Ryker (24 page)

Her eyes lit up when she saw me. “Hi, babe. What are you doing here?” She hopped off the stool to hug me.

Thank God.
“Tyf is here, and she wanted Max to meet her. I just tagged along. I don’t want to intrude on your business drinks. I just heard your beautiful laugh and wanted to say hi.”

She blushed. “I’m glad you did.” She pointed at her friends. “You already know Bobby.”

He extended his hand. “How ya doin’, man?”

I shook it. “Good, thanks.” I knew I needed to keep it together, so I didn’t tell him to back off my girl.

Faith pulled me to the others. “You met Lisa, and this is my boss, Mr. Haverty. This is my boyfriend, Ryker.”

Lisa batted her eyes and said hi.

Her boss shook my hand. “Please, call me Rich.”

“Hi, Rich. Can I get you all a drink?”

“I have drinks coming for us, but thank you. Faith’s mentioned you. It’s good to meet you. I heard your band is going to North Carolina. That sounds exciting. Would you care to join us?”

I motioned toward the bartender. She was filling a glass of beer for me. “No, you all continue celebrating, but thank you for giving Faith the time off to travel with us.”

Rich nodded and smiled, “She’s hard to say no to.”

Didn’t I know it
. I nodded, kissed Faith, and paid the bartender for my drink. “I’ll see you later.”

“Wait!” Her arms went around my waist, and she looked up at me. “I think you can do better.”

“Better?”

“Yeah, better.”

She went on her tip toes, and my free arm wound around her waist. Her chest rubbed mine, and I felt her heart beating. If we were anywhere else I’d have devoured her lips with mine, but I refrained, and instead softly pressed my lips to hers.

I broke the kiss. “I love you.”

She practically stumbled out of my arms. “What?”

“I said, I love you.”

Her eyes lit up. “I love you too.”

We sealed our declaration with another kiss. I winked and went back to Tyf and Max. That wasn’t exactly how I’d planned that moment, but at least now she knew how I felt. Knowing that she loved me too was enough.

“Feel better now? Why do you worry about her feelings for you?” Tyf sounded very annoyed with me.

My head swirled. “Because I didn’t realize how amazing she was until recently, and what if I’m not the only one who knows?”

Max and Tyf looked dumbfounded.

Tyf busted out laughing. “Seriously? You’ve been her ‘it’ guy forever. You may have just woken up and smelled the coffee, but Faith has known that scent for years. Guys are just slow on the uptake.”

Max shot her a “You’d better not be talking about me” look.

“Yes, hon, that includes you,” she said. “I mean, shit, you guys, don’t you get it?”

We both shook our heads and swigged our beer.

Tyf was totally frustrated, which made me smirk. “You guys are these hot rock studs, and Faith and I are just us. We aren’t groupie types who will spread our legs just because you can hold a tune”—she looked at Max and then directed her attention to me—“or because you can make hitting a drum sound like a masterpiece. We spread our legs because we love you guys. See the difference?” She looked at me. “You can wipe that smirk off your face. You know I’m right, so if you’re jealous of some guy talking to Faith, then you’re stupid.”

“I’m still thinking about you both spreading your legs.” My eyebrows arched in amusement.

Max and I laughed, making Tyf roll her eyes.

“You’re impossible. Faith should be canonized for putting up with you both.”

I leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You’re the best, Tyf.”

Looking at her nails, she said, “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

Max and Tyf had a great thing going, but watching them be all mushy made me really want Faith next to me. I looked at where she was sitting. She was looking at me. I grabbed my phone.

Me
:
Is Robby boring you
?

Faith
:
His name is Bobby.

I looked at her, and she was laughing. Good.

Me
:
Want to get out of here
?

Faith
:
Yes.

Me
:
Let’s go.

She made me feel a way I’d never thought I could. Maybe there was hope for me yet.

Apparently telling Ryker I was tired didn’t matter much. He was in my bed, sleeping, and I needed to get up for work. His face was so stunning with his light morning scruff and his hair all messy. My fingers itched to run through it, but I slid out of bed and headed for the shower.

The water was warm and welcome. I lathered my lavender shampoo in my hair. My hands were massaging my scalp when I felt another set of fingers and a hard body against by back.

“Tip your head back. Let me do this.”

As my head went back, I closed my eyes and let him work his magic. Letting him do it for me felt so good. He rested my head against his chest, making my back arch. My breasts were the next recipient of his manual expertise. The soap helped his hands slide all over me. He brought one hand between my legs while his other one remained on my stomach. His teeth grazed my earlobe, making me shiver.

Before I knew it, “I want you,” flew out of my mouth.

He didn’t waste any time spinning me around and pinning my back against the tile. “Wrap your legs around me.”

I stilled.

“Faith, I said wrap your legs around me.” He bent at the knees and grabbed my ass.

I managed to wrap my legs around his lean waist.

“That’s it. I’m going to make love to you now.” He entered me, and it felt different.

I was so comfortable with him, and as he moved faster, my legs tightened around him. We both rocked until we hit our peak, and as he leaned back, my head tapped the tile wall. He pulled me to his taut chest, and I held him.

“That was amazing. I must be getting used to you because that felt incredible.” I said.

He stilled. “Oh my God! Shit.”

He pulled out of me and turned away from me. I looked at his back. His breaths were deep and long. Was he mad at me? What had I said?

“Ryker?”

When he turned, his face had a sad look.

“What is it? You’re scaring me,” I said.

