NEW YEAR’S DAY •「 THE REP SERIES 2/15 」
FOR: @jenna-rps VERSE: Wink Rydrey SUMMARY: “Don’t read the last page,” Audrey blurts instead, hoping to steal Ryder’s attention before he gets too far. She’s spinning her diamond ring on her finger as he continues, heart pounding out of her chest. She had no idea how long he’s been reading. Maybe he’s on the last page already. That thought alone makes her want to crawl into a hole and die. Thank god he’s not reading aloud. WORD COUNT: 1,354 NOTES: Work with me here. This could easily be twice as long if I let myself get as carried away as I wanted to. Sexual undertones but no smut.
They decided back in September that Christmas would be in Colorado this year, and Audrey actually prefers it. It’s the first Christmas without Papa, and none of them - Ma, Marley or Audrey herself - really feel like making a big deal out of it if he wouldn’t be there to celebrate with them. Thanksgiving is fine - it was never the favourite holiday. Christmas is harder, so they each make a decision to celebrate quietly in their own way.
So, for Audrey and Ryder, it’s Thanksgiving in Texas, and Christmas and New Year’s in Aspen. A whole two weeks off seems too good to be true, but no one’s pinched Audrey and awakened her from the dream.
In fact, when she wakes up on Christmas morning next to Ryder in his childhood bedroom, she feels calmer than she can ever remember feeling in San Fran, and Audrey can tell he does too.
This is one of the few times she’s up before him, and she takes a second to just look at him - long lashes that nearly brush the apples of his cheeks, lips slightly parted as he sleeps. He’s a gorgeous man, and Audrey likes to appreciate it whenever she has the chance.
She’s also glad that he got some rest after the most awkward Christmas Eve in history. Ryder’s father isn’t a man Audrey wants to spend more time with than absolutely necessary, but she put on a brave face for her fiancé - fiancé - and the two of them sat together through dinner and small talk, hands clasped and resting on Ryder’s thigh. The tension in the air was palpable, and as soon as they said their goodbyes, Audrey let out a breath that she didn’t realize she’d been holding for so long. She was proud of him for being brave and showing respect to his father, even if Audrey firmly believed that he didn’t deserve it.
Still, it wasn’t about her. It was about Ryder and his father and salvaging any semblance of a relationship that they could. She knew that they were only visiting because Ryder felt equal parts obligation and desire to impress the older man, but they were both happy to leave when it came time. The stress that he carried in his shoulders as they drove back to his mother’s house seemed to have worked it’s way out of Ryder’s body during the night. Thankfully.
The careful, quiet wake-up that she’d planned was cut short with three abrupt knocks on the door of the bedroom. “Get up, you two. We’re just waiting on you.” Ryder would have seen Audrey perched up on her elbow staring at him when he opened his eyes if her gaze hadn’t been stolen by Dakota’s intrusion, and she’s not ashamed of that fact. He knows how much she loves watching him, looking at him, and everything about him. She presses a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth when he stirs and offers a gravelly “Hey, Auds.” She also adores that morning voice and doesn’t hear it nearly often enough.
“We better get down there before they send in the calvary,” she replies, a small smile tugging at her lips.
The entire, very large family is in the midst of opening gifts when Audrey realizes her mistake.
She’s crossed legged in the middle of the living room floor with a toddler sitting on her lap. Ryder’s on the couch between Dakota and his mother, and there’s an air of excitement as the children - cousins, nieces, nephews - tear open their toys.
Audrey and Ryder drove to Colorado - nearly 18 hours each way - and loaded up all the presents in Ryder’s car. When they arrived at his mother’s the gifts went into their bedroom for wrapping. Mrs. Lynn, the Christmas queen that she is, requested that all the gifts be under the tree with plenty of time to spare - except those from Santa, of course. It just so happened that Dakota and Audrey were in the kitchen baking cookies (with Ryder “helping”) when it came time to organize.
“Go ahead and bring them down, Amalia” Audrey offered without thinking. “Everything’s wrapped and ready right in front of the closet.”
She’s trying not to panic when she looks up and sees Ryder reading the contents of the thick red envelope she’d brought along on their holiday. It’s clearly from her - his name written on the front in her handwriting - but that particular gift was meant to be a more, uh, private opening. The vinyl, the Millennium Falcon cufflinks, the handmade blanket and the other few items were all gifts she wanted him to open now. Audrey forgot that she hadn’t actually tucked away her letter somewhere else to give him later as intended but rather left it on the top of the pile.
There’s no way she can get up and take it away now that he’s already started reading without attracting the attention of the other family members and having to answer to a lot of questioning stares.
“Don’t read the last page,” Audrey blurts instead, hoping to steal Ryder’s attention before he gets too far. She’s spinning her diamond ring on her finger as he continues, heart pounding out of her chest. She had no idea how long he’s been reading. Maybe he’s on the last page already. That thought alone makes her want to crawl into a hole and die. Thank god he’s not reading aloud.
See, she started writing it the night they got engaged. Audrey slipped out of bed with a sheet wrapped around her and sat at the little desk in their bedroom, pen in hand, composing what could only be termed an old-fashioned love letter. It went on for pages - almost embarrassingly long, actually - outlining how she felt when he asked her, the way she feels with him every day, how lucky she is to have a man like him, before veering off into a, uh, more risqué direction by the end.
Very risque.
Back of Cosmo, erotic section of the bookstore risqué.
She realizes when he looks up and winks - that ridiculous half smile on his face that makes her weak, even now - that he had no intention of stopping once he got started, and is likely picturing in vivid detail everything she’s written in the letter.
Audrey can feel her cheeks burning, the flush travelling beneath the collar of her pyjama shirt and reaches for a Tickle Me Elmo to distract both herself and the child sitting with her.
It’s hours later when Ryder corners Audrey in the hallway and presses himself against her from behind.
It’s the first time they’ve been alone since this morning, and Audrey turns and has to grip Ryder’s biceps to keep herself upright. He starts with a kiss and trails his lips over to her ear where he quotes what she’d written in her letter in that voice with a hint of a question in his tone, then pulls away to gauge her reaction with a glint in his eyes.
He seems entirely unaffected by his own words - how is that possible? She’s been thinking about it all day and has certainly slipped into a daydream or two about….that. Exactly what he’s talking about now. All of it. She’s nearly crawling out of her skin in anticipation.
Audrey audibly whimpers when one of the tiny ones toddles around the corner and calls Ryder’s name, begging for attention from her cousin and breaking the moment. Just like that, it’s over and she’s left to catch her breath and attempt to not look so wanton when they rejoin the rest of the family.
All Audrey can do is nod when Ryder lifts the child onto his lip and clears his throat, then gestures toward the stairs. “Twenty minutes,” he swallows. Maybe, Audrey realizes as she brushes her fingertips over his forearm, that he’s having just as difficult a time as she is. One could only hope. “Meet me upstairs and we’ll open that last present.”
