Bet My Heart • •

[Lexi Piper Ryanne]

The good thing about being a graduate was that Lexi wasn’t waking up each morning with a mental to-do list immediately flooding her brain. She actually missed having so many things to keep her busy, but if she still had them then she couldn’t be just laying here with Denny and enjoying the morning. Laughing softly, her teeth released their hold on her bottom lip and she felt the faint blush flooding her cheeks. “You’re barely awake two minutes and it’s starting.”

[/color] She said with a shake of her head, trying to pretend to be annoyed but failing miserably. The petite brunette smiled that she hadn’t made a total mess of the coffee, but she had been lucky; the machine wasn’t quite so different from her own. “Now you know why I always show up with coffee! I learnt early on that it was a sure fire way to win you over.”[/color] She joked as she leaned over to kiss his jaw, though Lexi did like Denver’s reaction whenever she surprised him with his favourite variation of the hot beverage.

Lexi had only had family cook for her before and as she got older it seemed to become a rare treat and mainly one that occurred when she was sick with the flu or something similar. Despite being raised on expensive cooking and fancy restaurants, she wasn’t a fussy eater and often enjoyed a bowl of ramen noodles or something equally as simple. She had to smile at the thought of Denny cooking breakfast for her, but playfully pouted at his “terms”. “Can’t I even hand you a spatula? What if you ask me for something? It’d be rude of me to refuse to help.”[/color] She countered, although it was more to tease him than a real distressing problem for her. Still, Lexi liked to help and she’d be in the kitchen when he was cooking anyway unless he kept her locked her in another room for the duration.

Their short journey to the kitchen had Lexi laughing softly and she pushed herself up onto her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. With the amount of situations in which she wore her heels, moments with Denver when she was barefoot or in her slippers served to remind her how small she really was. Chuckling softly, she nudged her nose against his as she nodded and smiled affectionately up at him with a teasing twinkle in her dark eyes. “You’re worse than the witch in Hansel and Gretel.”[/color] Chocolate chip pancakes could easily be the downfall of the youngest Ryanne, who didn’t even have that big a sweet-tooth! While Denny set about getting the ingredients ready, Lexi twirled happily around the kitchen for a moment before hopping up onto the kitchen counter to claim her seat; something that was becoming more of a habit each time Lexi was at Denny’s apartment.
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• • •

TAGGED! Denny!
WORDS! 485!
OUTFIT! Masquerade!
LYRICS! Look At Me - - - Carrie Underwood
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Denver Gage Sawyer]

Denver’s brows drew together as though he were confused about something. “Two minutes already? I must be losing my touch,” he said on a sigh, shaking his head. Denny loved teasing Lexi, bringing that light pink glow to her cheeks. It was very cute and made her look even more beautiful to him; not that he could get enough of her without the help of colour. “Wise woman,” he remarked, teasing. It had taken him a couple days after Sarah had left for him to figure out how to work the machine. And that was with lessons. It still got the better of him and he’d had it for some time now. Coffee was a sure fire way of getting Denny’s attention. With his busy schedule, it was a miracle he had time for a social life, though after he’d met Lexi, he made a conscious effort to make the time. And Lexi always seemed to know when he needed a break from the paperwork or the unpleasantness that could be his particular ward. She definitely brightened his mood on those darker days and helped him to see the good in the world.

Denny didn’t cook for just anyone. Since he didn’t have the time of day usually to pour a bowl of cereal for himself, it was a rare treat to cook any meal. When his sister visited was about the only time these days that he got the chance. Now though, he had Lexi and wanted to make it more of a habit to treat her to these home cooked meals. “Not even if it’s a life or death need for a spatula,” he said, shaking his head, playing along. “You get to lounge and enjoy the show or you’ll ‘ave to take Duke for ‘is walk and not Mikey,” he added, grinning. The boy from a floor below should be at the door any minute for the calm dog. Denver had the forethought to give the kids’ parents a key and put the leash right by the door so Mikey wouldn’t have to go searching and find himself seeing something he shouldn’t. “I don’t recall the realtor telling me this place was made of candy. I wonder what else she didn’t tell me,” he said teasingly.

