Page 60 of Forgotten Pieces

We sit in silence for a while, sipping on whiskey, huddled under the blanket, my head on his shoulder. “What about your brother?” I ask. “You said something about him once.”

I feel Ryder twist to look at me. “He’s a good guy. I protected him as much as I could. I felt terrible when I left for the Marines, leaving him behind with my stepdad, but Landon followed in my footsteps. He was only thirteen when I left but he started working out, bulking up like me. It kept my stepdad from hitting him, at least from what he told me.”

“Where is he now?”

“In the Navy. He said it was better than the Marines. He was going to be a better soldier than me.”

I laugh at that, sounds like typical sibling banter. But I prod at Ryder. “Is he?”

Ryder looks at me with shock. “Hell no! He just wants to be. Little shit goofs off all the time. Don’t know how he hasn’t been kicked out. Me though, I am special ops now.”

I grin at him. “Ooo, fancy.”

He laughs and pushes me back. “You wouldn’t think that if you saw me in the field.”

I can’t help but tease him. “I don’t know. You look a little skinny to be a special ops marine. You might need to do a few more pushups.” I joke as I push on his bicep.

“I don’t need to do more pushups to prove anything.” He laughs and I am glad I was able to lift his spirits a little.

“Whatever you say.”

I look back to the lake and then out of nowhere Ryder gets up and peels his shirt off. Holy fuck. He is definitely not like any of the high school boys. I might have been able to tell he was muscular from the way his t-shirts clung to him but without a shirt on he is pure muscle. I am not even sure he has any body fat on him.

He starts doing pushups while my jaw hangs open. I finally close it and push off the rock. I walk over to him and pull on his arm. “Okay, okay. Point made.”

He doesn’t stop though, he just starts doing one arm pushups. I start laughing uncontrollably and he finally stops. He stands up in front of me and my heart starts beating fast. He is all man and he is half naked standing right in front of me.

He grabs my arms and holds them behind my back. “You sure I need to do more pushups,” he teases.

I’m at a loss for words as I breathe him in. He smells like soap and sandalwood, like a real man. My breathing gets more erratic when I realize how close he is to my face. I lick my lips as I stare into his eyes. They keep jumping from my eyes to my lips and that’s when I realize he is breathing as heavy as I am.

But before anything can happen, he lets go of my arms and pulls away. A rush of coldness overtakes my body at the loss.

“We should go,” he says, his tone serious, all playfulness gone.

I blink a few times before agreeing and packing up our stuff.

When we make it to the cars he doesn’t say anything except for see ya around before jumping in his truck and driving away.

What the hell just happened?

Chapter Nineteen

Tacoma

I am not a morning person. At all. I would rather have my limbs eaten by piranhas than get up early. But for the past week I have been getting my ass out of bed before the sun gets too hot to sit by my window and watch Ryder run by. Every morning he is there like clockwork. It’s the only time I allow myself to drool over him.

I’ve talked to him on the phone every night, letting him talk about whatever is on his mind. I don’t know if it’s helping at all but every day he sounds a bit more like the Ryder I knew and less like the one with ghosts haunting him. I am happy to be his friend if it gives me some way of being in his life.

It’s Saturday night and a band is playing so I am swamped at the bar. I swear everyone who lives in this county is here tonight. I don’t blame them, the band is phenomenal. But it’s only Trace and I working so I am running around like a crazy person jumping back and forth from the bar to the tables.

Mac and Ryder are here tonight and I try to steal glances every chance I get. Something seems off with him. I want to ask but there are too many prying eyes. Half the Sergeants are here, Ivy and her big mouth, as well as my brother. If I spend too much time talking to Ryder, rumors will start spreading. Hopefully he stays later tonight than most people here so I can find out what’s bothering him.

By the time eleven o’clock hits I am ready to kick everyone out and go to bed. My feet are killing me, my shirt is covered in about every type of alcohol imaginable, and my stomach is growling because I haven’t had any time to eat. The band finished about thirty minutes ago and most of the crowd left, my brother included. Mac is looking toasted and Laney is sitting on his lap. So much for that being over. Ivy is next to Trace shamelessly flirting with her husband. I am pretty sure Trace is two seconds away from dragging her into the office.

I wipe down the bar and check on every customer before I collapse into the chair in the corner behind the bar and shove a piece of pizza into my mouth. I moan at the taste, cold pizza has never tasted so good. I eat half the slice before I see someone waving me down at the opposite end of the bar. I look for Trace but don’t see him or Ivy.

“Goddamnit, Dick Tracey. Always thinking with your dick,” I grunt as I stand on my tired feet and walk to the end of the bar. I grab the customer a drink and their tab then make my way down to Laney, Mac, and Ryder.

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