swayed my hips more than usual, giving them all a good show as I walked over to the pool and dipped a toe in to test the temperature. It was the perfect temperature for me. I slowly made my way down the steps, one by one, until I hit the floor of the pool, where I was submerged up to my hips before I turned back towards Ryder, who was still watching me.

“Are you going to continue to stare at me like a stalker, or are you going to go back and finish your game?” I queried and continued to back away until my entire body was underwater apart from my head.

Without another word, he turned away and stormed back to his friends, leaving me with the warm feeling that we were now even. I didn’t count the kiss. The kiss wasn’t meant to piss me off, but that party was, so it was currently Ryder – 1, Keegan – 1.

I knew that I was poking the bear, but I really didn’t care and just enjoyed my swim.

Less than a week later, I was busy at work. My boss had just kicked out the third reporter for the week that was trying to get me to answer questions about Ryder. It looked like they had all figured out where I worked now. I knew it was annoying my boss and was starting to worry that if it didn’t calm down soon, he would fire my ass. I now understood why Marcus suggested I move into Ryder’s place. I couldn’t imagine these guys coming to Grams’ place at all hours of the day and night, I knew Grams would be able to handle herself and would have them running away with their tails between their legs, but there was something unnerving about them. I was hoping if I ignored them, that eventually give up and leave me be.

“I don’t know why you’re not enjoying this more, girlie.” Mackenna chastised me when she came up to see me between customers, “You have a hot man that any girl would kill to be with, and reporters want to talk to you and take your picture to plaster it over all of the magazines. You have it made, Keegs.”

“I just wish they would leave me alone at work.” I advised her, “I think Mr Jones is one step away from firing my ass.”

Mackenna chuckled, “No, he won’t. You’re one of the best employees he has. It would take more than a few reporters to make him fire you.”

And it was as if her words had brought forth Armageddon and in walked something I never thought I would see. I had to blink several times, hoping that one of the times
I blinked that the person would disappear, be a figment of my imagination, but no, I was still seeing a grown man in wings and a diaper holding a bow and arrow in one hand and a bunch of red roses in the other. He looked around the bank, and then his eyes landed on me. My heart started to race as he walked over in the direction and every step he took towards me made me want to curl up in a ball in the fetal position until this day was over, but instead, I just stood there like an idiot with my feet frozen to the ground.

When he stopped in front of my window and held the flowers out to me that this would be the end of this entire craziness, that I would take the flowers, and he would turn around and walk away. However, when I took the flowers from him, he started belting out the chorus from Frank Sinatra’s song ‘I love you baby’ and doing a little dance in his diaper.

Everyone around the bank, from the customers to the employees, were all laughing their asses off while I was turning a shade of red that I didn’t think existed. What was only a couple of minutes of singing felt like an eternity but as soon as he was done, cupid turned and walked out the door, not even waiting for a tip. Spying a card nestled amongst the flowers, I pulled it out to read it. Scrawled on it in perfect cursive writing was three words, ‘game on, Ryder.’

Oh, now this meant war. Bringing my work into the equation was not cool. I spent the whole day wracking my brain trying to figure out how in the world I was going to top what he had done, and then it hit me.

Instead of driving straight back to Ryder’s after work, I drove back to my Grams’ house instead. When I walked in the front door, she poked her head out of the kitchen.

“Hey bunny, what are you doing here?” She advised with a hint of concern in her voice, “You weren’t supposed to be coming by until the weekend.”

“I need your help, Grams,” I explained, biting my lip nervously.

She threw the kitchen towel she was drying her hands on, on the counter, “What did that prick do to you? I will sort him out.”

“It’s nothing bad, Grams.” I promised, “I just need you to do something for me, no questions asked.”

“Anything for you, Keegan.” She answered, “Let me get us some coffee, and we can talk.”