“We didn’t use a condom. I’ve never gone bare before. What if… what if I just got you pregnant?” The concern and fear in his eyes shocked me.

“I went to the doctor yesterday; I forgot to tell you. He gave me a birth control shot, and since I just finished my cycle last week, he said the shot would protect me immediately.”

“Oh, thank God!” He kissed and hugged me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I did intend to.”

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re covered. I can’t imagine telling your father I knocked you up.” He shivered.

I wasn’t sure if that was because of the water cooling or the thought of being a father. I hoped it wasn’t the latter.

“Let’s dry off, okay?” I knew my voice dripped with disappointment. Hell, why was I disappointed? Telling my parents I was pregnant wouldn’t be ideal. He was right—we should be relieved.

He grabbed my robe for me and wrapped a towel around his waist.

“I love your body.” My mouth had a mind of its own.

He chuckled. “You do, huh? Well, I love yours, so it’s a good thing we belong to each other.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Thank God it’s Friday” had a whole new meaning for me. My first week of being employed had concluded, and we were all getting together at the guys’ house. Tyf curled her hair as I put the finishing touches on my face.

My jeans looked good according to Tyf, and she was the expert. She had brought them home for me, and they fit like a glove. My top was loose and comfortable.

Tyf tossed me my black wedges. “Wear these instead of those gladiator sandals you picked out. Heels lift your ass. Ryker will love ‘em.”

“Really?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Lift my ass?”

Her hands went to her small hips. “Yes, really.”

“Fine, if you say so.” I slid my sandals off and replaced them with the wedges. I spun around. “Better?”

“Much. Now let’s get your fine, lifted ass out of here.”

I grabbed my keys, and we walked out to my car. As we drove to the guys’ house, I hoped we’d get there before Lisa and Bobby. Ryker wasn’t a big fan of Bobby’s, but he needed to get to know him and realize that we were just friends, that’s why I’d invited him over. Plus, I’d already invited Lisa, and I thought this would eliminate her feeling like a fifth wheel since they knew each other from the office.

We parked in front of the house. The air was hot and sticky when we got out of the car. I’d hoped it would have cooled off already, but no. It felt as if it was still three in the afternoon, and it was almost eight p.m.

Tyf didn’t bother knocking. She just walked in, and I followed. Our men were on the couch, watching some concert on TV. The tune sounded familiar. I stared at the band, then I saw the drummer.

“Hey, that’s Bonham, right? This is Led Zeppelin!” I almost bounced up and down because I was so happy I knew that.

Ryker stood and grabbed me. “That’s my rockin’ girlfriend!”

Max, on the other hand, was a little surprised, “How the hell did you know that? I tried to get you to listen to them years ago, and you blew me off.”

Ryker said, “She has a thing for drummers.”

We all laughed.

Tyf, being the awesome girlfriend she was, said, “Not me. I like a man who can play his instrument lying down.”

“That’s my girl!” Max dipped her and kissed her hard.

I looked at Ryker and shrugged. The doorbell rang. I figured it was Lisa or Bobby, so I answered. Sure enough, Lisa was outside. She had a plant in her hand, which I looked at questioningly.

“Hey, Lisa.” I opened the door and invited her in. “You all remember Lisa, right?”

Everyone said hi. As I was shutting the door, Bobby walked up. He looked great.

“Hey there.” I gave him a hug.

I offered Bobby and Lisa a drink. Lisa handed me the plant and said it was a housewarming gift. I thanked her on behalf of the guys and set it on the table. I told them to have a seat while I got their drinks.

My body was half in the refrigerator when Ryker came up behind me. “You’re gorgeous.”

When I turned, I was enveloped in his arms. He kissed me.

“You’re hot.” I snickered.

He whispered, “Want to be gorgeous and hot together later?”

Hell yeah, I did. I nodded and kissed him. The kiss was short since we had guests. I didn’t want to be rude. We brought the drinks to Lisa and Bobby, and we all sat around and talked. The group seemed very comfortable together, and I felt grown up. Bobby and Ryker were getting to know each other, which was an added bonus.

When Max started talking about North Carolina, Ryker kept shifting in his seat. Something was up with him, but I didn’t know what. Even Max gave him a strange look. Soon, Lisa and Bobby left.

“Can you stay?” Ryker asked me. He raised his eyebrows a few times, making me grin.

Tyf chimed in, “I’m staying, so don’t worry about me.”

“Let’s go,” I said, tilting my head toward his room.

Once we were alone and the door was closed, he sat on his bed and leaned back. His legs were dangling, so I climbed on top of him. He smiled, but as he looked at me, his look turned pensive.

I needed to know what was going on with him. “Want to talk about it?”

His hips lifted. “Talk? No, I don’t want to talk.”

I laid down next to him. My head was propped up on my hand.

He looked at me, rolled his eyes, and huffed with frustration. “Okay, what? What do you want to talk about? I just want to be buried inside you for the rest of the night.”

“That sounds great, but can you tell me why you get a weird look on your face when North Carolina is mentioned? Are you nervous?”

“No, I’m not nervous. If there is one thing I know I’m good at, it’s playing the drums.” He rolled on top of me. “I’m good at something else too.”

“Yes, this I know. Tell me, Ryker, please?”

He got up and paced. His hand ran through his hair. “Fine. I grew up in North Carolina. That’s where I lived before I moved to New York.”

“The social worker moved you out of state?” I didn’t understand. I was sure North Carolina had good foster homes.