Broken Love (7 page)

Her lower lip jetted out as she nodded her head and rested her hands on her stomach. “I know. Just a few more months.”

“Hey there, Ryder.”

Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw Destiny. She was my sister Jennifer’s best friend, and my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me with my best friend, Roy.

With a quick nod, I gave her a halfhearted smile. “Destiny, how are you?”

Her mouth twitched as she gave me a smile. “I’m doing good. It’s good to see you.”

Trying to get out of this awkward moment, I caught a glimpse of Ava as she walked by. One quick look showed she was staring at Destiny.

With a bigger smile, I turned to my two sisters and slapped my hands. “Who is going to sandwich me?”

Nate walked up and pushed me to the side. “They want to sandwich me, not you.”

“Boys, stop fighting,” my mother said as she pointed her finger at me and then Nate.

Before I had a chance to react, Nate made a beeline and sat in between Jennifer and Dani. Destiny was on the other side of Jennifer, so I made my way to the opposite side of the table. Sitting down next to my father, who was at the end, and Jase, who was on my left.

“Jase, how are you liking Montana?” I asked.

“Love it. I was just telling Ava if I didn’t love Texas so much, I’d be packing my bags and moving here.”

With a laugh, I looked up to see Ava sitting across from Jase. “What about you, Ava? You seemed to be enjoying your afternoon with Nate from the looks of things.”

Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes darted down the table to Nate. She flashed him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes at him. Nate chuckled and then leaned over and began talking to Destiny.

Asshole.

Ava looked back to me and was about to say something when my father stood up. “Let me just say what a pleasure it is to have the Morris and Moore families with us here today. I’m excited to know that my sons are, hopefully, leading you down the road to becoming an organic cattle ranch like the one you see here at Montgomery Ranch. For the next three days, our ranch is your ranch.”

Holding his glass of wine up, he motioned for everyone to join him in toast. “To organic.”

“To organic!” everyone said as glasses clanked together.

Everyone settled into conversations as the food was served. Of course the main dish was steak and potatoes. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every now and then I’d glance up and see Ava speaking with Liza, who was sitting next to her, or to my sister, Dani, across the table who was next to her husband, Rich.

Jase and I talked mostly about ranching and cattle. He had some great questions for the conversion and I was excited to answer them. My father chimed in every now and then before his attention would get drawn to another conversation going on.

“So, when are you moving back to Montana, Ryder?”

I glanced up to see Ava staring at me. Waiting for me to answer as if her life depended on it.

“You’re moving back home?” Destiny called out as she jumped up and headed over to me.

She leaned down and placed her lips to my ear as I continued to watch Ava. For a moment I thought I saw jealousy cross over her face.

“We need to talk in private.”

“Later,” I said as I glared at her.

“Fine.” With a turn on her heels, Destiny headed back to her seat.

“Lovely girl,” Ava whispered.

“She has her moments,” I said as I smiled and took a bite of steak. I couldn’t deny I liked seeing Ava get bent out of shape a little bit over Destiny. Why she did, I have no clue. She seemed to be pretty happy with Nate pressed up against her.

Shaking the image from my head, I tried to drag in a breath. For some reason, the room felt as if it was closing in on me and I couldn’t breathe. Leaning over to my father, I softly said, “Dad, I’ll be right back.”

A look of concern crossed over his face as he said, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just need a minute.”

Standing quickly, I glanced down to Ava. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but Liza tapped her shoulder and asked her a question. I walked as fast as I could and dragged in a deep breath of air as I stood on the front porch. The evening temperature was quickly dropping as a chill rushed through my body.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not now, Destiny. I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”

“How about me then?”

The sound of Ava’s voice traveled through my body, warming it instantly.

“We should probably make it a new rule not to get up and leave the table to talk,” Ava said with a slight chuckle.

I turned and leaned against the porch rail as Ava barely bit down on her lip as she smiled bigger.

“I didn’t ask you to come out here, though.”

Her smile faded. “No, you didn’t. Did Nate talk to you about earlier?”

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I looked away. “No. Honestly, Ava, you don’t owe me any explanation at all. If you and my brother have hit it off then—” I shook my head and let out a gruff laugh. “Then so be it.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to go with what you thought you saw and not even give me a chance to explain.”

My head jerked back as I stared at her. “Explain what? My brother had you pushed against a wall and I’m pretty sure if I’d have walked in thirty seconds later you would have been kissing him.”

Anger flashed across her face as she shook her head. “No, what you would have seen was me pushing your brother away and telling him I was attracted to you … not him. My hands were on his chest, keeping him from getting closer. I asked him to talk to you about it because I knew that’s what you thought.”

I let her words sit in my head for a few moments. “You told Nate you’re attracted to me?”

Ava pressed her lips together as she lowered her head some and gazed up at me through those long beautiful eyelashes. Her blue eyes were sparkling. “I did tell him that, yes. I also wanted to tell you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for the last two weeks. And that I had a stupid count down on my phone, counting the days until I got to see you … even though I told everyone it was for the trip.”

My smile grew bigger as my heartbeat began speeding up. I’d never had a woman make me feel the way Ava made me feel. I wanted her like no one else, yet I wanted to move slowly with her. Savor each and every moment.

