Page 6 of Crewe
Chapter Five
Ry walked back toward her car, pleased with the shots she’d taken. She’d wanted to get some photos of wildlife. She’d visited Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve to take some shots of buffalo, and some friends had suggested an area where deer were plentiful. She traveled the state and also took some photos of the sun setting at Mushroom Rock State Park. She’d visited Botanica in Wichita to take some close-ups of their flowersand plants and a small farm on the outskirts of Wichita to get shots of their field of sunflowers.
She had some amazing shots of a deer and a fawn stopping at the water to drink. She was excited to start working on these and figuring out which ones she’d offer for sale this year. Quinton had given them a three-bedroom apartment, so she had plenty of room in her bedroom for a desk and her computer equipment.
Her mom and dad were back, so the kids were enjoying time with them. She loved nature photography, but for some reason this time, she wished she weren’t alone. She didn’t want her kids with her, but maybe if things were different, she could have her boyfriend or husband with her.
Unfortunately, the only man who attracted her was one of her bosses. She knew certain people might have no problem mixing business with pleasure, but she couldn’t chance losing what she’d gained.
Dancing with Gunner a while back had been fun but had brought home that she was onlyattracted to one man. Did she want him enough to chance losing the only job she’d ever enjoyed?
After her previous men in her life, she was a little gun-shy. Even though every Nelson man seemed like a dream with their kind, caring attitudes. Well, until someone got a little handsy, then the sign on the wall got reset to zero, and they booted another asshole from the bar. She’d gotten to see Quinton, Hennessy, and Whiskey all boot people from the bar, but she’d really like to see if Crewe was as strong as he looked.
With all the romance books she read, she dreamed of being picked up and had against a wall. But romance books didn’t happen to women like her in real life. She was in her forties and definitely not a Skinny Minnie. She’d earned these curves by carrying her babies. Well, they weren’t babies anymore. It seemed like they’d been babies just yesterday, but Freya and Wyatt would turn nine this fall. She loved her kids, but she was enjoying this little slice of time away from them this weekend.
She was going to return to the hotel, take a bubble bath, and order a nice filet mignon, medium rare to medium, with a baked potato. She didn’t have to cook or even decide what to cook. Maybe she’d watch a movie, dive into a new book, or read one of her favorites from Sue Grafton, Agatha Christie, Nora Roberts, or Janet Evanovich.
She chuckled to herself, thinking of Crewe right after she’d started working. Hennessy had immediately become the big brother she’d never had because she was an only child.
Crewe had taken to teasing her, and instead of calling her Ryanne, he’d pronounced it Ryan, then acted like he didn’t understand her when she explained her name. It had taken her three days of his teasing to figure out he was teasing and not dense. When she’d told him that, his face had been priceless. Of course, that was when he was dating that witch who talked badly about Vivi when Crewe wasn’t around. Ry didn’t hold with women who tore other women down at all. She’d pressed the intercom button to the apartment when the woman was saying stuff. Crewehad come back from downstairs and immediately dumped the woman. Ry had been quite pleased to see the back of that woman.
Ry drove back to her hotel, the route a blur. She’d fallen in love with all the Nelson crew, and she didn’t see herself taking the chance on love when her track record was abysmal.
Chapter Six
Crewe smacked his dry lips together. Oh Lord, his stomach was roiling, and his head was pounding. What the heck had he done last night?
Pounding from outside the room had woken him. He cracked an eye open and found the base of his toilet in his face. Why was he lying on his bathroom floor?
“Crewe, Crewe, where are you?” Freya’s sweet voicecalled.
He tried to remember what he’d done, and flashes came back to him. His tongue was fuzzy, and he smelled. He remembered trying to forget Ryanne with copious amounts of Jack and cola.
He slowly eased upright, testing how his stomach handled it.
“Crewe,” Wyatt’s voice called through the door.
“I’m in the bathroom. Give me a sec,” he called, though raising his voice made the pounding in his head increase.
“Are you pooping? Cuz we want you to come with us, but if you’re pooping, we’ll wait,” Freya called.
He wasn’t pooping, but he was hoping not to throw up.
“Why don’t you go out to the kitchen? I made cookies yesterday. I’ll be out in a minute,” he said, standing up and seeing himself in the mirror, hair sticking up, and was that puke on his cheek?
Feet running away gave him the privacy he needed as nausea overwhelmed him. He turned toward the toilet and puked until it felt as if he was pukingup his guts. He cringed at the smell of the liquor coming back up.
He finished and flushed the toilet. He checked for his phone and found it sitting by a bottle of water on the edge of the sink. He texted his cousins in the group text to please hang with the kids while he showered.
He started to roll his eyes at the replies, then stopped because it hurt his head too much. He flipped on the shower to hot and stripped off his sweaty, puke-smelling clothes. He sniffed his armpits and recoiled at the sour smell of liquor and sweat.
He stepped under the hot water, washing away the stench and hoping that a couple of ibuprofen and water would make him feel halfway human. He didn’t want to disappoint the twins.
The door to his bathroom opened. He quickly turned away just in case it was the kids.
“Relax, it’s me. Here’s a cup of coffee, a cold bottle of water, and some pain pills for your headache. Dad said he can give you twentyminutes before he and the kids leave without you,” Gaines said.
“Did you guys put me in the bathroom?” Crewe asked.
