“Let me call her.” She grabs for my phone, but I’m quicker than her, raising it in the air out of reach.
“No,” I snap.
“But, Ryke, I’m your girlfriend now and she needs to know that.” Oh, my God. This girl is relentless.
“Van, if you do that she’ll just keep bothering me. Just leave it alone.” I stand to put my phone in the kitchen, out of Vanessa’s sight. I feel like a fucking teenager, hiding something from my parents. Or a parent who’s trying to keep their child away from something forbidden. That’s more like it. Vanessa acts like a damn kid.
Before I leave my phone, I punch in my password, curious to know what the hell the bitch wanted.
Monica: Phil left me. Can we talk?
Ugh. Every goddamn time something goes amiss with her and the asshole, she comes running to me. Why the hell does she think I care?
I walk to the fridge to get a Corona and toss the cap into the garbage. My phone chimes on the counter after I had completely forgotten to shut it off.
“What?” I bark an answer.
“Ryke? It’s me.” Like I don’t fucking know who she is.
“What do you want, Monica?” There’s malice in my tone, but I want to make it damn clear that I don’t want to talk to her. Now or ever.
She hiccups. “Phil left me and Kayla.” She sniffs and I don’t feel one drop of sympathy for her. She’s a bitch and deserves all the bullshit that’s thrown her way.
“And why are you calling me?” I spit. “When you decided to hop in bed with the asshole, you became his problem, not mine.” I run my hands through my hair, realizing I’m in desperate need of a damn shower. I reek of smoke every night when I come home from the bar, so a shower is a must before I even consider sleep.
“You don’t mean that.” She sobs and I am so close to grabbing a steak knife out of the drawer behind me, wanting to stab my eyes out with it. She makes me that fucking nuts.
“Yes, I do, Monica. Now, leave me the hell alone. I’ve had enough of your bullshit for one lifetime.” I disconnect the call and this time make sure I shut the damn thing off.
Is there a fucking full moon tonight? Because all these psychotic women are driving me up a damn wall.
“Was that Monica?” Vanessa asks as she comes into the kitchen, nearly giving me a heart attack at the young age of twenty-eight. She’s always sneaky as shit. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but no.
“Yeah.” I don’t feel like I should have to explain myself to her. I didn’t do anything wrong. She’s exasperating.
“I’m your girlfriend. Did you forget that, Ryker Allen?” Here we go again.
“No, Van, I did not forget.” I walk toward her and wrap my arms around her waist and inhale the strong citrus scent of her shampoo. I instantly sneeze. God, why does she use that godawful stuff?
“Are you getting sick, baby?” She asks completely oblivious to the fact that I’m allergic to her hair.
“I’m fine.” I kiss her on the nose, trying to stay on her good side. Who am I kidding? She doesn’t have a good side. Well, unless you count the sex part, but really, I could do without it. “You don’t need to be jealous.” I kiss along her neck, trying to get myself turned on, but doing a shit job.
I still can’t get my mind off that gorgeous, brown-eyed, mystery girl.
Holy shit.
Just the thought alone gives me a fucking hard-on. I’ve never in my life let a complete stranger affect me like she has.
Vanessa’s long fingernails trail up and down my jean-covered dick.
Our clothes start soaring through the air in the middle of the kitchen and, not wanting to take her to my bed tonight, I lift her onto the counter. She shrieks when her bare ass hits the cool granite.
Just as I’m about to push inside of her, my stomach becomes queasy. I have no idea what the hell has gotten into me, but this is the second time tonight I haven’t been able to follow through on fucking her. God, if any of my friends got wind of this, they’d take away my damn man card.
“I’m sorry, Van. I can’t do this tonight.” I start gathering my clothes off the floor, but when I stand back up, I feel the sting of her goddamn hand on my cheek. Fuck, that’s gonna bruise.
“What the hell was that for?” I yell.
“That’s for getting me horny as hell tonight, several times, and then backing down. I know you’re older than me, but damn. I didn’t think you’d start losing your sex drive for a few more years.”
