Hello, old friend. When did you get so hot? (Influencer)

**Note- Most my smut stories are barely stories. Well, this one is barely smut. Sorry, this is another influencer story. I am going to do more genuine celebrity stories at some point. I know those are more popular, but I've just been in an influencer mood lately and I just do this for fun. My captions collection has more celebs/characters if you want to check that out.**

When you move to a big city, it can be the most overwhelming and **** you’ll feel in your entire life. There are millions of people surrounding you and not one of them is your friend. So when Ryan spotted Erika at the bar, he was overcome by a sense of camaraderie. She was so clearly uncomfortable and out of place. She was standing by herself, never seeming to look up from the drink she never actually drank from.

“Are you new in town, too?”

She jolted up from her murky reflection. “Sorry?”

“Oh my bad, I thought I recognized that ‘lost at sea without a lifejacket’ look. I feel like I’ve had it plastered on my face since I moved to LA. It would have been nice to have a fellow Pi to commiserate with. My apartment doesn’t allow pets, so I don’t even have a Richard Parker. Sorry, I can see that you have no idea what I am talking about. Life of Pi? Indian kid stuck at see with a full grown tiger? Ang Lee directed the movie? Nope, nothing? Well, anyways, I’m realizing now that I’m rambling and borderline unintelligible, but let me clearly state in plain English what I meant, so you don’t think I’m a total lunatic. My name is Ryan, I have only been in LA for 2 weeks, and I, for some reason, assumed that you looked uncomfortable and alone for the same reason that I am. And as I am saying this, I am realizing that that might actually be an insulting thing to say–”

“You’re right, it did sound a little insulting. But also, you’re right that I am new in town. Look, you are clearly spiraling and I definitely disassociated there for a minute there before you brought me back. Do you want to go grab some food and, how did you put it, commiserate.”

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Erika and Ryan were friends from that night on, best friends really. They were each other’s rocks in LA, part of that being just the general anxiety reduction that comes with having a sturdy relationship and part of it being the way that they specifically would give each other encouragement and advice. Erika read Ryan’s script and convinced him that it was good enough to get made. And, Ryan returned the favor and got Erika representation at his agency. Even as their careers started to take off, they hung out whenever they could find the time and energy.

But eventually, modeling took Erika away from LA. They still kept in touch, but Erika had reached a point where she was constantly working in Milan, Paris, NYC, etc.

It was funny to Ryan to see that scared girl become an elegant fashion model. He knew objectively that she was attractive, but their friendship had started from such a place of genuine camaraderie that he had never really thought about her that way.

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Ryan had been ecstatic when Erika said she would be in LA for a couple weeks. He even offered to brave the traffic to pick her up after her meeting. When he spotted her waiting for him, he was stunned. Even though he had seen videos of her walking runways and pictures of her in Vogue, there had always been a part of him that saw that as her playing dress up. But in person, her beauty would not be denied. He shook his head to clear the thought and gave Erika a beep and wave to get her in the car.

“My god, they aren’t feeding you at all. I’m taking you straight to a taco cart before you fly out my window.”

“I don’t know if you should be taking me anywhere. You look like you haven’t had a good night’s sleep in months. I didn’t come back here to die in an insomnia induced car crash.”

They did get tacos that night and Ryan fell asleep as soon as his back hit the couch. Having his friend back made him much more comfortable than a bed ever could.

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Erika watched him sleep for a second. She had felt bad about taking his bed, but was glad to see him actually catch some zzz’s. She masked her concern as a joke, but she had been concerned when she saw the bags under Ryan’s eyes. He had mentioned that he was having some problems with insomnia but she hadn’t realized how much it was affecting him. It wasn’t like he was wasting away; in fact, he looked kind of great. But still she worried.

And on that train of thought, she still maintained that she was a perfectly healthy weight, but it was nice to have someone prioritize her happiness over her figure for once. Ryan would never admit it but he had a bit of southern grandma to him and was prone to doting. Hell, it wasn’t a coincidence that a batch of her favorite cookies, shortbread, were waiting in the kitchen when they got home last night. Ryan made it sound like he tripped and accidentally knocked all the ingredients together, but Erika had been his cookie baking sous chef enough times to know that it was a serious business to him. The guy would rather strikeout at the bar than make a batch of cookies get overcooked or have too much flour.

