by Amy Davies
I exit the bathroom and head back towards the noise. As I stand at the door scanning the garden for Demi, I see that Inside Noise are getting ready to start their set. I still can’t see Demi until Nix comes walking from the side of the make shift stage with my daughter in his arms. God, what is with these sex on a stick men in this family? I see the two girls at the front of the stage chatting with Tru and my heart skips a beat seeing them eyeing up my man. I see Nix, Brax and Hayley all fussing over Demi and it melts my heart, but my inner voice is screaming at me to leave and not trap this hunk with my family. He deserves better that being a twenty-year-old dad of a child that isn’t his. With my decision made, I make my way over to Ryder’s family to collect my daughter when Reeve's voice comes through the speakers.
“Hey, how is everyone doing tonight? You all enjoying Baby Tru’s party?” The family and friends crowd cheers and I see Demi laughing and clapping while sitting in Brax’s shoulders. Fuck me. “Well, tonight we are going to sing a few of our own songs and some covers that our baby girl loves so much. We are gonna mix it up folks.” He winks to the screaming girls standing in front of him. Where the hell they all come from? I arrive at Brax’s side and smile.
“Can I have Demi please, Brax?” He frowns at me but doesn't hand me Demi.
“She can see the boys better from up there. She is fine, Letty.”
“Please Brax, can I have my daughter please?” He is looking at the stage but then he turns his head towards me but nods to the stage. I see Ryder frowning at me but I turn away from him. “Please Brax.” I can hear the desperation in my voice. He shakes his head and lifts Demi off his shoulders, settling her on the ground. My tears are fighting to break free.
“You are making a mistake, Letty. That boy loves you and Demi. I thought you loved him too?” I take a deep breath, fighting these damn tears again.
“I do, Braxton. But this is better for him. He doesn’t need to be tied down at his age. I am doing this for him.” I go to walk away but Brax catches my elbow.
“Don’t you think that it is up to him to decide what he wants? Love knows no time or age, both are nothing but numbers and mean nothing. He loves Demi, he loves you; don’t walk away from him Letty, please?” A tear runs down my cheek and I glance back at Ryder and I can see the confusion written all over his face. He drops his drumsticks in the middle of a song, jumps off the stage and makes his way over to us. Brax picks up Demi and walks away before I can say anything. Ryder is in front of me, toe to toe, chest to chest. He is breathing heavy.
“Where you going, Letty?” Shit, he doesn’t call me ‘baby’ or ‘sunshine’. My chest tightens and I can see the hurt across his face, he knows what I was doing I can sense it coming from him. I glance around and see everyone watching us, mainly the two girls from earlier; they are both smirking at me.
“You don’t want this, Ryder. You don’t want to be tied down with a child that isn’t yours. You can have anyone you want and I find is hard to believe that you want me and my daughter. Please just let us go” He shakes his head and looks at the ground.
“Don’t tell me what I want. Your daughter just asked me to be her dad today and it will be a day that I will never forget, do you honestly think that I would have agreed to be her dad if I didn’t want to? You think that badly of me that you would think I would just tell a little four-year-old girl what I thought she wanted to hear just to be with you? Fuck, Letty” He puts his hands on his hips and takes a deep breath. He looks towards the stage, nods at his brothers and they return it, then turns to Demi and then to me.
“Bad word, Daddy” comes from Demi. Ryder smiles at her and looks at me.
“You are my Inside Noise, Letty Shaw. Both you and Demi are my Inside Noise. I am madly in love with both of you and yes, I get that we haven’t known each other long but I say fuck it. I want you and Demi in my life for as long as you will have me.” He turns and looks at everyone and then back to me “and if anyone has a problem with that then they…cover her ears Brax,” which he does. I can’t help but smile. “They can fuck off right now because baby, you are my world and I plan on having you and Demi in it for a very fucking long time.”
He kisses me without another word. His tongue breaks through my lips and battles with mine. I can hear people cheering and clapping but Ryder doesn’t disengage from me. I feel all my negative thoughts wash away by Ryder’s kisses. After God knows how long Reeve’s voice comes over the speaker again.
