His eyes narrow in disapproval. “Watch your attitude, Emily.”
“This is her fucking house,” Ryder replies, his tone low and threatening.
I jump back in before things escalate. “I’ll come on one condition. Ryder gets to come with me.”
“No!”
“Fine, then I won’t be going.”
He points at me angrily. “You have an obligation to this family. You will not back out now! Do you hear me?”
“You watch your fucking tone with her!” Ryder barks, startling me. I can tell he’s close to losing his patience. Something he already doesn’t have much of when it comes to my father.
“If you want me at that dinner then that’s my condition. I told you Ryder is a part of my life now, and if he isn’t welcome then I won’t go.”
His jaw clenches in rage. “Fine!” he snaps and starts heading for the door. “Make sure you’re there on time, and don’t embarrass us!”
Ryder tenses and starts toward him, but thankfully my father leaves, slamming the door on his way out.
“Jesus, I seriously fucking hate that guy.”
I stand frozen, feeling… I don’t know – tired, sad, angry?
Ryder pulls me against his hard, warm body. I wrap my arms around his waist, and breathe him in, soaking in his comfort. “You okay, Em?”
“I just want this over already.”
He hugs me closer. “I know, baby. Soon, I promise.”
Before I can say anything more there’s another knock at the door. My heart rate spikes thinking it’s my father again. Ryder answers it, and I let out a breath of relief when I see it’s Nick. He walks in and senses the tension. “Hey. Bad time?”
I wave away his concern. “No, not at all. Come in.” I glance at the folder in his hand and realize he’s probably here to do some work with Ryder. “You guys go ahead and do what you need to do. I’m going to go work in my room for a bit.”
I start to walk away but Ryder grabs my wrist, halting my pursuit. “You don’t have to leave, Em.”
I give him a small smile. “I know, but I need to work on some things that I’ve been neglecting.” He watches me uncertainly and I rise up on my tiptoes to give him a quick, reassuring kiss. “I’m good, I promise. Help yourselves to whatever you want.” I walk down the hall with Summer trailing behind me, then close us in my room.
I expel a heavy breath and flop down on my bed, feeling ready for a nap, and I just woke up. Summer jumps up beside me and lays her face next to mine. Smiling, I turn on my side to face her and put my arm over her neck. “You always know when I need ya, huh?” I coo while stroking her soft velvet ears. “I see you like Ryder.” She groans then licks my nose, making me giggle. “Yeah, me too.”
After a few minutes of Summer’s sweet kisses and cuddles, I sit up and pull out my iPad then open my app to practice distinguishing my letters. It isn’t long before I forget my troubles, and get wrapped up into my new world of learning.
Ryder
Nick leaves hours later, and I’m thankful to be done the grueling paperwork. My brain is completely exhausted from going over every scenario for what should be our plan of action. Hopefully Rosa gets that key and we won’t have to wait until the charity dinner. We need to move faster; I got a call from Hector earlier saying Michaels was snooping around, asking questions and making not-so-subtle threats. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before he did. We locked up my cover airtight, but it still makes me fucking nervous.
A heavy dose of rage pumps through me when I think back to Emily’s father’s visit. Fuck, I lose all control when it comes to that guy. I can’t wait to bring him down; not only for these girls, but every other person he’s fucked over, including the years lost between Emily and me. I’ve been kicking myself the last few days for not coming back sooner for her. What I told her was true, I didn’t want to know she was with someone else; it would have ripped me apart. But the other reason, that I didn’t share, was because the more time I was away from her, the more I thought she was better off without me. Hell, I still think I’m not good enough for her, I know I’m not. But now that I have her back there is no fucking way I am letting her go. Not ever.
I’m hoping when all of this is over she will come back to Florida with me. I don’t want to move here – I hate this place. It reminds me too much of where I come from, and it holds nothing but bad memories. Emily is the only good one. Actually, she’s the best thing to ever happen to my pathetic life.
With that thought, I head down the hallway, needing to see her. She only came out of her room once in the last few hours and that was to grab a sandwich. Opening her door softly, I see her sitting up in bed, engrossed in her iPad. Her lips are moving as she stares at the screen. I lean against the door to watch her a moment, my eyes drawn to her long, smooth legs that are showcased by her short, sexy jean shorts. My dick jolts to life at seeing her in my shirt still. Fuck, I wasn’t kidding, she looks sexy as hell in my clothes.
“L,” she whispers, still lost in concentration, before tapping something on the screen. The iPad repeats the letter back to her. “Yes!” she shouts with a smile, fist pumping the air, then leans over and hugs her dog. “That’s five right in a row, girl.”
Something shifts in my chest at her excitement and I smile with her. She sits up then finally notices me, and it scares the living shit out of her. She jumps and lets out a startled scream. “Jesus, Ryder.” She lays her hand over heart. “What the hell are you doing, sneaking up on me?”
I chuckle. “Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Walking over, I lean down and give her a hard kiss before flopping down beside her. “What are you working on?” I grab the iPad from her and look at the screen.
“Just learning some letters and numbers,” she mumbles.
“Want some help?”
She clears her throat nervously. “Ummm…”
I glance back at her to see her looking embarrassed or some shit, which pisses me off. “Stop it, Emily!”
“What?”
“You know what. Stop acting like there’s something to be fucking ashamed of. We’ve been over this.”
She turns her face away but not before I see her vulnerability, which makes me feel like shit. I blow out a frustrated breath, wondering how I can help her without her feeling embarrassed. Suddenly, the perfect idea forms. “Let’s play a game.”
“What kind of game?” she asks suspiciously.
“A fun one.” Her eyes narrow at my suggestive smirk. I grab one of her pillows and lay back at the end of the bed, facing her. “I’m going to quiz you on your letters. If you get any wrong you have to take off an article of clothing.”
She throws her head back and laughs, the sound of it doing strange shit to my chest, but her expression sobers when she realizes I’m not kidding. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah, baby, I’m fucking serious.”
She rolls her eyes. “Well, what do I get if I get it right?”
“Whatever you want.”
She smirks. “Okay, well if I get it right then you have to take your clothes off, too.”
I shrug. “Sounds good to me.” Either way the end result will be the same, but if I have my way she will be completely naked in record time.
“All right,” she agrees with a smile. It’s a smile I should have been suspicious of.
“All right, let’s see.” I look at the screen on the iPad and it doesn’t take me long to figure out the program. For a warm up, I decide to start with one that she knows by showing her an L. She smiles and repeats it back to me. “Good girl.”
I go to pick another one when she interrupts me: “Um, excuse me?”
“What?”
She flicks her hand at me. “Take something off, Jameson.”
I grunt. “That was a practice one, baby.”
She shakes her head. “Uh-uh. Rules are rules. Come on, take it off.”
I smirk. “You want to see me naked that bad, Em?”
She shrugs. “This is your game. I’m just following the rules.” I grunt, not impressed with her sass, then take off my hat. “That’s hardly an article of clothing,” she scoffs.