I grab my glass of iced tea and dump it in Conner’s lap. “What the fuck…?”
He stands from his chair. Arms out wide, he hangs his mouth open in shock. Ryder comes to a halt. Still on his side of the table, he’s out of arm’s reach.
“Aww, you peed your pants,” I say as I watch his khaki shorts soak up all my tea. “You should go and take care of that.”
He growls as he now stares down at me. His black eyes narrow to the point I can barely see them; he’s so pissed. He sucks in a breath through gritted teeth. “Do what she says, Conner,” Ryder orders.
He looks up at Ryder. “What? She opened her legs for you last night and now, all of a sudden, you’re her bitch boy?”
Where is Becca? Maybe she got lost. I have a feeling my ice tea trick isn’t gonna be a big enough deterrent to keep Ryder from kicking his ass. “No! But she is my sister’s best friend and I will defend her however I damn well please,” Ryder answers.
Aww, that’s sweet. He’s pretty sexy all worked up. His dark green eyes are simmering and his hands fisted down by his side make the muscles in his arms bulge. His white t-shirt pulls against his hard chest. I bite my bottom lip as I try to hide my smile. Beat his ass, Ry! It’ll turn me on.
I stare back and forth between the two of them as they breathe heavily and are ready to pounce at any second. Finally, Conner breaks the silence. “Fuck this shit.” Then he storms off.
Ryder sits back down with a heavy sigh and I can’t help the smile on my face as I take another bite of my eggs. He runs a hand through his dark spiked hair. He looks uneasy, but after a few seconds, he chuckles. “Nice one with the ice tea.”
My tense body relaxes at the sound. “I thought so,” I say, lifting my head up and giving him a wink. He just shakes his head with a smile on his face and then looks back down at his plate to continue eating his pancakes.
“Where did Conner go?”
We both look up to see Becca sitting down with a frown on her face. “He peed his pants,” I say with a shrug as if I don’t know how that’s possible.
“Yep,” Ryder agrees. “He had to go back up to the room to change.”
She looks back and forth between us for a few seconds and then pops the ketchup bottle open and starts to drench her eggs in it. Ryder and I exchange another look across the table. We both know what she’s doing. Conner will fill her in when he gets back. And my victory will be short-lived ‘cause I know it’s just gonna cause another fight between them. Fuck, have I mentioned how much I hate this guy?
A cell phone starts to ring, and Ryder shifts in his seat and pulls it out of his jeans pocket. “Hey, man.” Pause. “Yeah, we’re down here eating breakfast.” Another pause. “Okay. See you in a minute.” He hangs up his phone and places it back in his pocket.
“Who is here with you?” Becca asks slowly.
I frown over at her as she awaits Ryder’s answer.
“Jaycent came with me,” he says, not looking up from his plate and shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.
Becca’s eyes bug out and her lips part. I swear I hear her gasp. I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong when her eyes meet mine. She very slowly shakes her head at me and then looks back down at her food. What in the hell was that about? Another asshole maybe? Just my luck.
We spend the next several minutes in silence as we eat our food. And it’s actually a nice change. But it’s quickly disturbed when a man, who I’m guessing is Jaycent, walks up to the table. “Hello, everyone!” he says with a smile on his face. He wears a white t-shirt like Ryder but has on a pair of gray shorts.
I raise my hand and give him a wave. “Hey,” I say lamely to a guy I don’t know.
Becca actually stands and he pulls her in for a tight hug. Okay, maybe he’s not a prick. “How have you been, gorgeous?” he asks, and her cheeks turn as red as the ketchup that covers her eggs.
“Watch it!” Ryder orders, but there’s no threat in his voice, and a smile covers his face.
I can’t help but stare at Jaycent and Becca. She’s watching every move he makes, and I can see why; the guy is hot. Broad shoulders, dark hair, and light brown eyes. He could actually pass as Ryder’s brother. That makes it even hotter. Well, since I’m not related to either one of them.