This girl is fucking insane. Does she honestly believe that men in their thirties don’t have sex? I have absolutely no response to her stupidity.
When she sees the dumbstruck look on my face, she continues on with her bitchiness.
“It’s alright. I’ll call Rick. I’m sure he’ll put out for me.” She finishes buttoning up her shirt and then quickly puts her tight ass pants back on. She honestly looks like a cheap hooker.
“Okay, well, then I guess this is it.” I didn’t realize I’d get off the hook this easy. “Ya know, because I told you we had to be exclusive for this to work.”
“Well, if your fucking old man dick would stop shriveling up every time we try to fuck, this wouldn’t even be a problem.” Old man dick? Bitch.
“Vanessa, get the hell out of my house.” I walk toward my bedroom, letting Griz out to roam the house freely now that she’s leaving.
“Ohmigawd! Get him away from me!” Vanessa shrills when Griz starts sniffing her leg like he wants to piss on it. She hates my dog and I guess, in a way, I was trying to piss her off even more. It’s working.
“Vanessa, this is his house, not yours. Get out.”
“Ugh!” She throws her arms up in the air. “Fine. We’re through!” She says this as if I hadn’t already told her I was finished with her. But if she wants to think it was her idea, so be it.
The front door crashes behind her while she’s in the middle of her outburst. I know I’m being a dick, but I couldn’t care less about what just happened with Vanessa. She’ll go find someone else’s dick to get off on, and she’ll move on just fine.
“Come on, Griz. Let’s go to bed.” I lead him into my room, where his kennel sits at the end of my bed.
He growls at me like the little shit he is, but then quickly falls asleep.
Me, on the other hand, not so much. I can’t get a certain brunette out of my mind and it’s making me fucking irrational.
After lying awake for God knows how long in my smoke infused clothes, I decide to get up.
I don’t know where I’m going, but I need to get out of this house to free my damn mind.
13
Claire
It’s blazing hot out tonight, but I roll the windows down. The summer’s breeze hitting me in the face, instantly relaxing me. As miserable as it’s been with this weather, I’d take this over Chicago’s winters any day.
Sierra lives just a couple blocks from Ryke’s Bar, so I have to drive by to get to any grocery store. The speed limit is only thirty-five here, unlike other areas where it’s forty-five. As I’m passing Ryke’s, I see a figure out of the corner of my eye. It’s dark, so, at first, it’s hard to realize that it’s a person. “What the hell?” I slow down just in case the moron decides to run out in front of me. This person is visibly inebriated. I just want to get out of here.
I’m almost at a standstill now, trying to make sure they’re alright. I know better than to approach a stranger in a big city, much less a drunk stranger. But I really hate to leave them out here if they need assistance.
I’m trying to focus on the road in front of me, but then I hear a loud grunt through the window, coming from the offender.
“Ow, shit.”
I quickly pull Avery’s car over and, without shutting it off, run to where the stranger is. Oh my god. It’s him. What kind of sick joke is this? Where’s his girlfriend? Shouldn’t she be here making sure he doesn’t do something completely idiotic?
“Um, are you okay?” I ask, poking at
him as if he’s a dead animal on the side of the road. He groans again. “Do you need a ride home?” What the hell am I thinking? Sierra says he’s a nice guy, but for all I know, he could be a serial killer. What if he gets in the car with me, but then ends up slicing my body into tiny little pieces? You have lost your fucking mind, Claire.
He’s finally able to sit, so I reach my hand out toward him to assist him in standing. Although, it’s not like I can actually lift this bulky man off the ground. He’s got to be a good two hundred and twenty-five pounds. Not because he’s overweight, but because he’s got muscles of steel that cover his perfect form. Obviously, he takes care of himself, even if he’s acting like a negligent prick right now.
“I can stand on my own,” he huffs as he slowly finds his way off the ground. But right as he’s trying to find his balance, he hurls all over the ground in front of him. Thankfully, missing my open-toed shoes. I have to look away before, I too, lose my dinner. I’ve never been able to stomach others throw up, but coming from this big, burly man, it’s even more repulsive. Most likely from the atrocious smell of whiskey mixed with it.
