“One of these days, I’m going to fuck you bare, Gina.”
She only stares, but her eyes are as soft as I’ve ever seen them. Her hand reaches for mine, and she mutters, “I think I’m going to sleep for days.”
“Sleep? You think that was it? We’ve only begun.”
GINA
Knots in my stomach form as he watches me. I try not to squirm under his intense stare.
“What?” I finally ask.
His thumb brushes over my lip. “I like it when you’re happy.”
“Happy?”
“Don’t frown.”
I don’t realize that I’ve done it until after I let the smile slip from my face. The vulnerability he creates in me scares me shitless. The little girl in me remembers when my dad would promise to take me someplace only to have a change of plans when some woman came calling he found more interesting. And I don’t want to feel that pain ever again. The fact is no man ever has put me first. I can’t delude myself into thinking this man will, at least not for long. So I remove his hand from my face and try to wiggle free.
“Stop.”
I glare at him, but pinned as I am, I can’t go anywhere.
“What do you want from me?” I question.
“Maybe this is a hard concept for you, but I want more than this, Gina.”
What? He wants to put me on lock so that I’m his until he’s done with me. His sister’s warning from that first time I met her is clear. Ryder doesn’t do relationships any more than I do.
“I’m not a fairy fucking princess, Ryder. I’ve got nothing more to offer you than this. But I do owe you a thank you for all you did.” I spread my arms to encompass the room. The organization of things is evidence enough of some of what he did for me. “The flowers, the spa gift certificate, which I can’t accept by the way, and you see the bookshelves and all.”
His expert hand slides between my legs and strokes my slit, firing me up to life. “I would gift you the stars just to see them twinkle in your eyes because you’re more than this, Gina. More than the sum of your experiences. I know you don’t believe me, and someone in your life should pay for not letting you know how much more you are than this.”
He glides two fingers inside me, and my back bows in response.
“I can give you this.” Curling his finger, he accesses my inner magic button. With my eyes heavenward, I barely make out his next words. “Or treat you like a fairy fucking princess. Because that’s what I fucking see, Gina, a dream.”
Mercilessly, he fills me with a third finger, and every nerve ending in my body is ignited. Abruptly, he stops, pulling free. “What’s it going to be?”
“Stop.” I roll to my stomach annoyed at his tactics, but he doesn’t give up.
He moves, and his heat covers my back. The heavy weight of his length presses deliciously at my opening. I can’t say I don’t want it because I most certainly do.
“We’re not sexually compatible,” I toss out.
His lips blaze a trail up my neck, causing me to shiver. As he pushes inside me, he says, “Your body says otherwise.”
A firm hand cups my center and angling me expertly for him to work my nub and slowly thrust inside me. I see fucking stars as my vision blurs when he says, “I want you at my games, cheering me on like a fucking champ, wearing my jersey, telling the world you’re my girl.”
I can only moan because surely Ryder isn’t talking this way.
“This is my pussy, and you’re my girlfriend until we can make this fucking permanent.”
Shock has my mouth opening. He angles his head and captures my mouth in a soul-searing kiss.
When I come the next time, I howl like a fucking banshee. I must have been loud as shit because a thump comes from the floor. Sam must have used a broom to tap on the ceiling from downstairs.
A giggle, a fucking giggle, escapes me like I’m some little girl.
“That’s what I want to see,” he says.
Immediately, I frown. “This will never work.”
He sighs. “Dammit, Gina. What do I have to do? Screw your brains out until you get it through your thick skull that we are going to do this?”
His softening cock is still inside me, but I don’t dare move. I love the feeling of him there.
“How is this going to work? Have you ever had a girlfriend before?”
“I have.”
It’s telling that he doesn’t elaborate. “And?”
“And what? It didn’t work out.”
Pursing my lips, I say, “And why didn’t it work out? Did you get bored?”
He’s quick to answer, “Not exactly.”
I grind my teeth because he’s not being forthright. “It’s called communication. If you want to even try this, we have to be honest with each other.”
“Fine.” There’s a lengthy pause, but I refuse to fill it. “She didn’t get the concept of monogamy.”
A laugh bursts from my chest, and I don’t mean to when I notice his frown. I turn with him still pressed somewhat on top of me. “Sorry, that’s not funny. But that didn’t jade you against relationships?”
He shrugs. “It makes me leery, but I don’t put other people’s bullshit on someone else. When I look at you, I don’t see a vindictive lying bitch. I see a dark-haired beauty who is probably just as fucking scared about being hurt as I am.”
The nail is struck on the head by a hammer. Why does he have to look so fucking adorable when he says it, too?
“And what happens when I want to have a threesome?” I pronounce. As expected, his eyes pop from his head. “Down, boy. I don’t mean another girl.”
His lips pinch in a tight line. “You want to fuck two guys?”
“What? You say it like that’s unheard of. Can you tell me you haven’t with two girls?” He starts to speak, but I hold up a hand to stop him. “Don’t answer. I don’t want to know.”
That elicits a smile on his face. “Jealous?”
“Not necessarily jealous. But my point is, you think it’s cool for a guy to do two girls, but a girl with two guys is like taboo and shit?”
