Ryder (Player Card Series Book 3)
Page 22
She looked at me, eyes wide, and my heart tightened. I suddenly had a fear that she was going to say no. Had I pushed her too far? Did I not give it enough time? I knew what had happened had been hard on both of us, but I wanted to marry this woman and I didn't want to wait any longer. Seemed to me, the longer I waited, the more chance we had of being stupid. I looked in her eyes and waited for a response. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. I broke out in a cold sweat.
“Ryder, I…If you…can…” She couldn't finish a sentence, her brain working faster than her mouth.
“I want you to be my wife. I want that more than anything and I was stupid and let bullshit get in the way. Please say you’ll teach me to be a great husband.”
She looked down at the ring in her hands, but she didn’t speak.
Heart pounding, I asked again, “Will you marry me, Zoey Marous? It was my mother’s ring and I want you to love it as much as she did.”
“It's beautiful.” She smiled at me. Then she jumped off the couch and landed in my lap and kissed me. “Yes, I'll marry you, yes!”
I laid her out on the floor and covered her body with mine. I took the ring and put it on her finger. I kissed her hand softly.
“This is the worst and the best week of my life,” I said.
She giggled. I had her head between my forearms and I leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and stretched the ring hand up to look at it.
“It really is a beautiful ring and I'm so glad that I get to carry her memory with me every day.”
“There isn't another woman I would rather trust her memory with.” I looked into Zoey’s bright green eyes and watched as the tears fell over her lashes and ran down the side of her face.
“I am so glad that this day ended this way and not the way I had feared. I don't think there has ever been a day in my life that I have felt emotions like I did today. I hoped when I got here and found you that we would be able to make it all better but this…I hadn't expected this.”
“I talked to my dad a month ago and I wanted to do this with him, but I feel like this is what we needed.”
“I love you.” She leaned up to kiss me. I met her halfway.
“God you're beautiful,” I said, and kissed her again.
“I know you said you wanted to wait before we got, you know, physical,” she whispered, “but I really want you to make love to me right now.”
I wasn’t about to deny her that.
“Before we do this, though, I have to know that we will always talk first, always trust first. Never let anyone or anything be more important than we are,” she said.
“Yes, always.” I kissed her forehead.
I took her to the bedroom and laid her carefully out on the bed before moving to lie beside her. I removed her jeans slowly and undressed myself. I crawled alongside her body and kissed every single exposed inch of her.
“Please.” She pulled at me.
I wanted her more than she could know. I lifted her legs at the knees and brought them with me and I leaned forward. I felt myself slide against her wetness and then pushed slowly until I was fully seated inside of her. It was a position that gave me more access to her and I was going to enjoy it.
She moaned and rocked her hips against me.
“You feel amazing,” I whispered and pulled out a little before pushing back into her warmth. We spent the next hour reigniting and reconnecting. It was slow and long and exhausting. It was the best feeling in the world. When we were spent, I pulled her against me as our breathing calmed.
Her phone pinged a few minutes later, and when she tried to move I refused to let her go.
“I have to check. It's probably our flight plans from Amy or Annette.”
I let her go and she hurried into the other room. She rushed back into the room, holding her phone, and jumped back into bed.
“Damn baby,” I said, “that makes me want to start all over again.”
“What does?” she questioned as she looked up from her phone screen at me.
“Your tits bouncing all over the place.”
She smacked me hard across the chest and I had to rub the sting out.
“Our flight leaves at three a.m.,” she said.
“That's in like four hours. We should get some sleep.”
“Can we make it by noon to the arena?” she asked.
“I think so, but it's a six-hour flight. We might be rushed a little, but we should make it in time.”
She punched away at her phone and then laid it down on the side table, then rolled over in the bed and smiled at me.
“What?” I smiled back, unsure why.
“Just you. I mean how can we just move on like this?”
“’Cause we love as hard as we fight, babe.” I kissed her forehead, then pulled her against me.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Zoey
“Ryder, get up, we have to go.” I shoved at him again. I had gotten up and showered quickly, asking him to get up while I was still in the shower. I knew he wouldn't, so I had given myself an extra five minutes to get him out of bed. You would think that waking up at five a.m. every day would make things easier, but he was not a morning person, or middle of the night person for that matter.
“I'm up,” he groaned from the bed.
“You’re not moving and the cab will be here in fifteen minutes.” I laughed as he threw the covers off and hopped out of bed. I was surprised he was dressed.
“Yes, I pulled my clothes on and got back in bed while you were in the shower, don't look so surprised.” He grabbed me. “I love you, and I can't wait until we’re home.”
“Me either! But hurry up, buttercup, we gotta go.” I slapped him on the ass as he walked toward the bathroom.
“Yeah, yeah,” he laughed as he shut the door.
* * * * *
Traffic had sucked. Who would have thought traffic would be so bad at two in the morning? But, an hour and a lot of traffic later, we were in the security line with Annette. It took another forty-five minutes to get through security, and then we were running toward the gate.
We boarded just in time, and about thirty minutes later we were in the air and on our way to try to fix what had happened over the last few days. It was a mess, but Amy had said to let Peyton and Tristan handle it. Our instructions were to talk to the press only at the press conference when Peyton was in control of the questions.
Several hours later, I was ready to get the flight over with. I leaned my head against Ryder’s shoulder and felt his hand squeeze my thigh when the captain announced our descent into New York.
I hated landing more than anything and I stiffened.
“I've got you, now and forever,” he whispered in my ear.
When we walked out of the airport, we were greeted by Amy and Tristan, who was talking on his phone. He waved us toward a big black SUV when he saw us.