“Brax, keep my niece’s ears covered a bit long please. Ryder, bro stop sucking face with your girl, you can fuck her later. Sorry Mom. Get your ass up here and we can get this show on the road.” He winks at me.
“Ok, ok I’m coming …” I cut him off.
“Not yet you’re not.” I wink at him. He kisses me and turn to Demi. He removes her hands over Brax’s, which by the way looks super cute. His big hands covered by her tiny hands.
“Angel, Daddy's gonna go and sing with Uncle Rafe and Uncle Reeve ok? Can you make sure that Mama stays here and waits for me?”
“Will do, Daddy” She kisses his cheek and he walks off towards the stage. My heart steadies it’s pace and I feel the love flowing between the three of us, our little family.
The night goes off without any further incident. The Phoenix family and the Cooper family and all their friends make sure that I know that I am now one of them and if I need anything they will be there.
Life is good and I wouldn’t change it for anything because I love Ryder Phoenix and he loves my daughter and me.
Chapter 18
Ryder
“Come on lets go ladies, we are meeting everyone there” It’s a Saturday morning and my girls and me are heading to the beach with the whole crew; even Nix and Brax are joining us. It’s been four weeks since Tru’s party and four weeks since I told Letty that she is my Inside Noise and four weeks since I became a step-dad to Demi. Four weeks that have been fucking amazing. If I am not in classes or with the boys practicing, then I am with Letty at her apartment. I still can’t get used to Demi calling me Dad but I tell you know it feels amazing.
My grandma Ruby did have a bitch about the time that we have known each other but like my dad always used to tell us ‘You will know when a girl’s heart beats with yours.’ I got lucky and had two hearts that beat with mine own, even in a short amount of time.
Too fast? Maybe to some people. but I don’t give a flying fuck.
“Move your butts girls, everyone is waiting for us.” Letty comes walking towards me in short denim shorts and a black bikini top on under a floral kimono and a hat on her head. She is wearing gold strappy sandals and she looks fucking hot. I am so going to be beating many guys asses who be looking at her in that bikini. She kisses me as she passes and I slap her ass causing her to yelp. “Angel, move baby.” Demi comes running down the hall towards me in the freaking cutest lady bug bathing suit and matching sun hat. My mom took her shopping one day and can anyone say spoiled? I think she bought out the whole damn store. She has little red sandals and red ladybug sunglasses on to complete her outfit.
After filling the cooler with snacks and drinks for us, we hit the beach. I set up a beach blanket for my girls and dig the parasol into the sand so that Demi has some shade. I don’t want her to burn. Everyone one is here except Trinity. I sit Demi between my legs and start to cover her in sunscreen I watch as Lucy glares at Beck, who is sitting on his own, elbows resting on his knees, just staring at nothing. After what happened between them that night, Trinity left LA and moved to Texas to stay with her aunt and uncle for a while and believe me, Lucy as not let him forget what he has done. Lucy and Rafe told my mom and her parents about the baby. Mom was over the moon and so were the Coopers once the shock wore off. Rafe’s protective side tripled with Lucy and we all just laugh at the way he is with her and the way she gets annoyed with him. True Love.
Skeet comes skipping over to us like a freaking five-year-old and picks up Demi’s floaties and starts bouncing up and down.
“So, is my Princess ready to hit the water?” he asks me and Letty, who is standing talking to my sister. Ren is home from her search for new bands to sign to Phoenix Records. I lift Demi to her feet and tap her little butt.
“Off you go with Uncle Skeet. Remember Angel, Skeet can’t swim, so you will have to hold his hand ok, baby”? Everyone laughs while Demi runs towards Skeet.
“Shut it, Ry. I can swim, I learnt just last week.” He winks at Letty, who is staring at him while he takes our daughter's hand. Daughter, fuck that sounds good.
“Ryder, really, is he ok taking her into the water?” I know she is messing with him by the cheeky glint in her eyes.
“Aww, baby. Our girl will take good care of him, don’t you worry.” Skeet flips us off and walks Demi towards the water. “You watch her like a hawk Skeet, I’m warning you.” He nods and carries on walking. We spend most of the morning playing at the beach, everyone doting on Demi. The boys take her in the water but never out too deep.