Denny went straight to work, making the pancakes. He stopped only once when Mikey showed up looking for Duke, but after simply calling out to the boy, he left again with a dog that could easily rival him in size. “Fin!” he said, sliding the final chocolate chip pancake onto the stack. He shut off the heat, putting the frying pan into the sink and ran some water over it before putting the plate on the breakfast island and grabbing plates, utensils and glasses from the cupboards and drawers. Denny took the real maple syrup he paid extra for and the orange juice from the refrigerator and set them about as well. “Breakfast is served, mademoiselle Ryanne,” Denny said, taking a seat next to his pretty girlfriend.

Tag || Lexi!
Words || 506
Clothes || Picture Perfect
Music || Every Time I Look at You by Luke Bryan
Notes || <3

[Lexi Piper Ryanne]

She had to laugh at Denver’s “concern”, quickly curling back into his side for a warm hug. “Or we can put it down to you not having your full morning coffee yet.”

[/color] She offered, still smiling. It didn’t take much to bring the colour out in her cheeks, but by now it seemed to be a running joke between the couple and one Lexi didn’t actually tire of, even though she often joked about it. Shrugging like it was no big deal Lexi couldn’t hide the smirk dancing on her lips. “Well, I figured there had to be an easier way of getting your attention that didn’t involve footballs flying at my head.”[/color] Coffee was also the easiest excuse to drop by the hospital when she had the chance. She knew how busy he could be and how stressed some days left him and Lexi didn’t like feeling helpless in all of that; bringing him coffee when she was “just passing by” was her little contribution to helping him through one of those long shifts.

“I’ll remind you of those exact words if you find yourself writhing on the floor, calling out for a spatula with your last breath.”[/color] She promised, crossing her arms and pretending to look stern. Another one of those grins took over her face at his next suggestion though and she couldn’t resist teasing her boyfriend just a little bit more. “Sure, I can do that! I’ll pop last night’s heels on and I think I’ll have to go in this shirt because I really don’t want to ruin that dress. I’m sure that’ll be fine for walking Duke, right? I have plenty of room to move and it seems like a warm morning, so I shouldn’t be cold at all.”[/color] She said, playing innocently and acting as though she was legitimately going to take the docile dog out in her current state. Had she known that last night would’ve brought her back here she would’ve made sure to bring something more casual for the next day, but then there was really no fun in forward planning like that.

“She forgot to mention that you were devilishly handsome and drop dead gorgeous?”[/color] Lexi suggested, grinning as she leaned over to kiss his cheek and snoop a secret look at how breakfast was coming along. It smelt fantastic already, but her fingers were still itching to help out in some way. Before she knew it though, Denny was setting the island and she hopped up onto her seat, flicking her chocolate eyes his way to teasingly mumble, “I could’ve done this while you were cooking.”[/color] Although she did manage to pour them both a glass of orange juice before he sat down. “Merci, monsieur Sawyer.”[/color] She only put a tiny amount of the maple syrup on her plate, but it was enough for Lexi who was more than happy with chocolate chip pancakes! Taking a bike, she moaned in appreciation and dropped her head onto Denny’s shoulder as she chewed it. “Where on earth did I find you?”[/color] She asked, savouring the taste of something that had to be one of her favourite dishes after her much loved carbonara.
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• • •

TAGGED! Denny!
WORDS! 538!
OUTFIT! Masquerade!
LYRICS! Look At Me - - - Carrie Underwood
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Denver Gage Sawyer]

“Hmm, coffee, that must be it,” he said, nodding his sleep fuzzed head. When he was up, he was normally up and the caffeine was just a formality then actual need to clear his head. And it was usually a way to prolong the inevitable of going in to work. He loved his job, loved helping those kids, but sometimes their ages, their illnesses took a toll. Not all of them were in for simple things like an appendix or because they were playing in the snow too long and caught cold. “Pretty girls in need of assistance and coffee, the quick ways to a man’s heart,” Denny said, teasing though he couldn’t deny that his days were brightened whenever Lexi strolled into his office. Denver grinned, grabbing playfully at his girlfriend’s sides. “Believe me when I say my last breathe wouldn’t be used asking for a spatula,” he said, honestly, dropping feather light kisses all over to make her laugh.