She grabbed herself a cookie and took a little self guided tour of the apartment. This one was new since she left LA and he wasn’t big on sending pictures. No one would mistake the place as being the work of a professional decorator, but it had a charm to it. One piece in particular caught her eye. Amongst film memorabilia and posters was the poster that she got him for that first Christmas in LA. It was a shitty photoshop job of her and Ryan in place of John Candy and Steve Martin in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but there it was sandwiched between Sunset Boulevard and 12 Angry Men. Tears started to swell as nostalgia and appreciation washed over her. It was so nice of him to keep it—

“I know it’s ugly, but it isn’t worth crying over.”

His hand appeared on her shoulder and pulled her in for a side hug.

“It really was a simpler time though, huh. I wish I could back sometimes but I know past me would be furious if I gave all this up. As a matter fact, I think I would be particularly jealous of how close I am to the beach now. How about we stop moping and go take advantage of that? “Never seen a sad person on a jetski” etc etc.”

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There wasn’t actually a jetski but the beach was still a pleasant distraction. It was almost too distracting actually. Ryan couldn’t help but blush when he saw Erika in her bikini. It had a pattern and string thingy going on that made it still feel chic, but it showed enough skin to turn any man into a cartoon wolf. He had made that comment about her getting too skinny, but seeing her now, well her ribs certainly weren't showing, her thighs were looking— Stop that. This is Erika, don’t be gross.

Erika was having some troubling thoughts of her own. She had forgotten sandals and immediately regretted it when she reached the burning hot sand. Ryan had noticed her grimace and scooped her up in his arms.

“Imagine what your agency would do to me if I sent you back with blistered feet.”

She half-heartedly protested, but couldn’t help but enjoy the ride. He was respectful with his hand placement but given their attire skin to skin contact was inevitable and felt quite nice. She couldn’t remember if Ryan had always been this strong. She had never noticed if he had been, certainly she had never thought about the implication of being with someone who could toss her around like she weighed nothing… Alright snap out of it. She had been too busy for romance or even sex for a while now and it must be getting to her. Tonight she would find someone to release this energy. Ryan could probably use a night alone anyway. He hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend or anything, but he was a dude in his 20s and she didn’t want to cockblock him for 2 weeks regardless.

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“So I think I’m going to stay somewhere else tonight. Like in some guy’s bed. It has been… a while”

“Wow, give a girl a fancy wardrobe and all the sudden she is confident she can pull anyone.”

Ryan’s tone was clearly joking but Erika was still a bit miffed.

“You think it’s the clothes huh? Tell you what, you pick my outfit tonight and I’ll still land the hottest guy in the club.”

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Ryan didn’t play fair. He had stored some of Erika’s stuff for her and now he was taking advantage. She would be going into battle in an old Halloween outfit of a bunny, and not the Playboy kind either. More of a Christmas Story vibe if anything.

Erika wasn’t about to back down from a challenge though, especially one that would make Ryan acknowledge how hot she was now. That payoff wasn’t going to come right away though.

“Aww, look at the fluffy bunny! I could just squeeze you until you pop.”

He did pull her in for an exaggerated bear hug. She was engulfed by his arms again and pressed against his chest. She accepted the hug for a second and almost reciprocated but caught herself and wiggled free. She blew a strand of hair out of her face.

“You’ll see soon, my friend. They’ll hang my jersey next to Lola and Jessica after tonight.”

—---

They stuck together at the club as Erika scoped it out for a potential mate. She kept coming up with flaws for every guy in the place. No one looked good to her for some reason. Plus, Ryan kept distracting her with conversation, making her forget about her mission for 15-20 minutes at a time. Thankfully, a couple of her model friends were coming soon, and they could keep Ryan too occupied to sabotage her.

When they came, she made the introductions and then excused herself to go make the rounds. She kept finding herself staring back at their table though. Was it just her imagination or was Bella’s hand lingering on Ryan’s arm? Whatever, it’s not like Erika cared. But she did wish she would stop accidentally making eye contact with Ryan. He must be keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t start to win the bet. A couple guys came up to her with shitty bunny pun based pickup lines but she shut them down immediately. Not her type. She felt a hand on her shoulder and was ready to castigate the presumptuous guy but it turned out to be Janelle, her other model friend.

“Did you come over here to give Bella some room to operate?”

“What? Oh no, I just came over to see what you are up to. Honestly, the conversation has almost exclusively been about you and your guys’ adventures in LA.”