“Alright, buddy. Get that out of your system before you get in the car with me.” I start walking toward Avery’s car again, but then I hear his voice.
“Thanks for your help,” he grumbles. He’s obviously not a very pleasant drunk. He was totally different earlier tonight when I embarrassed the hell out of myself by running into his stupid ironclad frame. Now, he gets to be the chump. Although, I’m not sure he’ll really care how he acted tonight when he wakes up in the morning. Well, he’ll care, with the hang-over from hell he’s going to have, but I’m sure he doesn’t become easily humiliated like I do. He appears to be a real cocky son-of-a-bitch.
“Yeah, no problem. Just finish that shit up before you get in. My sister-in-law will murder me if you spew in her car.”
I sit in the driver’s seat, checking Facebook, and, after several minutes, I hear a tap on the window.
I click the doors unlocked and Ryke climbs in. He looks worse for wear, but at least he’s done losing his insides.
He gives me his address, but as soon as I program it into my phone, I hear whistling coming from his nose. Yes, his nose is fucking whistling like a damn tugboat.
Thank God, the drive isn’t long because this guy has me wanting to pull my damn hair out. Tonight, at his bar, he had me feeling things I hadn’t in a long time. For a stranger, nonetheless. But he went and quickly ruined that by hanging all over Bambi and now this shit.
“Ryke, we’re here.” I elbow him in the side, trying to wake him, but he isn’t budging. I rest my hand on his arm just to make sure he’s still alive.
“Just great.” I slam my head down on the steering wheel which sends the horn wailing.
“Jesus Christ!” my drunk companion yells. I’m pretty sure I just woke his entire neighborhood, but at least I got his reckless ass up.
“You’re home,” I say as I unlock the doors for him. The sooner I get this guy out of the car, the faster I can find my damn eclairs. My stomach grumbles at the thought.
He tries to stand from the car but staggers to the ground, catching his elbow on the cactus that sits beside his driveway. Oops, perhaps I shouldn’t have pulled over so far.
“Fuck!” he hollers, bringing his elderly neighbor out to her front porch.
“Ryker Allen, what the hell are you doing out here so late, causing a ruckus?” The old lady flails her cane in the air and I have to admit, even I’m a bit terrified of her.
I go around to Ryke’s side of the car and address the woman. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’ll make sure he doesn’t disturb anyone else tonight.”
I grab him by the arm, now coated in blood and try to yank him to his feet. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t budge from his position on the ground. What the hell am I going to do with this guy? I guess I could just leave him here and hope I don’t accidentally run over him on my way back down the driveway. Fuck.
“Ryker Allen, you get your ass off the ground right now!” I resort to using my mom voice, treating him like a child. He’s acting like a fucking child right now and I really don’t want to deal with this shit tonight. Why the hell didn’t I just leave his ass back at the bar? Let him be someone else’s problem? Who fucking knows, but I need to get back to Sierra’s. I’m sure I’ve missed several calls from her while dealing with this dip shit.
“Damn woman,” he grumbles as he finally stands to his feet. “Who are you?” He squints his eyes at me, obviously not remembering me from just hours ago. Why does that bother me? It shouldn’t bother me because this guy is a complete good-for-nothing moron.
“I’m your savior,” I say without emotion in my voice. “Go inside before you act like even more of an idiot in front of your neighbors tonight.”
I head back to the car once I think I’m finally off the hook. But, of course, I couldn’t get so lucky.
Ryke makes it all the way to the porch but is now retching into the rose bush next to him.
Thank God, I’m far enough away from him this time, so I can’t smell that godawful shit. My stomach can only tolerate so much in one night.
We finally make our way into his small house and he stumbles through the hallway, toward what I assume is his bedroom.
I collapse onto the couch, but then I hear him retching. Again. I don’t think I can deal with this guy anymore tonight.