At work, Denver could keep up the serious look for most of his shift if he needed to, and there had been times when he had. But with Lexi, he couldn’t stay serious, even pretending for long at all. She made him laugh and practically threw him out of his serious moods whenever she was around. “Of course, it looks nice out, that shirt should be perfect! Besides, someone needs to give poor Mr. Jones a show every now and then. He’s been so lonely without a spectacular view to see every day. Since Mrs. Jones passed, all he does is sit at that window and look out on the street but there’s nothing pretty to see,” he said then paused, thinking. “Then again, he is eighty-nine years old, you might just give him a heart attack and we really can’t have that, so I guess you’ll just have to stay here and let Mike take care of Duke,” he said slower, reasoning it all out as if this were a sane and very normal conversation.

Denny rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s words. “Why would she tell me that?” His friends around New York teased him for having the good maple syrup but it just wasn’t pancakes or French toast without the good stuff. And those friends were usually converted to the more pricey syrup after Denny gave them a taste. What could he say though, he was Canadian and there was one thing his mother made sure was always in the house; good maple syrup for breakfasts. There was the cheap imitation stuff but that was all sugar and artificial flavouring. He had tried it once, to compare it to the stuff from the farm the class had gone to, to see how maple syrup was made. “Vous êtes les bienvenus,” he said, pleased he could remember his high school French still. He didn’t smother his plate with the sticky syrup, but he put enough on his plate that he could spread over the short stack. Grinning, Denny wrapped his free arm around Lexi, holding her to his side. “Right time and place,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head before returning to his breakfast. “So, I wanted to ask you something. You don’t have to answer right now, you can think about it and let me know but I figured I’d ask now so you have the time to think it all out,” he started, practically shoving a forkful of pancake into his mouth to give her a minute to process what he’d said and prepare for the worst of things, even though he didn’t think it was all that bad. When his mouth was clear of food, he continued. “I was wondering if you would like to come home with me for a couple weeks,” he said, picking up his glass of juice and taking a sip as he waited for her answer.

Tag || Lexi!
Words || 653
Clothes || Picture Perfect
Music || Better Together by Ross Lynch
Notes || <3

[Lexi Piper Ryanne]

All Lexi could do was smile up at her boyfriend. The day that met had been one she initially wanted to forget all about, but then she had looked up and her dark eyes had met those of Denver’s and suddenly the whole day was something completely different; it wasn’t something she wanted to cry about and she especially didn’t want to forget about it. She squealed for him to stop whenever she found a break in her giggles, but clung to Denver all the same so that she didn’t end up sprawled on the floor in some laughing mess. “Good; it’s one less thing I have to carry about in my purse then.”

[/color] She joked, leaning up to steal a kiss from him once her laughter had subsided enough.

Lexi had never really had the chance to act silly before. Her whole life had been a show of reputations and acts that made her sick to her stomach to think about now. It was why when she was with Denny, more than anyone else, she was likely to joke about meaningless things and have conversations about things that would never happen; like her walking Duke in her current attire. “Yeah, I don’t want to be going around killing sweet old men. I guess you’re stuck with this.”[/color] She sighed, as if her plans for the day had just been dashed. “Although this is New York; there are better sights everywhere.”[/color] She added with a smile as she adjusted her glasses until they sat right on her nose again.

“Because it’s true.”[/color] Lexi said simply, her arms wrapping around Denny as she rested her head against his back while he finished their breakfast. She was content to just eat her stack with the same general nonsense that they usually spoke about before slipping serious moments of plans and schedules into the conversation. However, when Denny spoke next she felt her mouth going dry and it was hard to swallow the mouthful of pancake. In her experience, nothing good ever came from conversations that started like that and she felt her chest tighten as she tried to brace herself for whatever her boyfriend was about to say to her. Her dark eyes were fixed on him as she waited for his question, whatever it might be. When it came, Lexi let out a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding and laughed softly. “I’d love to! So long as it won’t ruin any plans your family might have for you.”[/color] She didn’t want to interrupt anything Sarah might have wanted to do with Denver, but she was more than eager to see the place Denny called home and meet everyone else who he cared about. “I don’t even need to think about it.”[/color] She said with another smile as she leaned over and kissed Denver sweetly.
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• • •

TAGGED! Denny!
WORDS! 516!
OUTFIT! Masquerade!
LYRICS! Look At Me - - - Carrie Underwood
NOTES! <3 <3 <3