“Really? I saw Bella getting all feely over there?”

“She definitely gave it a shot, but that dude is not interested at all. Look Erika, I don’t want to overstep, but that guy only has eyes for you. And I mean that almost literally. He’s sitting across from two models, one who was throwing herself at him, and he was barely making eye contact because he was too busy watching you.”

“He’s just locked in on the bet—”

“Erika, what’s on the line with this bet? Nothing. He doesn’t care about the bet at all and I don’t think you do either. I mean you’ve talked to no one and dismissed the two perfectly cute guys that tried. I know being more than friends is scary, but right now you’re both just in denial. Take a minute to mull it over, but I think you know I’m right.”

With that Janelle turned and walked back to the table. Erika watched her go and made eye contact with Ryan once again. This time he smiled and she blushed.

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“How’s she doing? She’s not too drunk or anything, right? Is she overheating in that bunny suit?”

“Nope, she’s doing fine. I just gave her a little pep talk.”

He was relieved to hear it. He regretted ever challenging Erika, she seemed so uncomfortable tonight. He had just been a little hurt by her plan to have sex with some random guy tonight. It wasn’t like he never heard about her partners before, but this time was different. It must have been that this was interrupting their limited time together.

His thoughts were interrupted by Erika coming back to the group.

“My feet are tired; do you mind if I sit for a minute? No no, don’t get up. I’ll just sit on your lap.”

When she had wiggled out of his hug earlier, Erika had inadvertently grinded against his crotch. He half worried, half hoped that it would happen again now. She really did look impossibly cute tonight. There was something about the fancy outfits that gave him plausible deniability about his attraction to her, but this bunny was just Erika, just his Erika, and he was still totally attracted to her.

“Here give me that arm, I don’t want to fall off.”

Erika grabbed his outside arm and made him wrap it around her stomach like a safety bar. She must have been drunker than Janelle realized. He tried to focus on the conversation the girls were having and not think about the way her butt felt on her leg, how soft and warm she was in the suit, how soft and warm she must be out of the suit… Alright stop it. What are they talking about? Something about a show in New York next month. Fuck, what is she doing? Erika just wiggled off his leg and squarely onto his lap. And she just kept fidgeting. He was already at half mast at this point and it wouldn’t take much for this situation to get more conspicuous.

“Erika, are you doing okay? Seriously, I don’t mind standing.”

“No, I’m comfortable. Just trying to get a little more comfortable.”

Ryan knew Erika’s drunk voice and this wasn’t it. What was she doing? Just when she stopped trying to get comfortable, a new song came on that Erika must have liked because she started to dance. Well, dance as much as one could while sitting down, which basically meant moving your arms and hips around. Ryan was essentially getting a lapdance from his best friend, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He was fully erect at this point and couldn’t believe Erika didn’t notice. He couldn’t excuse himself now, because his erection would be even more obvious if he stood up. And to be honest, he didn’t know if he wanted to get up. This felt good and the fact that it was Erika just made it better. Thankfully the song ended before things got messy.

The next potential mess arrived in a very different form. It came as a drunk douchebag walk past and pointed at Erika.

“Look, that guy’s got himself a fuck bunny.”

Ryan instantly saw red and would have loved nothing more than to punch that guys face into the ground and make him apologize, but Erika was still on his lap.

“Erika, get up. I need to kill him.”

“Calm down, big guy. He’s an asshole, but he’s not wrong.”

“What?”

Erika turned around. She straddled Ryan, draped her arms around his neck, and looked straight into his eyes.

“Tonight, I’m your fuck bunny.” Ryan started to protest but she shut him up with a kiss. “I want this and I can feel how much you want this too. We can’t keep denying this connection. It’s time to take the leap.”

So Ryan took the leap. He pulled her tight and kissed her back. Soon, they were ferociously making out in the middle of this crowded club.

“Alright, you crazy kids. This was very, very hot. And if you ever need a third,--’or a fourth’ chimed in Bella— just let me know. But I think it’s time for you to go before any public indecency laws are broken.”

Ryan stood up, with Erika still wrapped around him, and gave a small salute to Janelle and Bella before turning towards the door. Erika took a break from kissing his neck to blow a kiss to her friends and mouth thank you as they faded from speaking distance. As Ryan carried her out the bar, Erika leaned into his ear.

“I win.”

“So do I.”