Ryder

by Amy Davies

  “I didn’t know he was in town, Ryder. You need to get rid of him before Rafe sees him.” Tears fill her eyes; Daisy has stormed off somewhere not that I care right now. I look from Lucy to Letty to Rafe and see that we are too late. Rafe has seen Letty’s date.

  Rafe has seen Dallas Keaton. Fuck

  I leave Lucy at the bar and steam over towards my brother, who is really looking at ending the night in a jail cell. As I approach, I see that Rafe is shouting at Dallas, who is just laughing at him. Letty is standing between them; oh hell no. I know that Rafe wouldn’t put her danger but I couldn’t say the same for Dallas.

  “I will ask again. What the fuck are you doing here, Dallas? You are not welcome anywhere near here I thought we had this chat before?”

  “Fuck you, Phoenix. You can’t tell me that I can’t come around here and visit friends of mine. Letty and I go way back and she wanted to hook up again, so who am I to refuse?” Fucking dick. I pull Letty out from between them and that’s when I see that only now has Rafe noticed that I am there. I nod at him.

  “Letty is it true? I wasn't aware that you and Dallas had hooked up before. Please tell me you haven’t fucked this asshole?” I can feel my blood boiling, not just from the fact that Dallas got Lucy pregnant and cheated on her, but also the fact that he might have had sex with Letty.

  Fuck, I’m gonna be sick. My stomach rolls and I pull back a little. Letty sees the change in me.

  “Ryder, are you ok? You look pale.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath and then look into her perfect brown eyes.

  “Do you know what he has done to someone very special to me?” I look to Rafe “To us” She shakes her head no.

  “We don’t have to stay and listen to this, baby. Let's go someplace else.” Baby? He called her his baby? Dude, she is mine … they both are.

  “Letty, look at me?” I ask in a gentle voice, tilting her face up so that our eyes meet. Dallas goes to step forward but Rafe grabs a hold of him. I can’t take my eyes off Letty.

  “Baby, he got…” I look over at Lucy who is now standing to my right watching Rafe grip Dallas by his collar. She nods yes and tears spill down her face. Taking a deep breath I turn back to Letty, who has her hands gripping the loopholes on my jeans, like she is somehow holding to us.

  “Baby, Lucy dated Dallas our last year of high school. We were at a bonfire when Dallas cheated on Lucy in front of her and everyone there. Lucy called him out in front of everyone and then left, but on her way back to her car, Lucy collapsed. Rafe saw her and rushed her to the ER.” Taking a deep breath, “Sunshine, Lucy was pregnant with Dallas’s baby and she lost it that night. She would have died if Rafe hadn’t saved her and gotten her to the hospital right away. I’m sorry”

  Chapter 10

  Letty

  I turn towards Dallas with tears in my eyes. “Is it true?”

  Dallas pulls out of Rafe’s hold and starts for Lucy, “You fucking slut, how the fuck could you cheat on me? Who was the father, because it wasn’t me? We always used a condom. Fuck!” What a prick. That is all he is concerned about; not the fact the he cheated on her, or the fact the she lost his fucking baby that night. I step up to Dallas.

  “You didn’t know she was pregnant, Dallas?” He shakes his head back and forth.

  “No, I fucking didn’t. What you thought you would trap me, you fucking whore?” Oh shit wrong thing to say. I see Rafe’s fist come up fast and clock Dallas right in the jaw. His head snaps back and he loses his balance, but there is a big guy behind him holding him up.

  “Dallas, you may not have known about the baby but fuck, dude I don’t know you at all. The way you just reacted isn’t the Dallas I know. You have always been so caring. I understand that you didn’t know, but you don’t even care that Lucy could have died that night, do you?”

  “Fuck no, it’s a fucking good thing the baby is gone, I never loved her. She was just an easy lay”

  I am shocked to my core by his reaction; how can someone be so cruel to another person?

