Jeah, Whatever

Being as Ryan came to meet my family, it was only proper that I did the same the following week. I had only met his mother briefly at the Olympics but tonight would be far more formal of a meeting.

Andrea texted me for good luck, promising to see me in two and a half weeks when the guys would be competing.

Once I landed in Orlando, I saw Ryan waiting for me as I made my way to him.

“Finally, it’s been like a week,” he smiled pulling me into a hug and a kiss, leading the way out of the airport.

“So is there anything I should know about your family?” I asked. He shrugged.

“My sisters are married. I don’t think their husbands will be there though so you don’t have to worry. They will probably hound you with questions but only because they’re protective. My brothers are mad chill and my dad, well he won’t be there,” he said as he sped down the road.

I hated his driving.

I was also nervous. His family was very open about everything and I didn’t know what they would ask and what they would expect me to answer.

When we arrived to his mother’s house, his mom ran outside to greet us. He gave my hand a little squeeze as I got out of the car. His mother hugged Ryan and then came and hugged me with a firm squeeze.

“Mrs. Lochte, it’s so nice to see you again,” I said, immediately punching myself mentally for calling her that as she just got divorced.

“What’s with the Mrs., Natalie, it’s Ike,” she told me as she led me inside her home.

There was nothing fancy about their home. It just felt like a cozy house where anyone could feel welcome. Pictures of all the kids and her grandchild were placed on walls and on top of bookshelves. One of his brothers was lounging on the couch as his sisters were in the kitchen, helping his mother.

“Brandon, get up and introduce yourself,” Ryan spoke to the younger boy with authority. He stood up and had on a sly smile.

“This is the baby of the family, Natalie, Brandon this is my girlfriend, Natalie,” he introduced, Brandon shyly waved and looked me up and down a little before Ryan smacked him on the back of the head.

“Don’t be a little perv, dude,” Ryan warned leading me away from his youngest sibling.

“This is my brother, Devon, he’s probably my best friend,” he said, giving his brother a hug.

“He only says that because we train together and he doesn’t want me to steal his thunder. Natalie is it?” He asked, pulling me into a hug. I smiled politely and nodded.

Ryan pulled me into the kitchen where his sisters were arguing about plantains when we came in.

“Oh Ryan, hey,” one of his sisters nodded at him and went straight back to the stove when his other sister came and pulled him into a hug.

“And you must be Natalie, I’m Megan,” she introduced herself. She looked a lot like Ryan. But in a pretty and feminine way.

“Natalie, can you cook?” His mother asked. I looked at Ryan for help and he just shrugged.

“I never have but I can try,” I said, trying to not sound like an idiot.

“How has a girl your age never cooked?! Who raises their daughter never to cook?!” His other sister, who’s name I still didn’t know was shocked.

“Her family isn’t like ours, Kristin,” Ryan defended as he ate the vegetables on the counter.

“You don’t have to do anything hard, Natalia, just chop,” his mother said, handing me a knife. I slowly cut up some vegetables.

“It’s Natalie mom, not Natalia,” Ryan told her sighing.

“Well it’s a beautiful Spanish name modified, I prefer Natalia,” she laughed as she patted my back.

“Welcome to our crazy family,” Devon said as he joined Ryan on the counter.

“Natalie you have only said one thing so far, tell us where you went to school,” Megan insisted. I was trying not to chop my finger off.

“I went to Yale,” I shared, his sister dropped her spatula.

“And you’re dating him?” Kristin asked as the family laughed.

I didn’t find that funny.

“Ry said that you work all the time, doing what?” Megan asked more questions.

“I’m the PR executive for my father’s company,” I told her.

They continued asking me these questions until dinner was ready. As we sat down, the family began asking more.

“So you are the girl that tied our brother down, you must be something in bed,” his sister smirked. I choked on my water.

“Meg come on, Natalie doesn’t talk like this with her family,” Ryan saw my discomfort.

“Ry, it’s no secret to us though,” Devon laughed, I looked down at my plate.

“We’re an open family, Natalie,” his mother smiled at me.

“Yeah, Ryan mentioned that,” I smiled.

“So you and your family don’t talk about anything like that?” His sister continued to question me. I shook my head no.

I didn’t think any family would openly talk about stuff like that.

“So, Natalie, you went to Yale, you have a job, you date Ryan, what else do you do?” Devon asked, stopping his sisters from hounding me with questions.

“Well, I travel a lot, but I guess that’s with my job. I hang out with my sister as much as I can but she’s currently at Stanford. Uh, I don’t know really, I guess I don’t do too much since I work alot,” I said as I played with my food. I felt all their eyes on me.

I was extremely uncomfortable.

“Well good for you for being a working woman, sweetie, more women should be like that, they rely too much on others and look weak,” his mother said, I smiled a little.

As dinner died down, I excused myself from the table and asked to be pointed to the restroom. I went up the stairs as directed and instead found a room that appeared to be Ryan’s old room. It was filled with articles and victory photos on the walls and had a couple of skateboards against the wall. Florida Gators stuff also filled the room. I laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, legs resting against the bed.

I would never fit in with these people. I wasn’t open about my sex life like they were and I didn’t do the things they were interested in. I couldn’t even cook like a woman should, according to their standards. I knew my parents asked Ryan a lot of tough questions, that they questioned him even more harshly than his family did to me but at least I had Andrea on our side. Here, I felt like everyone hated me.

“She’s too uptight, she needs to loosen up,” I heard someone say from downstairs.

“Well, she’s probably nervous, meeting all five of us at once,” another said.

“She does nothing but work, and for her daddy, trust fund baby, I don’t like it,” they continued to talk.