“What happened to you last night, man?” He slaps Ryder on the back as he sits down beside him. “We were supposed to go to the pier for that concert. You just took off and never returned. Then when I got back to the room this morning, I saw your shirt by the front door and your pants in the hallway. So spill, how hot was she?”
I place a hand over my mouth as I choke on a piece of my pancake from his questions. Everyone turns to stare at me. I point at my neck. “Sorry.” I wave a hand in the air as I choke some more. Tears start to sting my eyes. “Something was stuck in my throat.”
My eyes lock on Ryder, and he mouths my cock, referring to last night. If I still had my sweet tea, I would throw it at him right now. “Here. Have some of my water.” He places his water in front of my plate, and I greedily take a gulp. I pat my chest as it burns going down.
“So …” Becca starts to speak but Jaycent interrupts her.
“Come on. I wanna know who she was? Gonna meet up with her later?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
Ryder and Becca are staring at me, and I start to break out in hives. Shit! This is gonna follow me around for a while. I take a deep breath. “Let me get you up to speed.” Jaycent looks at me, his brown eyes full of confusion. “I was the one who Ryder slept with last night.” His eyes widen, and his eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “We had no idea who the other was. And well, you know the rest.”
“Oh.” He draws out the two letters.
I nod and cram another piece of pancake in my mouth. Can this day get any more humiliating? I wanna crawl under the table.
“So what are our plans today?” Becca asks, putting a smile on her face and trying to get over the awkwardness. Ryder stares at me with a look I can’t quite explain. His eyes watch me intently, but his face lacks any emotion. What are you thinking?
I look away from him and towards Becca. “I don’t know about all of you, but I am going back up to the room and taking a very long afternoon nap.”
“Long night?” Ryder asks, the corner of his lips arching slowly.
Opening my mouth to comment, I realize I have nothing to say. It was a long night. He winks at me, and my panties instantly get wet. His cockiness is a turn-on.
Thankfully, Jaycent saves me. “What have you been up to, Becca?” he asks her with a smile. I watch a blush creep up her cheeks and a smile form on her face. One of those oh God, he just talked to me smiles. I quickly look at Ryder, but he’s oblivious to it as his attention is now back on his breakfast. He continues to cram bacon in his mouth. Have they had a thing? Does she want to have a thing with him? I’ve known the guy for three minutes and already like him more than Conner.
“Just work and school,” she responds as if her life is as simple as can be. Yeah, right.
“Congratulations on graduation, by the way,” he tells her with a proud smile.
“Thank you. I’m so ready to get back to New York,” she says before taking a drink.
His dark eyes light up with excitement, and my frown deepens. What is up with these two? “You coming home for the summer?” Did his voice sound hopeful, or is that just me making a mountain out of a molehill?
Her eyes shoot to Ryder. “You haven’t told him?” she asks surprised.
“Told me what?” Jaycent also asks, turning to face him.
“I told you, dude,” Ryder answers. “She was moving back to New York after graduation.” Jaycent starts to shake his head quickly. “Yes, I did. I told you the moment she told me. We were at your house. Some chick was over.” He waves a hand in the air as if her name isn’t that important.
“Oh,” Jaycent says softly then looks back at her. “Well, that’s awesome!”
Another awkward silence falls on the table, and I
wonder what the people who are sitting at the table behind us think. We seem to have many surprises today.
“Conner’s here,” Ryder announces to Jaycent.
His shoulders tense, and his mouth sets in a hard line. “What? Why?” Jaycent demands.
Ryder shrugs a shoulder. “They’re back together,” he admits grimly.
Jaycent shakes his head before grabbing a piece of bacon off Ryder’s plate, obviously not having much to say on that matter. Becca just hangs her head and pushes her food around on her plate. I have never been more confused than I am right now.
CHAPTER SIX
RYDER
“What do you want to do today?” my sister asks me, trying to steer the subject away from her and Conner as she looks up from her food. “We can do whatever you want to do.”
“Why does he get to choose?” the sexy blonde across from me asks with a frown.
“It’s his birthday!” Becca responds excitedly.