  “I think it’s time that you left and lost my number” I can’t believe this is the same guy who took care of me when I had the stomach flu last year. Thank heavens for Quinn’s parents taking Demi off my hands for a few days. “Oh, and the reason I never let you fully in and took our relationship to the bedroom…” I look at Ryder, “We never slept together, ever, ok?” Ryder nods and I turn back to Dallas, “I never let you in because I have a daughter and thank the Lord that she will never meet you”

  “Dallas, I was going to tell you about the baby but I miscarried so I just didn’t see the point. Maybe that was a wrong move on my part and for that I am sorry.” She buries her head in Ryder’s shoulder. God, I can’t imagine not having Demi in my life. I rub Lucy’s back to comfort her.

  “Now, for the last time, stay the fuck away from here and if I hear that you have been asking about Lucy, you will be seeing me again, I can guarantee that, fucker.” The big doorman drags Dallas out of Max Point. Everyone is standing around watching us and what just happened. I turn to Lucy and see that she is now wrapped up tightly in Rafe’s arms. I tap her shoulder lightly.

  “I am so sorry, Lucy. I didn’t know what he had done to you. I can’t believe it’s the same guy. He was always so nice and caring to me but I always had this voice in my head said that I should wait to introduce Demi to him, but that time never came.” I look to Ryder, who steps to my side and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me tight to him. He kisses my temple and I close my eyes and take in the feel of his lips on me. I feel myself leaning into his kiss.

  “I think we all need a stiff fucking drink after that little ‘Days of our Lives’ episode.” This comes from Reeve, who none of us saw arriving. Ryder’s arm tightens even more and he speaks up.

  “You guys go on over; we will catch up to you. I just want to have a chat with Letty for a second.” They all nod; Lucy gives Ryder a quick kiss on the cheek, which earns her a growl from Rafe. I love that. I wonder if Ryder will growl for me. Shit, what am I thinking? He is the reason I was out on this date with Dallas in the first place. I pull out of Ryder’s hold and instantly feel the loss. “I was wondering how long it would take you.” He laughs and motions for me to sit in the booth. I take a deep breath and then take my seat, expecting Ryder to sit opposite me, but he doesn’t.

  He sits next to me, forcing me to move closer to the wall. Ryder twists his body so that he is facing me.

  “Ok, I am just going to get it out there and say my peace without you interrupting. Ok?” I nod and he keeps going. “Ok, the girl from the coffee shop…” He stops as my body tenses up. He rubs his hands over his face and looks back to me.

  “She is my cousin Sophie. She was also the girl on Facebook asking me to call her. I was feeling like shit after our phone call and I did a dick thing by posting that status.” I laugh under my breath and I smile at him. He returns a perfect Phoenix smile that I haven’t seen him share with others; it’s just for me.

  “I’m sorry I let you think that we slept together. It was wrong of me, but when you posted that Facebook status about going on a date, a switch went off in my head and I hit the bottle. It was pretty bad. I spent the night with a bottle of Jack and Sophie came over late last night to find me passed out on my kitchen floor. So this morning she made me go get some coffee to help sober me up, but not only that, I must have told her about you which is why she picked The Hot Pot. Letty I am sorry. I know I have been an asshole these past few days, but Lucy made me see that I caused most of your hurting and for that I am truly sorry. If you would give me another chance, I would like to take you and Demi out on a proper date, or maybe if you can find a sitter then just you and me go out on a date.” He reached for my hands, rubbing his thumbs over my knuckles.

  “I really want to try, Letty. I will take my cues from you. Like I said before I screwed up, we will go by your beat.” With that, he leaned in and kissed me softly on my cheek slowly, with butterfly kisses as he makes his way t
o my mouth. His lips are warm and soft and holy hell does he smells amazing, like really freaking good.

  He deepens our kiss, sliding his hand up my arm, across my collarbone to grip my neck, pulling me even closer. I make the first move by adding my tongue into the kiss and a sexy as fuck growl leaves Ryder’s throat, my body burning with desire for him. We sit here in this booth savoring each kiss. If he can make me burn this hot by just kissing me god help me when he gets me into his bed. Whoa, where did that come from? I haven’t had sex in so freaking long Ryder is making me want him so much.

  But is it too early to take that step? Should I really give him a second chance? Who the hell am I kidding; of course I can give him a second chance, who wouldn't right. He is sexy as sin, plus he isn’t scared that I have a daughter. He didn’t run a mile when he saw her. I break the kiss and run my thumb along his bottom lip. He licks the pad of my thumb and shivers run through my body. He smiles at me knowing the effect he is having on me.

