Chapter 19 - Vacations and dates - part 1

Ryder’s POV

Two weeks on the road had left us all exhausted. We had played seven games in that period in four different states. We travelled by plane and bus, depending on how far we travelled. When one of the guys suggested spending a week enjoying the sun and sand in Mexico, I couldn’t agree quick enough, and suddenly a plan was put into action. Keegan had been great staying with Faith while I was away. Faith loved Angela, our housekeeper, but she was in her late fifties, so she always felt like being babysat, which was hard for a teenager to deal with. Keegan was closer to her age, and it was like hanging out with an older friend instead.

So I called her friend and had her score Keegan the time off, and Trixie was more than happy to get Keegan’s passport for me. I was going to wait until we got home to tell her, but that Russian guy was getting on my nerves, so I wanted him to know straight away that the meeting he wanted was not going to happen. He may have been a friend of Wayne’s, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way.

When we got back to the house, everyone went to their own rooms to pack. I had had Courtney send over some more clothes for Keegan that were more suitable for a vacation. There wasn’t much I could do about Faith, given how last minute this was, but she had a fairly healthy wardrobe anyway, so I was sure she could make do.
Keegan had pulled back a little bit since our almost kiss in the kitchen at her grandmother’s house, and I knew her suggesting Faith join us was her way of having a chaperone there so we wouldn’t be alone together. I was happy to play her game, but the two weeks away had given me some perspective on our arrangement. Keegan was like no other woman I had met before. She had been through so much heartache and upheaval in her life. Her mother had died, and her father was hopeless, constantly getting himself into trouble that she had to bear the burden of at such a young age. She had to give up her dreams and work herself to the bone, and still, she hadn’t lost her compassion for others, always willing to help those less fortunate. I wanted to see if there was something real between us.

Being around her made me want to become better. I had been so lucky my entire life and had more money than I could possibly need. When I saw that community centre and how much they helped those less fortunate with the little funding and support they had, why couldn’t I do something? Playing one on one with that kid had given me an idea. He wasn’t the only kid out there that had a love for the game along with a natural talent that couldn’t get access to the facilities and school sports programs that would show off their skills to the right people. So I had decided I wanted to hold a summer program for children with love for the sport but no access to a team.

From that summer camp, I wanted to provide a few scholarships to schools with a basketball team. It would require a lot of planning, help and input from high school coaches, it would also require extra donors to keep it running, but I was determined to see it happen. I had Marcus looking into finding someone who could help me with the logistics. Until then, I was going to focus on enjoying my rest and relaxation.

By eleven the next morning, we were landing in Mexico. We could have flown commercial, but between the five of us guys on the plane, it wasn’t much more to charter a private plane, plus there was the added bonus of convenience and the privacy it gave us. It was close to a four-hour flight, so we had to be up early, but I didn’t mind. Michael and his wife couldn’t join us this time around, a conflict with their kids' schedules, but without Layla playing Queen Bee, the other girls seemed to give Keegan a chance which was good to see.

The place we were staying was incredible. Right on the ocean, plenty of pools and restaurants to enjoy, a spa that I was sure most of the girls would be living at and a private beach to enjoy. We all went our separate ways when we got there. I was going to be meeting up with the guys after we were settled as they wanted to go jet skiing, but both Faith and Keegan had declined to join us.

Our bulter escorted us to our private villa for the next seven nights. It had two bedrooms, both opening up to a communal terrace overlooking the ocean. We had our own private pool and jacuzzi plus living room with plush sofas, a separate dining area and a full kitchen with a private chef, who, like the butler, was on call twenty-four hours a day.

After our butler gave us the grand tour and delivered our luggage to the bedrooms, he left us to our own devices.

“Only two rooms.” Keegan queried, knowing that he had put her luggage in with mine.

“Sorry. All the larger villas were already booked; I couldn’t swap the villa at the last minute to accommodate our last-minute guest.” I explained to her. The truth was that I hadn’t even bothered to try because I thought I could use this to my advantage.

She looked from Faith and then back to me, “Well, I guess Faith and I will just have to be roomies.”

I shrugged casually at her, “Sure, if that is what you want. But just fair warning, my sister snores like a freight train, and because she takes her implant out at night, it’s hard to wake her.”

“It’s true.” Faith called out on her way to the kitchen to check out the fridge. “My best friend sleeps in the spare room when we do sleepovers, or she wouldn’t get any sleep.”