“Oh,” she says in surprise. Her eyes slowly find mine. “Well, happy birthday.”
I smile as I get a thought. “What are you gonna get me?” I ask Ashlyn.
“Nothing,” she responds simply.
I keep my face blank. “Technically, you already gave me something.” Her eyes narrow on me. “Last night and this morning …”
“Shut up!” she hisses before looking over at Becca. But she’s ignoring us as she looks around the hotel, probably looking for dipshit.
Jaycent chuckles. “Good one,” he mumbles more to himself than to me.
“I need to find a bakery in town,” Becca says, apparently not listening to our conversation.
“For what?” Ashlyn asks. “Having a sweet craving?”
Becca shakes her head once. “No. I need to get Ryder a cake.”
I place my hands up as I shake my head at her. “I don’t need a cake, sis.” Our family has never been big on celebrating birthdays. We try to get together for dinner here and there, but if we do, they’re never on the actual birthday. It’s whenever Dad could fit it into his work schedule. Once we celebrated my mother’s birthday two weeks after it had passed. The older we got, the longer we waited. But honestly, it never bothers my mom or me. She has her life, and I have mine. But Becca? She just didn’t understand it.
“It’s your special day, Ry. You need cake on your special day,” she says softly.
I’m seven years older than Becca is. She’s been calling me Ry for as long as I can remember because Ry was much easier for her to say when she was little. I give her a sweet smile. It’s so nice to be here with her. She looks so much older than I remember her. Last time I saw her, she was graduating high school. She still seemed so young then. Even though her hair is longer and her eyes greener now, it still feels like old times. I’ve missed her so much. “I don’t want a cake.”
“Watching your carbs?” Ashlyn asks sarcastically.
I chuckle. “No. I’m just not a big fan of cake.”
“We’ll get you cheesecake. Or an ice-cream cake,” my sister adds. “Whatever you want.”
I look over at Ashlyn. Hmm, whatever I want. I wouldn’t mind her naked on my bed again and a can of icing. Yeah, that’s my idea of having cake.
“I don’t understand,” Ashlyn says as her light brown eyebrows pull together. “If today is your brother’s birthday, then why didn’t we go to New York for you to see him on our vacation instead of us coming to Florida?” she asks Becca.
Becca goes to speak, but I answer her question. “Becca called me a few months back and said she wanted to come to New York the weekend of my birthday, but I was scheduled to be out of town at the time for business. When I had spoken to her the following week, she informed me that she was coming to Panama City with her roommate instead since I would be out of town. So when my business trip got canceled two weeks ago, I decided to surprise her here,” I say, spreading my arms out wide.
“And what a surprise it was,” Becca says with a big smile. Ashlyn slowly nods her head in understanding.
“How long have you guys been friends?” Jaycent asks Ashlyn as he points his index finger between her and my sister.
“Four years,” she answers him.
He tilts his head to the side and drops his hand as he asks. “And you slept with Ryder last night? Her brother.” Ashlyn’s face pales at that. “But didn’t realize he was her brother until this morning? How is that possible?”
She sighs heavily as if sleeping with me was the worst decision she’s ever made. I smile, sitting back in my chair, because I know I’m gonna have her repeat that mistake. Over and over ... “She talks about Ryder a lot, and she has pictures of him in her room, but they are mostly from when they were younger. I mean one of them is a picture of him and her from like ten years ago. He has a bowl cut and sunglasses on as they stand outside in what looks like a park,” she explains. Jaycent laughs at her saying I had a bowl cut, and I roll my eyes. We all have those pictures that if we could go back and change our style, we would. “I didn’t recognize him in the least when I met him last night. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses, and had facial hair.” She frowns as she looks at my face now, and I wonder if she liked me better with it than without. “Plus, he said his name was Ry not Ryder.”
“I haven’t even seen Ryder in four years,” Becca chimes in. “The most recent picture I have of him was four years ago at my high school graduation. And he’s changed a lot since then as well.”
“Plus, it’s not like I paid attention to his pictures,” Ashlyn says with a careless shrug.