  Bastard.

  The DJ starts playing Ed Sheeran’s ‘Don’t and Ryder gives me a full mega-watt smile. “Dance with me” It’s not a question.

  He takes my hand and pulls me to the dance floor, where Lucy is already grinding down on Rafe and I see Reeve and his friend are both dancing with a girl between them. They are really going at it; I honestly thought they were having sex as we were walking to the dance floor. We get on the dance floor and Ryder pulls me tight to him I place my hands around his neck and pull him closer for another kiss, to which he growls again and I mentally high five myself.

  Ryder places one jean-clad leg between mine and we dance and grind to the music and everyone around us faded away. It’s just me and Ryder on the dance floor and it’s exciting and scary how he can make me feel.

  I turn around so that my back is now to his chest; he grips my hips and slides his thumbs under my top. I know that most of my back is on display for him and I can feel his warm breath on my bare neck and shoulder. He places a kiss between my shoulder blades right over my tattoo; I had the quote "When words fail, music speaks" added when Demi turned one; I was in a somewhat bad place and music helped me through a lot of my feelings.

  Even though I had Quinn, Carolyn and Jason, it was still a struggle. Ryder’s kisses make my skin pop out in goose bumps. I grind my ass into him and his grip tightens. He slides one hand around to my stomach and pulls me back even more into him. I can feel him hardening against my ass. I place one of my hands over his hand and entwine our fingers. My other hand I slide up and around his neck pulling his mouth back to my exposed neck.

  My body is covered in a thin layer of sweat so I can only imagine how sweaty Ryder is; just from the damp hair at the back of his neck I can tell that his body is burning up just like my own. We dance like this for a few more songs; I couldn’t tell you how many songs or even what songs were playing because I was completely lost on Ryder.

  I turn to face Ryder again and whisper in his ear, “I need a drink.” He nods and pulls me to the bar. Ryder pulls out a bar stool for me to sit on and he stands between my legs. Thank God I am wearing shorts is all I can say.

  I place my hand in the back pocket of his jeans and he smiles at me before kissing me again. While Ryder is ordering our drinks, I look out at the people still enjoying their night and see a few girls glaring at me, but I shrug it off. Ryder is here with me and not them, so I have nothing to worry about. My eyes meet Lucy, who is sitting on Rafe’s lap. She looks from me to the girls and winks at me.

  She knows how I’m feeling because she has been through it and is still going through it on some nights. I check my phone and see that it’s nearly midnight. Shit, Ryder completely made me lose track of time; fucking Phoenix boys. Ryder slides my drink in front of me and I smile at him.

  “Ry, this needs to be my last drink. I didn’t see the time. I have Quinn babysitting but she needs to go home because she has to work tomorrow.” He slides his bottle of beer over to Rafe and I smile I know that he has only had two beers so he is ok to drive me home. We say our good byes and Ryder leads me out to his car.

  “I love this truck, so big and beautiful.” Typical male to have such a big truck.

  “She is my new baby. I got her not long ago. I felt like a change so Nix and I went shopping and we picked this beast out.” I smile and run my hand along the truck door. He opens the door for me and helps me in such a guy way hand on butt and lift, even though I am capable of climbing in on my own I smile at him and he winks at me and I melt that little bit more. He runs around and jumps into the driver seat. He pulls out of the parking space and I tell him my address.

  He turns the radio on and ‘Clarity’ by Zedd, featuring Foxes plays. I love this song. Both of us start singing and he sends me a sideways smile. Shit Ryder can sing. Before I know it we are pulling into my apartment building driveway. Ryder jumps out of the truck and comes around to open my door before I can.

  “My lady, or should I say Sunshine.” He winks at me again. Jesus Christ he is going to be the death of me with all these winks.

  “I like Sunshine as I’m no lady, Mr Phoenix.” I wink back. We walk up to my apartment and I can only imagine Ryder is checking out my ass in these shorts as he is walking behind me, pervy bastard. Once we reach my door, Ryder wastes no time in pinning me against the door kissing me our tongues hungrily dancing with each other.

