Page 22 of Reignite Me

“No buts. Let’s get you cleaned up, I wasn’t lying about dinner. And I don’t think our parents would appreciate us showing up with the lingering scent of sex covering us.” Ryker heads to the bathroom, grabbing a wet washcloth and cleaning my back from the wax and in between my legs, evening though there isn’t much evidence of what happened.

“Oh, before I forget, you need to wear this to dinner. No arguments.” He holds up a small vibrator. Oh, he’s so full of fucking jokes. But I don’t fight him. I just grab the toy and head to the bathroom to change. There’s no way I’m surviving tonight.

ELEVEN

RYKER

After dropping Thea off at home, I go back to the club, locking myself in my office to work on some paperwork. I’m reading over reviews from the grand opening when a knock breaks my concentration.

Without permission, they just barge in, and I lift my gaze to find Jenny standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips, lips pursed.

“Jenny, what’re you doing here?” I ask, my brows pinching together in confusion. I haven’t seen her since last night after I yelled at her. If she’s looking for an apology, she came to the wrong place. I’m not sorry for what I said to her, though I could’ve used a softer tone. But that’s the past.

She stares at me while playing with the belt tied at her waist, and before I know what’s happening, she’s pulling it off, allowing her dress to fall open. She lets it fall to the ground so she’s standing in her bra and panties.

“Jenny! What the actual fuck?”I scream as I avert my gaze from her body.

“Come on, Rykie! You spent one night with that floozy. It’s time to get over her. She’s not right for you—she’ll only hold you back in the end,” Jenny tries to reason with me.

Her description of Thea sends my blood boiling. I turn my attention back to my computer screen, trying to focus on the alcohol order, but from the corner of my eye, I see her walking towards my desk. But she doesn’t stop. Instead, she makes her way around the desk on the other side of me, plopping her ass onto the wooden top.

My eyes wander the order mindlessly, everything in me wishing she would get the fucking hint. A hand lands on my shoulder and trails down to rest on my chest. The feeling of Jenny pressed to my back causes me to tense up.

Her mouth is close to my ear when she whispers, “I thought about you while I played with myself last night. I hope you pictured me when you fucked that whore.”

My vision blurs as the subtle anger I’d started to feel turns to full-on fury. I push the chair back hard enough that Jenny releases me and falls backward onto the desk, an obnoxious squeal leaving her in surprise. Standing from the chair, I lean over her, glaring down at her before saying, “Jenny, I fucking told you last night that there’s nothing between us. We had a one-night stand. That was it. Now, you listen and you listen good. Thea isn’t the whore in this situation. You are. You should also be careful on how you speak of Thea, since she’s Nick’s sister. And I don’t think you’d want him to hear what you just said about his sister.”

“Fuck, Ryker. Angry looks sexy on you. It’s making me so wet,” Jenny whispers seductively. Her hand lands on my chest once again then trails down to my waist, pulling at my belt.

I wrap my hand around her wrist, stopping her just as my office door swings open. My head snaps up to find Nick and Thea standing there. The silence that looms over the room is heavy as I try to come up with an explanation for what’s happening.

My gaze bounces from Nick to Thea, trying to convey with a look that it’s not what it looks like, but I should’ve known better.

Thea is the first to break the silence. Her voice cracks as tears sparkle in those gorgeous hazel eyes. “Ryker…what’s going on?”

“He chose me over you, sweetheart. You had one great night, but that’s all it was. He told me that there’s no one for him but me. So, why don’t you just scurry along,” Jenny says. Her condescending tone has me stepping away from her, forcing her hand to drop from my belt.

I round the desk towards Thea, taking a gentle hold of her wrist. “Thea, it’s not what it looks like. I was trying to get Jenny out of here. I know it’s hard to believe that, but that’s what’s going on. Nothing else. She came in here, stripped…”

My words are cut off by Nick, who puts an arm back around to pull her against him protectively. “Stay back, Ryk. Thea, head back to the car. I’ll be there shortly.” Nick’s voice is clipped while his features don’t give anything away.

Thea’s expression is pure pain, hurt, and sadness as she shrinks behind Nick. She used to do that when I would get into fist fights at school, fear and pain plastered over her features.

“I trusted you,” Thea whispers, the tears finally falling down her cheeks.

My heart drops as tears start to sting the backs of my eyes. Fuck, I should’ve gone to get security the moment Jenny stepped foot into my office. Everything in me wants to reach out and wipe them away, but I know better. She turns away from us and runs towards the bar.

“Jenny, get fucking dressed and get your ass out of here. Ryker and I need to have a chat,” Nick demands, not even breaking eye contact with me.

Without looking back, I know Jenny is doing as she was told. She brushes past us, but not before saying, “Call me later, Rykie. I’ll help you clean up.”

Nick enunciates every word to get his point across. “Jenny. Out. Now.” Once she is out of sight, Nick finally makes his way fully inside the office, slamming the door shut behind him. I watch as he rolls up his sleeves, and that’s when I notice that he’s dressed nicely. Oh shit. Dinner with our parents.

“You have thirty seconds to tell me what the fuck was happening before I bust your teeth in,” Nick states.

“Nick, please understand it’s not what it looked like. I was trying to do some work before dinner, and she just came in, stripped, and tried to talk me out of being with Thea.”

Nick scoffs, “Oh, sure. She would have succeeded had we not shown up.”