Nix plays sand castles with her, they even dig a huge hole, which I help with and we bury Skeet. Demi stand on top on him and screams, “I’m on top of the world … Well Uncle Skeeter anyways.” Now, that causes everyone to laugh so hard that most of us can’t breathe and have tears streaming down our faces. Lucy told Demi that he likes to be called Skeeter, so she has called him it all day. Beck keeps his distance from everyone except Demi and me. He is finding it hard hurting Trin the way he did and he doesn’t know how to handle it. Demi loves her Uncle Beck, she says he has soft fluffy hair. Lucy makes sure that we take lots of photos to mark the day, which I couldn’t have agreed more. Lucy takes a photo of Letty, Demi and me and I save it as my lock screen on my iPhone.
We leave the beach and head home. Letty takes Demi back to hers to bathe and feed her before Mrs. Dawson comes over to baby sit. I head back to my apartment and get ready for the gig tonight at Max Point. I shower and get dressed in my typical black wife beater with bigger armholes, which doesn’t constrict me when I’m playing. I pull on my black jeans with my black biker boots, tonight I tie a red plaid shirt around my waist and add my ball cap on backwards.
I place my Phoenix band on my wrist and I am set to go. Gunner drives us to Max Point and we get everything set up. I am nervous for some reason tonight and my stomach is in knots, I just have a feeling that something will go down and I can’t place it. I hate thinking about the last time I felt like this.
“Yo bro chill out man, your girl will be here soon enough and maybe she can help relieve some tension that has you all wound up tonight.” This comes from Mr Cool-As-Fuck Reeve.
“Fuck off Rev, I just have a gut feeling, ya know?” He frowns at me but says nothing.
We sit by the bar and have a drink, waiting on the girls. Rafe keep checking his phone every two seconds and he will keep checking until Snowflake arrives. I finish my second drink when the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I turn towards the door. I know my baby is here. I see the girls walk in giggling and then I see Letty and I swear to fucking God that I stop breathing. She looks beautiful, totally gorgeous and all fucking mine. She is wearing a skintight red short skirt that wraps around her thighs perfectly with a black tight spaghetti strap top tucked in with black fuck-me heels. She has a thick gold chain around her neck and a bunch of gold bangles on her wrist.
I don’t take my eyes off her until an asshole steps in her way of getting to me. Fuck off dude, she is mine. I make my way over and hear my girl tell him to screw off; she can stand up for herself. She sees me and a big ass, beautiful smile crosses her face and she steps around the guy.
“Hey baby.” she says, while wrapping her hands around my neck. Even in her shoes she still only comes to my chin. I lower my head and kiss her, placing my hands on her firm ass and giving her a squeeze. She is pulled back slightly and when I look up, the asshole is still here and now has a grip on Letty’s arm.
“Dude, back the fuck off and get your own, I saw her first,” he says. You have got to be fucking kidding me, did he just not hear her call me baby. I pull Letty behind me and the boys step up to me.
“Listen asshole, she is my girlfriend so I suggest you back the fuck off or I will have you removed from the club.” He mutters something before turning and joining his friends at a high table. I turn back to Letty, who has a lustful look in her eyes.
My dick is instantly hard. I grab her hand and pull her towards the back room where we chill before a gig. I can hear the hollering and hooting coming from the boys; I flip them off as I keep dragging Letty behind me. As soon I as I close the door I pin her to it, holding her hands above her head as I take her mouth in a deep hard kiss and she takes it. I slip my hand under her tight skirt and push it up over her hips before I move her panties to the side and slide my finger inside her, only to find her dripping for me.
“Fuck baby you are soaked, does me defending you turn you on, baby?” I add another finger and Letty throws her head back and moans my name, fuck that is hot.
“I need you inside me now, baby please. I need to feel you, Ry.” With one hand I open my jeans and pull my rock hard dick out and slam home in one thrust, fuck she feels amazing. Better than normal. My heart stops and so does my body.
“Sunshine I don’t have a condom, we need to stop” She shakes her head back and forth.
“I’m on the pill, keep going, we’re fine. Fuck harder Ryder, harder.” I slam into her over and over again until I feel her orgasm take over. I thrust three more times and join her over the edge. I bury my head in her neck and lick the skin there; she tastes like strawberries tonight. I lower Letty back to the floor and kiss her neck whispering, “I love you, Letty.”