  My heart is racing a mile a minute. He slides his leg between mine again and puts pressure on my now wet core with his thigh. I can feel my panties getting wetter as our kiss goes on. He slides both of his hands under my top so we have some skin contact and, my body temperature hits a new high.

  We pull apart, both panting from our hungry kisses. “Fuck, baby. What you do to me. Please tell me that we can start over and see where this goes, Sunshine? Let me take you and Demi out on a date. We can spend the day together. That will give us all a chance to get to know each other more. I want to get to know the both of you, Letty. Please say yes.”

  Holy shit, is he for real?

  It seems too good to be true that this man, this much wanted by hundreds of woman wants to be with not only me, but my daughter as well? It has been such a long time since a guy has wanted to be with me. Andy couldn’t get away quick enough when he found out about Demi.

  I can see by the sincerity in Ryder’s eyes that he truly wants to get to know us. I just pray that he doesn’t get bored of us and leave. I don’t think I could survive that and it would break Demi’s heart; I know she loves fast and hard, what four year old doesn’t?

  “Ok. We will go on a date with you on one condition…” He lets out a breath that I think he was holding from when he asked for another chance. Bless him he really wants to try. He narrows his eyes and tilts his head, looking at me.

  “And that is?” He replies. I run my hand from his neck down his well-defined chest, sliding my hand even lower while Ryder’s breathing picks up speed. I cup him through his jeans; holy shit he is big. I know I have only been with Andy and I thought Andy was a good sized but fuck, Ryder is huge. I’m surprised his zipper hasn’t busted open yet.

  “We go on a date with Demi first, and then we go on a date just the two of us. There are things I want to do with you that I would preferably not do in front of my four year daughter.” I wink at him and squeeze him a little more. He bites his bottom lip and I lean into him and lick his bottom lip before he kisses me deeply.

  “Deal. How about the three of us go and have a round of crazy golf tomorrow and then grab some food? That ok with you, babe?”

  “Yeah, Ry. Sounds like a plan” He gives me the Phoenix smile and kisses me again until we are both breathless.

  “I had better get going, I will see you and that beautiful little girl in there” he points to my front door “Tomorrow morning, say about ten?”

  “Sounds good. Night, Ryder” Why does saying that make me think of the TV show? I giggle to myself.

  Ryder smiles at me and kisses me quickly before backing away. “Goo
dnight, baby cya in the morning” And he leaves. I open from door and see Quinn standing there hands on her hips smirking at me. Here we go.

  Chapter 11

  Ryder

  I wake up the next morning with Cane licking my face. Fucking dog interrupted my wet dream about making love to Letty on a beach somewhere, with the sun beating down on my back while I’m lying between her perfectly toned thighs. Stupid damn dog. I reach for my phone and see what time it is. Seeing that it's eight-thirty, I climb out bed and head for the back door to let Cane out into the small garden to do his business. While Cane is outside I turn the coffee machine on and walk back to my bathroom. Mom and Dad had these apartments build for family when they came to visit but over time mom started renting them out.

  Our apartment is the biggest as it’s on the bottom floor and off to the side a little. We have our own garden separate from the rest of the complex. Rafe moved Gunner in when he had issues living to faraway from Maisey. We each have our own bathroom, which comes in handy when living with three other dudes.

  I jump into the shower and let the hot water wake me up more. I add some shower gel to my hand and start washing my body. I run my hand over my tribute tattoo to my father ‘Always Remember, Never Forget’ Love you Pop. I have my Phoenix tattoo on my left forearm. These two are the only tattoos that Rafe, Reeve and I have matching. Rafe has a few other tattoos and Reeve has a lot more than us both.

  I have been looking at adding to mine but not sure what to get yet. I have also been looking at an appointment to have my nipple pierced perhaps I can take Letty with me. I finish up my shower and get tried off.

  Today I’m taking Letty and Demi over to ‘Life’s A Beach Crazy Golf’ I have been there a few times with the gang and its fun. At night the lights are amazing but I don’t want to keep Demi out too late. Getting dressed in my blue three quarter jean pants along with a black t-shirt that I cut the sleeves off. I add my black Vans and my blue Ominous ball cap, backwards as always. Stuffing my wallet and phone into my pockets, I make my way out to the kitchen for some much need caffeine.