“I'll call you later.” He hung up before turning to Ryder.
“You and me? Yeah, we are gonna talk and then you are going to apologize to the MMA uppers and beg their forgiveness for being stupid.”
“Okay,” Ryder agreed and then climbed into the vehicle without another word. It was something else to see a grown man put in his place like that. I would have expected it from his father, but Tristan wasn't playing about any of it.
“The ceremony starts at noon, so we’re going to have to run in quickly. There’s a suit in the back seat for you, so get changed as much as you can without flashing everyone in the car. It should fit. We used the measurements Amy had on file. Once we’re inside the arena, you don't speak unless it is to receive your belt and then only answer questions that Peyton approves. Got it?”
“Yes. I'm really sor—”
Tristan cut him off. “Sorrys are for later.” He continued to drive us toward Manhattan and Madison Square Garden.
We walked through the trenches of the arena down a memory lane I hadn’t really wanted to walk down, but I held tight to R
yder as we passed by the place where all of this had started.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Ryder
I kept my eyes forward and followed Tristan’s lead. I shook hands with all the right people and then walked into the room where they would present my belt.
As soon as I walked in, cameras started flashing and people started yelling questions. Peyton quieted everyone down and told them we would answer questions after the presentation. They had already given me the belt. I didn't really understand why we had to do it again, but they had their formalities.
I listened as the head guys spoke. I stood when I was supposed to, received my belt, and shook hands with everyone that offered. As they left, Peyton took over and the questions started.
It didn't last very long as everyone wanted to know about the charges that had been filed against me and why I took off to Vegas. Peyton shut all of that down and basically said unless it pertains to the fight, don't ask. I answered the questions and when it was over, I was pulled from the stage and moved into another room where Tristan clapped me on the shoulder.
“I want to rip your head off and congratulate you at the same time,” Tristan said. “I mean seriously, man.”
Zoey, Annette, and Amy all laughed.
“It's gonna be okay from this point forward.” I gave him my best innocent smile.
“It better be. My nerves can't handle this shit for another two years.”
I reached for Zoey and pulled her toward me. “How about we make a better memory of this place?”
“What do you mean?”
I raised my eyebrows and then tugged at her ring finger.
“Oh.” She grinned at me.
“So,” I said, “before we all go our separate ways, I wanted to make an announcement.”
Tristan, Amy, and Annette perked up. Apparently, Amy and Annette had been asking Zoey for details, but she’d been stalling them.
I said, “After all that has happened over the last few days, I needed to make sure that Zoey was tied to me forever. I was a dumbass and somehow, I still convinced her that she should be with me. I asked her to marry me in Vegas and she said yes.” I held up her hand and waved it around.
Zoey was smiling and leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before Amy and Annette pulled her away from me. Peyton walked into the room and joined in.
“I can't believe she’s going to make an honest man out of you,” Tristan said, and gave me a guy hug, slapping me on the back. “I'm still mad as hell at you, but this is good news.”
“She made me more than just an honest man—she made me a better one.” I smiled at him.
“I get it.” He looked longingly over at Amy.
“You thinking about it?”
“Every day, man, every single damn day.”
Epilogue
Ryder
I held the belt over my head and looked for Zoey. I found her and pointed at her and then my heart. It had become our thing over the last few years. My career had been a fairytale and Tristan, Zoey, my father, and me had agreed that holding the title for four years was probably a good time for me to retire. I was pushing my mid-thirties at this point and wanted to leave gracefully, and not in a way that left me injured.
Tristan and Amy were ringside and already climbing up to congratulate me. Amy held her hand up before I could pull her into a sweaty half-hug, and I saw the giant diamond on her finger. After giving her a giant hug, I turned to Tristan.
“So, she finally agreed to marry you, huh, you piece of shit?” I laughed, smacking him lightly on the back.
“I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” he said over the roar of the crowd.
“Spoken like a true sports agent,” I shouted back.
Tristan laughed, then he and Amy said they’d see me later. Zoey finally made her way forward. “That was amazing,” she exclaimed.
I lifted her off her feet and kissed her.
I accepted my belt and we walked toward the back room and the MGM Grand. After three years of marriage, it was hard to believe every year got better. She had signed a deal with Neiman Marcus to carry her everyday line. She still worked too much, but after hiring some staff, it had become easier. We had tried for a little bit to have a baby but it hadn't worked out. She was discouraged, but I assured her we had plenty of time. Now, with me retiring, my time would be more my own. Dad was running the day-to-day operations of the gym while I ran a fight school. We had a future and we were going to make the best of it.
“Did you know I love you?” I all but shouted over the noise in the arena.
“I had no idea,” she replied cheekily.
“You know my retiring means you have to put up with me more. We'll be home tomorrow and then you have me for a month before you have to head back to New York.”
“You should come with me.”
“I should. I can think of a few things I’d like to do to you in New York.”
She giggled. “Are you trying to get in my pants right here in the middle of the arena?”
Cameras were flashing, the fans were cheering, and yes, I was trying to get into my wife’s pants.
“When am I not trying to get in your pants?” I asked her. “I can't think of a time since I met you that I wasn’t trying to get in your pants.”
“You're stupid and I love you.” She smiled up at me.
I knew that I was the luckiest man alive and as good as we were now, I couldn't have imagined anything better.
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The Diamond Club, Volumes 6-10
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About The Author
Ellie Danes
Ellie Danes is a bestselling author with over forty published works and more added each month. Transplanted from New Jersey at an early age, she now resides in central Virginia.
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