My feelings were confirmed. I felt my breathing become a little unsteady and I felt my eyes beginning to water. I wouldn’t cry over this, I don’t cry. And I refused to let myself start now.

“Oh come off it, girls, you’re being a bunch of gossipping women. Natalie is a perfectly beautiful girl and Ryan finally sees something in a women to have her stick around, be happy he found someone for more than a good time in the bedroom,” I heard his brother, Devon snap at his sisters.

It was encouraging to hear his brother stand up for me.

“Natalie?” Ryan questioned coming in the room. I wiped my eyes quickly, pushing the threatening tears out and sat up.

“Are you okay?” He asked, a little concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just, I don’t think your sisters like me all that much,” I laughed nervously. He sat down on the bed next to me.

“My sisters can be extremely harsh, I’m sorry for them, but I don’t think they hate you, they just don’t know you yet, they’ll come around,” he promised me, I rested my head on his shoulder.

“They think I’m boring and uptight,” I sighed. Ryan laughed.

“Well I know you’re certainly uptight, I mean, I’ve seen you let loose, and like you said to me, I’m dating you, not my family, who the hell cares what they think. And if all else fails, my brothers think you’re smoking hot,” he smirked. I stood up and rolled my eyes.

“So what’s with the skateboards,” I said, changing the subject, getting away from the heavy. Ryan picked one up.

“I like the skateboard here and there in my downtime, wanna see?” He asked, I nodded and he led me downstairs and outside to the road.

As he skateboarded all around the street, I smiled at how relaxed he looked. I sometimes forget that there’s more to Ryan than being an amazing swimmer and a party boy. That he’s actually a real person.

“Do you want to try?” He asked, stopping and handing me his board.

“Uhm, no, I’ll break my neck and die,” I laughed at the idea of me on a skateboard.

“Come on, at least try, I’ll hold you,” he said, dropping the board to my feet and began explaining how to push off and stay on the board.

Ryan held onto my waist as I did what he instructed, I was successfully riding a skateboard (while Ryan held onto me), but when I had to put my foot down to push once more, the board flew out from under me and I fell into Ryan, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” I asked from on top of him.

“I’m better than okay,” he grinned as he pulled me into a kiss right there, lying in the road. I began kissing him back, enjoying the moment.

Until a car began to beep at us, signaling it was coming our way, I screamed as we got up and ran to the side for safety. As the car passed, I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically at all that just occurred.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he smiled, helping me up from the ground.

Saying goodbye to his family, and promising to see a couple of them at Ryan’s meet in Detroit, we left to go to his place that was about two hours away.

“You guys could just stay here, Ry, I don’t mind,” his mom told him. Ryan shook his head.

“I have a 6:30 swim, I should stay nearby,” he told her as he gave her a hug.

With a few more goodbyes and hugs from his family, we were off to his place.

As we arrived, Ryan carried my bag inside for me and I immediately kicked off my shoes and went to his massive closet to find a change of clothes for bed.

“Didn’t you pack all your own clothes?” He asked, laughing as he stripped down to his underwear for the night.

“Yeah, but yours are better, don’t act like you don’t like it,” I said, as I reached for one of his button ups and put it over me. I took my bra off and let it fall to the floor and met him in the bathroom to brush our teeth.

“Oh I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, why bother packing?” He asked through his toothbrush.

I finished brushing my teeth before answering.

“Out of politeness I guess,” I smiled before walking to the bed and climbing in. Ryan slipped in next to me and pulled me close, unbuttoning the buttons of the shirt I was wearing.

“Ryan, you have swimming bright and early, it’s already almost one,” I warned. He looked at me, eyes full of want.

“At least give me something, come on, last time I saw you, we didn’t do anything because we stayed with your family, it’s been weeks,” he begged.

“You are so turned on all the time,” I laughed at his desires.

“Well yeah, I can only do so much for myself and you’re here in my bed, practically naked, of course I’m going to want you,” he said through kissing my neck. I tried to resist.

“If we start this, we won’t be asleep until like, 3, you have swim at 6:30, you will literally get two hours of slee---ohhh,” I said as he nibbled down on my breasts.

“Just a little fun then,” he smirked up at me, knowing I was liking what he did. I was losing my willpower.

“Come on, baby, a little heat,” he whispered on my lips, as his hands roamed my body.

My breathing intensified as he wandered to my center, dipping his hands into my underwear, my body pulsated a little.

“Ryan, no,” I used all the willpower I could to pull away from him, “I’m withholding,” I said simply. Ryan sat up and looked at me.

“You can’t withhold from me, you’ll explode just as much as I will,” he smirked as he kissed my stomach, I swatted him away.

“It’s for your own good, I’m doing this for you,” I said, buttoning up my shirt and closing my legs.

“Are you serious?” He asked, a little angry.

“You’re swimming in 4 hours, I’m so serious,” I said. He sighed and fell back against his pillow.

“Fine, then I’m withholding from you too,” he stated in a final voice.

“Ha, you wouldn’t last a day,” I laughed as we faced each other in bed.

“Challenge accepted, Natalie Crenshaw,” he grinned.

“First person to cave, loses,” I said right back.

“And the person who loses has to do whatever the other says for a week,” he added in. I thought of the possibilities of having the power to make Ryan do whatever I wanted for a week.

Yes, I definitely wanted to win.

“Challenge also accepted, Ryan Lochte,” I gave him a loaded kiss and pulled away. I felt Ryan sigh heavily before pulling me into his arms to fall asleep.

Ryan may compete for a living but I could be just as competitive. He was certainly in for it.