“It’s not that. Let me be fucking honest. I’m jealous. The idea of another guy touching you gives me hives. I might need to take a Benadryl for even thinking it.”
That provokes a laugh I can’t stop.
“We can play with all the toys you want to give you that double penetration, but I’m never going to share you.”
Then he’s on me. If there is one thing I’ve learned in this short time is the man is insatiable. Without me even answering, I have a boyfriend. In fact, somewhere in the early morning, he kisses me and tells me he has to get to practice. And like the girlfriend I’ve become, I miss him, his warmth, but doze off knowing he’ll be back because he’s mine. Mine. Somehow he cracked my protective shell, and even though I feel as naked as an M&M without the candy coating, his sweet center is worth the risk.
The next day, I realize I haven’t even told Ryder about the letter I received from my birth mom. What freaks me is that I thought of telling him before Cassie. I leave a frantic message on her phone for her to call me. There are so many things I need to tell her.
After, I place a much delayed call to Riley.
“It’s too freaking early in the morning. It better be important. Who is this?”
“Gina,” I say with deference.
The pause is so long, for a second I think she’s hung up.
“Gina,” she replies.
“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t called back. Life got busy, and at first I didn’t recognize the number, but the California area code that matched Ryder’s clued me in. But those are excuses. Truth is, I was scared. Things were complicated between your brother and me.”
“Complicated?”
“Yeah, but we’ve worked it out, and I owe you an apology. I should have called.”
“Maybe, but truth is, we weren’t really friends yet. You owed me nothing. I appreciate your call. In the future, whatever happens wi
th you and my brother stays with you guys. If we are going to be friends, we have to remember that.”
“Agreed.”
“Well, if that’s all, I need sleep.”
“Actually, I wanted to know if you would join me at the spa.”
She agrees before practically hanging up on me. Apparently, she’s not a morning person. Neither am I, but it’s almost afternoon, I laugh as I think to myself. Then, I get ready for work.
Later that night, Mark shows up on my barstool with frustrated eyes.
“What will it be?” I ask, planting my elbows on the bar.
“A drink and a friend.”
Mark is like my next best friend to Cassie, and something isn’t right. He’s usually the one giving me a pep talk, not the other way around.
I pour him two fingers of Jameson. “What happened?”
It’s a while before he answers. “Lost my job.”
I have to stop in the middle of making a Skittle for another customer.
“What the hell?” Mark is an amazing financial investor. I can’t believe he got canned.
“It isn’t me. The whole company failed. Apparently, I was the only one producing. And even my clients can’t maintain an entire company.”
He swallows the Jameson like water, and not judging him I pour another.
“What’s the plan?” Because I know he has a backup plan. He always prepared for everything.
His shoulders lift in defeat. That rattles me because there is no way he’s in financial trouble.
“I’ve got money to last for a while until I find something, but you and I both know there is nothing around here.”
My chest constricts, and I feel the unwelcome prick of tears in my eyes. If Marks leaves, I’ll have no one. Cassie is gone for the most part, although she should be in town tomorrow to make office hours.
“I don’t want to leave the area,” he adds.
I clamp my lips shut before I agree with him. I love him enough to not want to hold him back, even if I’ll be left behind, yet again.
“You do what you have to do.”
“There is this company, Rhoades Investment, in Charleston. They’ve been courting me to open a satellite office in Charlotte for years.”
He shrugs again. Having a hard time digesting his potential leaving causes me to over serve him. At the end of the night, I haul him upstairs to my apartment and unceremoniously dump him on my bed and pull off his shoes. Tired myself, I fall in bed next to him, fully dressed. It’s not a big deal because he’s like the brother I never had. What happened between us happened when we were teens and caused us to come to the same conclusion that we were better off as friends.
So when I wake to the sound of knocking at my door, I think nothing of it. I get up and call out, “Hold your horses!” thinking it’s Cassie stopping by before she starts working for the day. She probably feels bad she didn’t call me back.
Only I find Ryder at my door with something that smells yummy. I focus on the steamy travel mug of coffee and the brown bag as I let him smooth back my hair. Stupidly, I feel girlish that he sees me with bedhead. And when has that ever happened?
I push my hair back when I hear Mark. He’d been in my shower when I’d gone to open the door. I get a glimpse of him as he steps bare-chested and damp before Ryder goes postal.
The moment to stop Ryder’s forward progress with fist raised is lost to me as I watch in horror as he cracks Mark’s jaw.
“No,” I scream, but it’s too late.
RYDER
Fury blinds me as Mark walks out of the bathroom. Every coherent thought leaves me as motion overrides everything. One, two, three steps later, and my fist connects with his jaw. I don’t even feel it against my knuckles, and I don’t see him fall back against the wall. What brings me out of my anger-trance is Gina’s scream. It comes from a tunnel though the thick haze of rage. Then, when I move to fire off another jab, her hand grabs my arm, and for some wild reason, I stop and turn. Her mouth is moving, but I can barely hear what she’s saying.
“Ryder! Ryder! Ryder!”
She shakes me, this time hard.
