Page 45 of Ryder

“Well . . . I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” He hesitated, and I had no idea what he was gonna bring up. Was him calling me Mommy his subtle way of telling me he wanted to have a baby? Because I was nowhere ready for something like that. Besides, we were still working on our relationship, and some days it was really hard. I tried to move off his lap but he held me in place.

“Stop freakin’ out, babe. You have no idea what I want, so stop overthinking it.” The bastard smiled as I continued to try and stand up. But it was useless. He was too strong and if he didn’t want me going anywhere, I simply wasn’t moving.

“What did you want to talk about?”If he says “baby” I’m gonna throw myself backward and hope Brutus moves out of the way in time.

“I think you should move in with me. You’re here all the time anyway.” He shrugged. “It just makes sense.”

The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Oh, so you don’t want a baby?” Closing my eyes briefly, I could’ve kicked myself.

“What?” He laughed, making the entire scene much more humiliating. “What made you think I wanted a kid?” He continued to chuckle while loosening his grip on me, so I seized the opportunity and swung my leg over his so I could finally plant my feet on the ground. “Hey,” he rumbled, “where do you think you’re goin’? We’re not done talkin’.”

“Then stop laughing at me,” I snapped, unexpectedly irritated with the turn of our conversation. Brutus barked behind me, sticking his nose into our business, and I found myself outnumbered all of a sudden.

I had no time to escape before Ryder hopped off the couch and grabbed my hand. “I’m not laughing at you,” he snickered.

“You still are,” I pointed out.

He finally composed himself. “Let’s try this again. What made you think I wanted a kid?”

“Because you called me Mommy.” Even saying the word made me feel somewhat awkward.

“I said that in reference to Brutus. I wasn’t even thinkin’ about it when I said it.” He crowded my personal space. “It just fit. Besides, I think he likes you better than me.” He looked down at the puppy and feigned annoyance.

“No, he doesn’t.” The words weren’t even fully out of my mouth before Brutus grabbed hold of the bottom of the sheet and tugged. I hadn’t been expecting it, and before I could gather the material to my body, he ran off with it, leaving me completely naked.

“You’re right. He just might like me better after all.”

Braylen

Sitting on my couch, I became antsy waiting for Kena to come home. Flipping through the channels, I couldn’t settle on any one show. Reality, comedy, drama . . . nothing. Even aLaw & Orderepisode did nothing to hold my attention because my mind was elsewhere.

Looking down at my phone, I saw I didn’t have any new messages. I’d texted my sister earlier and told her I had something I wanted to discuss, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later. After convincing her that it wasn’t anything terrible, she agreed to stop by the house and talk to me before she met up with Jagger. He had a fight later that evening, but I wasn’t going. Between late nights with Ryder and working crazy hours at the salon, I was utterly exhausted. And being boxed in at an overly crowded, loud and smelly room was the last place I wanted to spend my evening. Thankfully the next day was Sunday and I didn’t have work, so I could rest as much as I needed to.

Finally, at half past six in the evening, Kena strolled through the door, but Jagger and Ryder were hot on her heels.

They showed up outside,she signed.I can kick them out if you want. She smiled, but I knew she was serious. Kena would have no reservations about telling the guys to step back outside until we finished our conversation.

My sister looked tired, much how I felt, although she still had a rosy glow to her. Her dark hair was styled in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing her typical work attire, jeans and a T-shirt. Kena always looked nice, even wearing something so simple. Then again, there was no need for her to get all dressed up, because her job was taking care of the finances at our family’s restaurant. Her office was in the back of the building, so it wasn’t like she socialized a lot, not unless my parents were desperate for her to fill in for the waitstaff due to call offs.

Most of the customers were regulars so they were aware of her challenge, as we liked to refer to it. Disability or handicap didn’t fit, because nothing held my sister back from living a full life. Not since Jagger, anyway.

I was happy she had someone, and although he was a bit questionable in the beginning and hadn’t always earned my approval, he turned out to be a great guy. Loyal, fierce and protective.

Not that my disapproval would change Kena’s mind—she was head over heels for him, and he returned her love tenfold—but having her sister on board just made it easier.

“Why you gonna kick me out?” Jagger teased, pulling his woman in for a kiss as if they were the only ones in the room. “I didn’t do anything wrong.” He gave her two more pecks before releasing her, his eyes following her every movement. Then he finally looked my way and gave me a wink. “Are you kicking me out?”

“Who’s getting kicked out?” Ryder asked, moving to stand next to me.

“No one’s getting kicked out,” I rebuffed, my voice lower than normal. It appeared my energy was draining with each passing second.

“Are you okay? You look tired.” Ryder focused all his attention on me and completely forgot about the possibility of being asked to leave.

“I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh,” he grunted.

Deciding to ignore his grunted response because I had other pressing matters to attend to, I said, “You guys stay here while Kena and I talk.”

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