Page 8 of Ryder

“Goodnight.”

I get into bed and video call Finn. He answers straight away, and I catch sight of Jenifer moving from the camera view as the call connects.

“Home alone,” I say with a bored sigh. I move my phone around for Finn to see my room.

“Good,” he replies, but before he could disconnect the call, I blurt out the one question I’ve never asked before, mainly because I don’t actually care, but for once, I want to piss him off.

“Are you?”

Finn pauses, his brow furrowing. He’s not used to being questioned, and he hates it, but I am sick to death of him holding all the cards. Maybe if I start being difficult, he’ll back off.

“I don’t have my daughter here, so it doesn’t matter,” he replies carefully. It’s the reason he makes me do this fucked up call every night. He seems to think my duty as her mother, is to not have any life outside of parenthood.

“I didn’t have her at the weekend yet I still had to call. So going by your own rules, means I can stop calling you at a weekend when I don’t have Harlee here.” I’m feeling smug and my expression must show it because he pushes to sit up, looking annoyed as he scowls at me through the screen.

“No, you’re the mother of my child and so you should behave accordingly, with respect,” he snaps.

“I’ve heard that word a lot tonight,” I muse, thoughtfully. “How do you know Ryder?” This will definitely piss him off further but I’m feeling daring.

Finn’s face goes a dark shade of red, the sort of colour he usually goes right before he loses his shit. I almost smile. “How do you know that name?”

“You saw that his brother moved in next door, right? He mentioned that you knew them both.”

“Well ignore him and stay away, they’re bad news. The last woman Ryder fucked, ended up dead.”

Finn disconnects the call, leaving me staring at the blank screen. Ryder killed someone? I snuggle into my bed with that last sentence playing on my mind. It should terrify me into staying away, but actually, I don’t think it does. He’s a complete arse, but that seems to be my type. And the sex . . . fuck the sex is good. I smile to myself. I should completely avoid him. Of course I should. But as I close my eyes, I know our paths will cross again.

Chapter Five

Neve

“I don’t want to go out, I want to watch a movie and enjoy a quiet glass of wine,” I complain as Mya throws a bag containing a new dress, my way. She’s insisting we go out but I know it’ll only cause another argument with Finn and I’m really in no mood. He’s been awful since our conversation about Ryder and every night when I call, he interrogates me to see if I’ve spoken to either of the biker brothers.

As if sensing why I’m so hesitant, Mya fixes me with a glare, “Stop letting him control you. He did that when you were together and now, he’s doing it still. He’s moved on and he expects you to stay home. Where is that woman that stood up to the big bad biker boss last weekend?”

“Ryder can’t use my daughter as a pawn in his games, Finn can, and he does.”

“Only if you let him. Come on Neve, please. Let your hair down and have some fun. It’s just one night.”

I end up agreeing, much to Mya’s delight, and an hour later, we’re in a wine bar waiting for our friends to join us. I drink three shots of Sambuca straight just to gain some confidence for the outfit Mya forced me to wear.

When the girls arrive, Liss greets me with a wide smile and kisses each cheek. “Neve it’s so great to see you out for once.” I’ve known Liss for almost as long as I have Mya. We all went to school together, but once we hit teenage years, Liss and I became enemies after she stole two of my boyfriends. For a while, we all stopped hanging out, but then Mya met Liss again when they both started working for the same firm and she was re-introduced to the group. We laugh about it now, but back then, I really hated her.

“Mya made me come,” I say with a shrug.

“That’s great Neve, so you didn’t actually want to come?” Charleigh asks. She’s the moodier of our group. Also, a single mother like me, only her ex left them high and dry the second he’d discovered Charleigh was pregnant. He doesn’t bother to have contact with her or their son.

“Don’t start Charleigh, of course she wants to be here,” says Mollie, turning to me, “Don’t you Neve?” Mollie is the peacekeeper of the group. She’s quiet and sweet, a thinker, and someone that you can call upon if you need sensible advice.

“No actually I didn’t, I wanted to enjoy a night home in my pyjamas and watch reruns of Sons of Anarchy,” I say, “But, now I’m here with my girls, I’m glad,” I add with a smile.

“Why watch Sons when you could have the real thing?” asks Mya with a raised eyebrow. All the girls turned to me with quizzical expressions. Since Finn, I’ve not shown interest in any man. I just don’t need the drama.

“Thanks for that unhelpful comment, Mya, shall we get more drinks?” I ask, waving to get the barman’s attention.

“Erm, no we should not. What is she talking about?” demands Charleigh.

“Nothing, we met some bikers, nothing to talk about,” I say vaguely. I place an order for two bottles of wine.

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