“I thought about you too. I dreamt about you, thought about you in the shower, at the gym, while trying to work. Your face and those beautiful blue eyes haunted my every moment.”

Ava’s mouth parted open as she sucked in a breath ever so slightly. Her chest began to heave a bit more as her breathing picked up. “I’ve never had anyone say anything like that to me before. My panties are soaking wet now.”

My eyes closed as my dick jumped and I let out a soft moan. “I just died.”

With a snap of my eyes, my body trembled when Ava’s hands touched my chest. Her smile was beyond breathtaking. “There’s only one way to make sure you haven’t died.”

I licked my lips in anticipation of her next words. “W-what’s that?”

“Kiss me.”

My hands cupped Ava’s face as I brought her lips to mine and kissed her. Our tongues moved together in perfect harmony as we both let out a soft moan.

Heaven.

I was in heaven and I never wanted the moment to end.

Pulling my lips back, Ava slowly smiled as she shook her head ever so slightly. “I think I’m going to need more convincing.”

With a chuckle, I brushed my lips against hers. “Tell me what I need to do.”

Ava’s eyes lit with excitement. “There’s only one thing I can think of that will fully show me you’re one hundred percent still alive.”

With a raised eyebrow, I tried to come off as being calm, cool, and collected. But inside, my body was behaving like a sixteen-year-old boy wanting to have sex for the first time. “That is?”

“Make love to me, Ryder.”

My heart dropped as I looked into Ava’s eyes. “Now?”

With a chuckle, Ava shook her head. “As much as I want to say yes, I think it would be rather rude to disappear from dinner.”

“Who cares!” I said as I pulled her body closer to mine, pressing my hard dick against her body. I’d been dreaming for weeks of this woman; I wanted her this instant.

Ava’s eyes danced with excitement as she slowly ran her tongue along her teeth. A low growl formed in the back of my throat as I debated dragging her off somewhere.

“Hey, love birds, Mom is getting pissed and you know she means business when she sends the pregnant sister out to get you.”

Glancing up, I smiled at my sister. “Tell Mom we’ll be right in, Dani.”

With a lift of her eyebrow, she gave me that look. “You better get your ass in there.”

“One minute is all we need.”

Dani gave me a wink before turning and heading back into the house.

I looked back into Ava’s beautiful blue eyes. “When?”

“Tonight. After I know my parents are asleep. Something about having sex in the same house as my parents is a bit … unsettling.”

With a smile, I placed my finger on her chin and brought her lips to mine. “I promise they’ll be none the wiser.”

Ava giggled. “Okay, ‘cause if they ever found out, my father would kick your ass.”

My smile faded as Ava closed her eyes and made ready for my lips. Swallowing hard, I gave Ava a quick, but soft kiss. “Great. Now I’m going to be freaked out.”

With a laugh, Ava grabbed my hand as we walked back into the house together. The second we stepped back into the dining room, all eyes fell on us. I couldn’t help but notice Reed glance down to see our hands intertwined. He looked quickly back up at Ava and then me. With a weak smile, I nodded my head and said, “Sorry about that.”

“That’s twice you and my daughter have gotten up from a dinner table. Anything I need to know?”

Ava squeezed my hand as we headed back to our seats. “No, Daddy. All is fine.”

After taking my seat, Jase leaned over and said, “Dude, I love seeing the smile on Ava’s face, but you hurt her, I hurt you.”

Turning to look at Jase with wide eyes, I whispered, “Point taken.” When I looked over to Ava’s brother, Walker, he communicated the same damn thing with the look on his face. With a smile, I gave him a nod of acknowledgment and turned back to my father. The look on his face told me I was going to be having a conversation with him later about this as well.

My eyes turned to Ava who was now smiling and talking my sister’s ear off. I couldn’t help but feel happiness bubbling over. Of course my smile faded when I caught Reed giving me a death stare.

This should be an interesting evening.

DINNER DRAGGED ON and was followed by drinks in the parlor as Ryder and I stole glances every now and then. Each time my heart would beat a little harder in my chest. The idea of being with him tonight was almost too much to take. My lips still tingled from his kiss. My skin still on fire from where he touched me.

“I’m pretty sure if you keep staring at my brother like that, his pants are going to just fly off at any moment.”

Dani stood before me with her hands rested on her belly. “Is it that obvious?” I asked while looking around the room.

“Oh yeah.” Dani looked over her shoulder toward her sister, Jennifer, and her friend, Destiny. “You’ve got Destiny over there in a huff, but I have to admit, it’s been fun watching her all evening try to capture my brother’s attention.”

My eyes narrowed as I stared at Destiny. Her long blonde hair was perfect. Not a strand out of place. Her toned legs told me she most likely ran or at least paid a small fortune for a good trainer at the gym. “Does she live here in Montana?”

Dani took a sip of her water. “Yep. Her father is best friends with my father. He owns the ranch right next to ours. Growing up, I think it was almost expected that Ryder and Destiny were to date. They were the same age, liked the same things, and were good friends.”

Jealousy raced through my veins as I tried to not picture Ryder and Destiny together. The thought made me feel sick.

“Don’t think too much about it, Ava. Ryder never really was that into Destiny. I think he dated her more to satisfy my father over anything else.”