Page 9 of Ryder

“Oh please, that smug smile screams fuckery,” laughs Mya taking one of the bottles and three glasses and making her way to the nearest table. I pay the barman, and then take the other bottle and glasses to where the girls are settling into chairs.

“So, continue,” Liss urges eagerly, leaning forward while Mya pours the wine.

“She had sex with the head of the gang. They call him the president. He’s hot. Mean. Moody. And did I mention H.O.T,” Mya gossips.

“What,” screeches Mollie horrified, “He’s in a gang?”

“Not that sort of gang Molls, calm down,” I say with a sigh, while patting her hand, “Mya is over selling it. A guy next door to me is in a motorcycle club. Most of the guys are ex-army and they have a place where they all get together so that they can still be part of a brotherhood.”

“Well you seem to know a lot about them even though you say there is nothing to tell,” smirks Liss.

“I googled it.” I wink and she giggles.

“What was he in prison for?” asks Charleigh, “Is he safe to have around Harlee?”

“Jesus, I slept with the guy, we aren’t getting married or anything. I have no idea why he was in prison, but I do know that I won’t be seeing him again so you all just need to calm down and stop getting over excited. Besides Mya, didn’t you spend the night at Griff’s last weekend?”

All the girls turn to her and I give her a smug smile. She laughs. “Yeah but he’s a total gent, nothing happened despite my efforts.”

“Wow he resisted your charms?” teases Liss, with a laugh. Mya usually gets any man she wants, even the married ones.

I relax after finishing my second glass of wine, enough to get up and dance with the girls. I’m glad I decided to come out, because it feels good to be with the group of friends I’ve known for so long, I can’t remember the last time I did this, especially with me and Charleigh both having childcare issues; it always makes plans more difficult to arrange. I haven’t spoken to my parents since I told them I was marrying Finn. They’d never liked him and made it perfectly clear that they didn’t approve of my choices. They live less than a twenty-minute walk away from my house, and I often think about reaching out to them. I know they’d love Harlee and would be more than happy to help me out when needed, but I guess I’ve become stubborn, and a part of me can’t stand to let them know they were right.

I feel my mobile phone vibrate and I pull it from my bag, groaning when I see Finn’s name. I wave my phone at Mya to indicate I have to take a call, before heading outside. “Is Harlee okay?” I ask, when I answer.

“Where are you?” he demands. I take a few more steps away from the bar, hoping it’ll dim the background noise.

“Is Harlee still up? It’s very late,” I ask. The alcohol is making me braver and after our recent conversation, I’m determined to make him see that his behaviour isn’t reasonable and he doesn’t own me anymore.

“Harlee is in bed. Where are you, Neve?” He’s persistent.

“Then why are you calling me, Finn?” I ask. “You only really need to call me about Harlee.”

“Are you actually being serious right now?” he growls, and I know he’s trying to stay calm.

“If you don’t need anything for Harlee, I’m going to hang up. Good night Finn,” I say, disconnecting the call. I stare at the phone for a few seconds and then a grin spreads across my face. I did it. I stood up to him. A passerby glances up as I do a little happy dance and I grin wider. “I did it,” I tell him, and he frowns. People in London tend to keep themselves to themselves. I laugh. “I fucking did it and it feels good.”

“Is the happy dance because you saw me?” I spin around to the sound of Griff’s voice and my eyes land on his smirking face.

“What are you doing here, are you following me?”

He laughs. “Nope your friend text me and asked if we fancied joining you for a drink, we were in the area so…”

“We?” I repeat, praying to God he doesn’t mean Ryder. My heart slams harder in my chest and my eyes dart around trying to spot him.

“Me, Saul, Knox and Ryder. We had a job just up the road,” Griff replies. I zone out the second he says Ryder’s name. He’s here. The elation I felt minutes ago, has turned to anxiety. I’m not sure how to act around him and I wasn’t prepared to see him when I’m so drunk. Fuck.

Griff takes me by the hand and leads me back into the bar, all the while, sickness bubbles away in my stomach while I repeat the mantra, I must not sleep with a gang leader. I must not sleep with a gang leader . . . again.

We find our friends all together, gathered snuggly around our table. They’re all chatting like long lost friends and I roll my eyes, grabbing hold of Mya who was balanced on the edge of the seat. She yelps but I lead her away from the group before spinning to face her. “What the hell were you thinking inviting bikers on a girls night out?” I hiss.

Mya pouts like I’m overreacting. “I thought it’d be nice to have some male attention.”

I narrow my eyes before waving my hands around the packed-out bar. “And none of these men would do?”

“Not compared to these guys I mean look at them, just their sheer size alone is hot. They walked in, and people actually turned to stare,” she says, her words laced with excitement. “And they sat with us. I felt like a celebrity.” She fans her face with her hand and fake swoons.

“I wish you’d have spoken to me first, I really want to avoid Ryder.”

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