I could see the wheels in her head as she debated whether she could put up with a total lack of sleep for this trip or whether she could tolerate sharing a bed. I mean, they were very large beds.

“Fine.” She relented, walking towards the bedroom, “But if you try anything funny, you’ll be sleeping outside like a dog.”

She slammed the door shut behind her. She was the only girl that had ever put me back in my place. It was very entertaining.

“You like her, don’t you? I’m not talking like as in she’s okay to hang out with. I’m talking like like.” Faith asked from the kitchen, sipping on a soda she had found in the fridge.

“I’ve never met anyone like her, Faith,” I answered, not taking my eyes off the closed door.

“Then you better make this week count, my dear brother.” She stated firmly, “Because I like her too and want her to stay, not just for the length of your contract with her lasts.”

“Do you mind having dinner on your own tonight?” I asked her, a plan forming in my head.

“Of course.” She confirmed, “It’s not like I don’t have access to a private chef, my own pool and hot tub, and if all else fails, Netflix.”

She, too, went off to her room, and I followed Keegan into ours. She was already unpacking and settling in by the time I got in there.

“I’m serious. I’m building a pillow wall between us at night.” She stated firmly as she hung up a couple of long, summery dresses.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” I requested, watching her halt in her tracks halfway through hanging things up.

“As in with the rest of the team?” She enquired.

I walked over to my own suitcase, unzipping it to try and find my board shorts for the beach. “No, I mean just you and me. No other people, no prying eyes, just us.”

The silence was deafening as she stared at me for what felt like an eternity before she spoke. “Okay.”

It was only one word, but it was exactly the word I needed to hear right now, and it was making me do a happy dance in my head. I had gotten her to agree to go out with me, know I just needed to, as Faith said, make it count.

I got changed, had a quick chat with our butler and spent the entire afternoon with the guys on the jetskis enjoying the sun and sea. By the time I got back to the villa, it was after five, and by the sounds coming from Faith’s room, Keegan was getting ready in there. I had a shower to watch the salt and sand from my body before getting changed into a pair of linen shorts and a short-sleeved, light grey shirt.

I was ready early but very nervous about what was about to happen, so I started pacing the lounge room from end to end about twenty times, constantly glancing at my watch watching the minutes tick by. At six o’clock on the dot, Faith’s door opened and out strolled Keegan, looking breathtaking.
She had left her hair out but curled it, the soft, strawberry blonde ringlets cascading down her shoulders. Her make-up was minimal, just a little mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss, not that she really needed it. Keegan had chosen one of the dresses I had seen her hanging up, a blue ocean maxi, spaghetti-strapped dress with a very low back and a large slit up in the side that reached her upper thigh, showing off her leg every time she walked. On her feet were a simple pair of gold, flat sandals and the only accessory that she had chosen was a golden arm cuff that she wore on her upper arm. She looked like a goddess.

Without saying a word, because I couldn’t trust my voice right now, we walked out of the villa and in the direction of the beach. Ignoring the questioning look on Keegan’s face, I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me as we went in the opposite direction of the restaurants.

It wasn’t until we were basically on the sand that she saw what I had planned, and her eyes lit up in amazement, “Ryder, what did you do?”

Laughing, I continued to lead her towards the private cabana that I had asked the butler to arrange for me. The entire wooden structure was sitting on the sand, so close to the ocean that you could smell the salt in the breeze. A small round table covered in simple white table cloth with dinnerware and chairs for two sat in the cabana. The sun was just setting on the horizon, and the fairy lights that wrapped around the entire frame of our dinner area were starting to light up. Our server for the night was standing next to the table, standing at attention, waiting for our arrival.

When we stepped up on the platform, I dropped Keegan’s hand and walked quickly in front of her so I could pull out a chair for her.

Once she sat down, she couldn’t stop looking around as our server poured us each a glass of champagne. “This is incredible.”

I picked up my glass and held it out, “I wanted to do something special. Look, Keegan. I’m going to lay all my cards on the table. I know that this started as an arrangement but as I’ve grown to know you in the time that we’ve spent together and I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to think that there might be something more. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, but I want to know if you think that we try and see if this might go somewhere.”

Just like when I invited her to dinner, she kept me waiting so long that I was getting ready to walk into the ocean fully clothed and drown myself for thinking that there might be something more.

Slowly she reached out in front of her and picked up her glass, clinking it against mine. “Let’s take things one step at a time. Dinner first and then…..I don’t know.”
It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no, I would take what I could get right now.