“Ryder!” My name echoes throughout her tiny apartment.
“It’s Mark! He’s my best friend next to Cassie. He’s like my brother. Stop! Please!” The clenching hand on my arm, the pleading edge to her voice, all converge and punch through the wall of insanity that grips me. My chest heaves, and I slowly, slowly regain my composure.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I mutter. I can’t believe I just knocked the shit out of Fletcher’s best friend. What the hell!
Gina runs to Mark’s aid, who leans against the wall, massaging his jaw. “Are you okay?” her soft voice asks him.
“I’ll live. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken one to the face. But damn, Gina, you should’ve warned me you had such a jealous boyfriend.” His playful tone flies right over her head.
“I would have had I known. But, don’t worry, he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, yes, he is,” I say. “And, Mark, my apologies, man. Sorry for going crazy train on you, but seeing a half-naked dude in my girl’s place didn’t sit too well with me.”
“Hey, I’m with you. I wouldn’t go for that either. But I was over served last night,” he glances at her, “so Gina dragged my drunk as hell ass up here so I wouldn’t get killed trying to drive home. And honestly, I passed out and don’t even remember. I was drowning my sorrows, and I paid for it.” He rubs his jaw and works it around a little.
“Sorrows? Or am I being too nosy?”
“Nah, my company has taken a huge hit, so they’re closing up shop and I’ve lost my job.”
“Oh, that sucks, man. Sorry to hear it.”
“Yeah, hence the drunk-fest.”
Now I really feel like shit. “And here I go adding a little extra on top of it all.”
Gina, not one to let it pass so easily, says, “Yeah. Real nice of you, Cowboy.”
But, I’m not going to let it go either. Pulling her up to me, I say, “Well, it’s all your fault, fairy princess.”
I want to laugh at the face she makes. She reminds me of my pet goldfish I had when I was a kid. Her mouth opens and closes, opens and closes. Finally, she says, “How is it my fault?”
I’m going all in for this. “Several reasons. One, if you weren’t so damn beautiful, I wouldn’t be all hot and bothered. Two, if you weren’t my girl, I wouldn’t give a shit who was in this apartment with you. Three, if it wasn’t for that sassy mouth of yours, I wouldn’t want to kiss you all the time. Four, if you didn’t have such a big heart and didn’t give a shit about your friends and the people you care about, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
She blinks, not once but several times, and it’s clear I’ve rattled her to the core. Then she wriggles that sexy body away from mine and says, “I need to get Mark some ice.” Her voice has suddenly gotten a bit hoarse. Indeed, I’ve hit my target.
Mark clears his throat, grabbing my attention. When I glance at him, I laugh. He’s given me not one, but two thumbs-up. And then he stage whispers, “It’s about damn time.”
I mumble back, “I really am sorry about the…” I circle my finger around my jaw, indicating the jab.
He shrugs it off. “I’ll live, man.”
Gina comes back with a baggie filled with ice. “Are we gonna stand in the hall all morning, or would you all like to join me in the living room?”
We follow the leader to take seats in her still uncluttered living room. I smile about that. She eyes me suspiciously, but I only shake my head.
“So, how about that breakfast I brought you?” I ask.
“Well, since there are three of us, I’d feel guilty eating it in front of everyone.”
Mark, who looks a bit green, says, “Count me out for any food. I am under the hangover weather this morning. All I want is ice water for now.”
“I already ate, so go for it, my little fairy princess.” I grin.
She scow
ls, but grabs the bag and digs in. When she sees the warm cinnamon scones inside, the scowl disappears. “Oh, my.” One bite and a whole bunch of Mmmms later, I believe I may be back on solid ground again.
“So, Cowboy, what brings you to these parts?” she asks.
“I thought that would be fairly obvious.”
From her sly grin, she’s going in a completely different direction than where I intended. Although, I’m not opposed to that, but with Mark here, it makes it a little difficult.
“No, you’re missing something.” I point to the bag I dropped when my moment of insanity overruled the purpose of my visit. It’s on the floor near the entrance of the apartment.
She stops chewing on her scone, and now the curiosity hits her. “What is it?”
“Guess you’re going to have to open it to find out.”
Mark says, “I think it’s time for me to get out of here.”
Holding up a palm, I say, “Hang on a sec.”
“You sure? This might be cozy time for you two.”
Laughing, I say, “It might be, but just wait. You’ll see why in a minute.”
Gina’s finished her scone and sets her coffee down. Her sassy mouth says, “A good cowboy would bring that bag over to his fairy princess.”
“Yeah, but a good fairy princess would use fairy dust to zap that bag over to herself.” She laughs, and I end up getting the bag and hand delivering it to her with an elaborate bow.
“Your wish, my command.”
She greedily grabs the bag and pulls out the contents. When she sees what’s inside, a smile that could light up the damn ball field breaks across her face.
“It’s your jersey!”
“Yeah. All for you, my fairy princess. Hand delivered for the game this week. Plus, two tickets in the box. For you and a friend. That’s where you come in, Mark. That is, if you want to after I decked you.”
Fastball (Wilde Players Dirty Romance) Page 9