“You paid attention to me last night,” I add. She practically threw herself at me. She narrows her sexy eyes and thins her lips at that. “The truth hurts,” I add. Jaycent just laughs.
“And it’s not like he has any social media pages for me to follow or to grab current photos from,” Becca says, looking at me. “You really need to join the world and get with social media, Ry.”
I shrug. “That shit is nothing but drama.”
“Oh.” Ashlyn places her elbows on the table and locks her fingers together as she smiles at me. “Sounds like you’re talking from experience.”
“He is,” Jaycent answers with a nod. He takes another piece of bacon from my plate, and I shove his hand away. “He pisses off women, and then they go and try to get even—”
“Let’s not talk about Ry’s love life at the moment,” Becca interrupts him. She shivers as if the thought of me and her friend are still fresh in her mind. I see Ashlyn cringe at her words. “I wanna get back to planning your birthday today.”
“We don’t need to do anything for it,” I tell her.
She waves that off. “How about we go out tonight and hit the bars to celebrate.”
“It’s supposed to pour down rain today and tonight,” Jaycent informs us.
“Really? I thought it looked cloudy outside.” She pouts.
“We can stay in,” I offer. “Have a party up in our room.” If you ask me, that would be better than any club here in Panama City. Clubs are loud and full of people. I haven’t seen my sister in four years. I’d much rather sit up in our hotel room and actually get to talk to her without some drunk running into us or having to scream at the top of my lungs.
“That’s fine with me. You okay with that, Ash?”
She nods. “Sure.”
I smile. I feel another round of her and me naked coming on.
“Fuck!” The smile drops off my face when Conner plops back down in his seat wearing a new pair of shorts. “That elevator takes forever,” he whines.
“Why did you go back up to the room?” Becca asks him as she puts her hand on his shoulder. He shrugs it off.
“I told you he peed his pants,” Ashlyn answers.
Conner looks over at Ashlyn. I’ve never seen him so pissed in all the eight years he’s been dating my sister. She just smiles at him sweetly. It sounds like he actually growls as he fists his hands on the table. I’m about to reach across it and grab him by the shirt because h
e looks like he’s about to pounce on her, but Jaycent speaks.
“Conner.”
He whips his head back across the table, and his face goes as white as a ghost, his shoulders fall, and his hands unclench. “Jaycent.” His voice actually squeals, and Ashlyn can’t cover her laugh fast enough.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” Jaycent declares as he sits back in his seat.
Conner clears his throat and shrugs his shoulders. He’s nervous. He should be. Jaycent will take him out without a second thought. The bastard was right earlier; if I touch him, it will upset my sister. But I won’t let him disrespect Ashlyn or Becca either. He knows Jaycent doesn’t give two shits if Becca gets mad at him for beating his ass. “Me too,” Conner says with a little edge to his voice as the shock begins to wear off.
Ashlyn covers her mouth as she yawns. “I need some coffee.” She stands.
“I’ll get it.” I stand and Conner snorts. Ignoring him, I ask her. “How do you like it?”
“Black. Like her soul,” Conner remarks.
Ashlyn lets out a long sigh as if she’s trying to calm herself then gives me a tight smile. “Thanks. But I can get it.” I’m about to argue, but she turns and walks away from our table. I watch her walk away with last night and this morning still fresh on my mind.
***
After we had finished breakfast, Jaycent and I went back up to our hotel room, and the girls returned to theirs with a sulking Conner. We planned to meet up in an hour. My sister still needed to shower, and Ashlyn needed a nap. I took some pride in that, knowing it was my fault she was so tired. Even after a cup of coffee.
“What the hell is up with your sister, Ryder?” Jaycent asks the moment we enter our suite. “I thought she dumped that loser?”
I sigh. “I’m not sure what is going on there,” I say in all honesty. “But I don’t hold much faith in them staying together long. They break up and get back together all the time.” I haven’t liked him since they got together the beginning of her freshman year in high school. I met him for the first time that year when I came home for Christmas from college. I almost killed the bastard then.
Selfish Page 9