I help Letty get cleaned up before we join everyone out front. I get a round of drinks in and we all chill out, waiting for our set to start. I sit with the boys and watch Letty dance with the girls.
She is grinding on Quinn and I watch Skeet watch Quinn. Reeve is chatting to Izzy behind the bar and not paying Quinn any attention at all. I get hard again just watching my girl dancing, feeling the freedom of the music; it seeps into her body and she finds the rhythm. They are dancing to Usher featuring Pitbull's ‘DJ got us fallin in love.’ I love the way she sways her hips to the music, you can tell she dances the way her body just takes over. I adjust my dick in my jeans and stand up and make my way over to my girl. I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her tight to me. I know she can feel my hard-on pressing into her ass; she doesn’t even flinch when I touch her, which makes my heart swell. She knows it’s me, she can sense me just like I sense her.
The song changes to Ne-Yo's ‘Closer’ and Letty’s body comes alive as she grinds harder on me. She drops to the floor and rubs her ass against me. As she stands up again, I spin her to face me and place one leg in between hers and she rubs her heated core against my thigh, which by the way I fucking love. I have said it before, I love girls touching my thighs; weird, I know. I put my hands on her ass and pull her tightly against me, my dick is fucking hard in my jeans and the friction we are causing turning me into a fourteen-year-old boy under the bleachers in high school. I whisper in her ear.
“Baby we need to stop. I am aching to be inside you again but if we don’t stop I’m going to come in my damn jeans.” The cheeky minx grinds on me harder, biting her lip and then pulls away. She crooks her finger at me to follow her, which I do. What man wouldn’t follow this sexy woman in front of me? She backs up against the wall and I crush my body against hers pinning her there.
“Let me take that ache away baby, we can’t have you going on stage with a raging hard-on.” Fuck yeah.
Before she can do anything, Nix comes up and taps me on the shoulder “It’s time, Ry.” He walks away; I rest my forehead against Letty’s and breathe her in.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. We will finish this later, ok?” I kiss her and lead her back to the girls who are sitting by the bar. I kiss her one last time and I follow the boys to the side of the stage. We huddle in and
pay respect to our father.
“Taking it to the stage, Pop. Always remember,” Reeve says.
“Following our Inside Noise, Pop. Never forget,” Rafe chimes in.
“Making our Inside Noise grow. Getting bigger every day. We miss and love you, Dad.” We hit the stage and the crowd goes wild. Fuck I love saying that too.
“Good evening everyone, how is everyone tonight?” Reeve shouts into the microphone. I start a slow steady beat and Rafe joins in with his bass. “We are Inside Noise, not that any of you need to be told that, but I just thought I should let you know anyway. So, I am thinking we should find out who is the better Phoenix tonight. What do you say ladies?” They scream again and I do believe that a few glasses break from the sound.
“Ok, so on bass we have the one and the only Rafe Phoenix, show some love ladies.” Rafe does a little bass rift and they scream and I see Lucy go crazy and the girls scream and laugh with her. I start a sensual beat on my kit and wait to be introduced.
“Next, we the have the best drummer in the world, I give you Ryder Phoenix ladies.” I pick up the beat and look at my girl she winks at me and screams the roof off this joint. I wink back and she blows me a kiss.
“And then you have me, the best of the best, the one, the only Reeve Phoenix. Give it to me ladies.” And by fuck they do. I am sorry to say, but even with Letty and Lucy screaming for us Reeve wins hands down.
I hear someone shout ‘Fix’ in the crowd and laugh when I see the girls point to Maisey. We play our set and the sweat of pouring off me. I head for the back room and give myself a wipe down before heading out to the bar. I find everyone at the bar except Letty and Quinn.
“Where has Letty gone to?” I ask Rafe and Lucy.
“Quinn had a bit too much to drink so she took her outside for some fresh air, she will be back soon” I nod and order a drink with Izzy. I down my first bottle and order another. I take a pull from the bottle and look at the door to see if Letty is coming back in, only to come face to face with someone I never wanted to see again.