“Are you alright?” I ask, standing in the doorway of the bathroom, not wanting to get too close to his nasty ass.
“No,” he moans as he lays his head on the toilet seat. The thought makes me cringe, but from experience, I know the coolness feels good when you feel like you’ve been hit by a train.
I hesitantly walk toward him. “Let’s get you to bed.”
He thankfully doesn’t argue and stands from the floor and leads me in the direction of his bedroom.
“Y-you wanna fuck, brown-eyed girl?” This guy has lost his damn mind.
“Uh, no, sorry. You are definitely not my type.”
I search through his dresser for some clean clothes for him and then pull the door shut behind me so he can change.
My phone pings from somewhere in the distance, but I can’t find it when I move my hand in the direction of the sound. After several moments, my vision finally comes to focus and it takes me a minute to remember where I’m at.
Fuck.
I had plans of going back to Sierra’s once I got Ryke settled, but he couldn’t stop puking and I really didn’t feel right about leaving him. Not that I should care.
The thought of his bed makes my blood boil. Why the hell do I care who he’s had in his bed? Well, I know exactly who it was. Malibu Barbie. I’m not jealous or anything, I swear.
I finally find my iPhone which had fallen between two of the couch cushions after I fell asleep.
Sierra: Babe, where are you? I’m really starting to worry about you.
I close out of the text to check the time. Two in the morning. Shit.
Me: I am so sorry. Something came up and I had to go home.
I decide to lie so I don’t have to hear about this from her later. I know she won’t respond now because, surely, she’s sleeping, but at least she’ll see it when she wakes up.
I set my alarm to get up in a few hours, knowing Ryke will most likely sleep until noon. I really don’t want to be here when he wakes.
14
Ryker
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I extend my hand out and hunt for my phone but then hear it clatter to the floor, hitting something on its way down.
“Ugh.” My fucking head feels like someone flung a ton of bricks at it and my throat is as dry as the Sonoran Desert. What the fuck did I do last night?
While I’m still trying to work up the energy to pull myself out of bed, my annoying dog bounces on top of my back, nipping at the side of my face like I’m a damn chew toy.
“Damn it, Griz,” I slur, hardly able to form the words o
n my tongue.
I start dozing off again, not wanting to be a human today, but the fucker is now humping my goddamn leg, apparently as sex deprived as I am. I can’t really fault the furball.
“Fine. I’m up. Happy?” I look at him, waiting for a response, and then remember that he’s a damn dog. God, I feel like shit.
I walk to the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face before hooking Griz to his leash.
I have no idea what time it is, but I know he’s not going to leave me alone until he’s done his business.
As I’m walking toward the living room, I’m immediately assaulted with flashbacks from the night before. Mystery girl. She stayed all night? In my house? Not in my bed?
Holy shit. I need to get laid before this seductive stranger has me doing something I’m going to regret. Although, she probably thinks I’m an even bigger ass after the way I acted last night. How did she find me? And how do I know she’s not deranged? I mean, this complete stranger stayed in my house with me while I was as drunk as they come. A sexy stranger, but still a stranger. I don’t even know her damn name. Mystery girl.
Like the lunatic I am, I lift the pillow up from the couch and inhale her warm, sugared scent. God, the aroma is mouthwatering. I’d love nothing more than to drag my tongue down her neck, breathing in her syrupy fragrance. Okay, so I’d like to lick more than her neck, but I’m trying to be a gentleman. I’m never washing this thing again. What the hell is wrong with me? I’m being borderline stalkerish right now.
I live near Greenwood Park which has a lake and walking trail. I try to take Griz here at least a couple times a week. This morning, it’s pleasant even before the sun is all the way up, the light, cool breeze causing my unruly hair to waft in the wind. The weather is one of the reasons I never left Phoenix. I’m too much of a pansy for frigid temperatures. It’s peaceful being the only walker out this morning. Some mornings, I come out here and kids dash in front of us, trying to pet Griz, and I have to pretend to be thrilled about it.
Revived (Unexpected Series Book 1) Page 7
