30. Ryker
30
Ryker
J esus, could she be any more vapid? I put on a smile for all our clients, because it’s good for business, but I have no idea what Amber is even talking about and I’d really like her to remove her arm from my bicep. She’s been trying to get in my pants for the last year, and I’ve never taken her up on her offer for various reasons. Mainly because she’s as shallow as they come, but she’s also not particularly my type.
If you’d asked me six months ago what my type was, I might have told you it was tall, slim, and leggy. Now, I’d say short and thick, blonde, big green eyes. The thought causes me to search the room for her as I pull my arm away from Amber before she gets the wrong impression. When I find her, her back is to me and her blonde waves cascade down her shoulders. A surge of pride fills my heart as I watch her work. I had a feeling she’d do well with our clients and the other servers already love her. They’ve told me as much, every chance they get.
I’ve spent the remainder of her shift watching her dance about the room, making conversations with guests, laughing. Doing her job. I almost forgot I have my own work to do, when I look at my watch and see it’s almost midnight. Most nights, we have two shifts to split the time, while allowing double the staff at our busiest time. It also means that everyone doesn’t have to open and close every time they work. Less burnout and the girls haven’t complained that they aren’t making enough money, so it’s working.
I, thankfully, make quick work of office duties and head downstairs to find my girl, so we can go home. When I don’t see Arabella anywhere, I look to Roxie.
“Have you seen Arabella, Rox?”
“No, Boss. She was cleaning her section, but I haven’t seen her in about twenty minutes. Maybe she went to the ladies room. Someone brought her tray over because she left it at a table. Remind me to spank her for that later,” she rambles. The only one spanking her will be me.
Where the fuck is she? I wait another ten minutes and decide to send someone into the women's restroom but she’s not there either.
Panic starts to rise in my chest as fear takes over. I take the stairs up to the offices, two at a time. I need to check the security cameras. Hopefully, our new computer guy is in there, because I know fuck all about any of it.
The door swings open and all I see is the back of his head as he watches a wall full of screens.
“Hey,” I greet him. “I need you to find someone for me on the feeds.”
He turns around and I almost fall on my ass. I haven’t seen him in years.
“Axel? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Ryker,” he smirks. “How is it that you own half of Gravity and you’re still so oblivious?”
He has a point. I don’t keep up with day to day hirings, but I should have paid more attention to who Hayes hired to run our very high level security. The person who holds the position is basically number three in the chain of command. It's my own fault for being so–distracted lately.
I choose to ignore his obvious attempt to get a rise out of me. “I need you to check the feed for your sister. She’s missing and was seen about thirty minutes ago in section three, right over there.” I point to the far right screen.
He stares at me for a beat, clearly processing the information. “What the bloody hell is my sister doing working here and why are you looking for her?”
“She needed a job and I gave her one. Just fucking find her,” I order, intentionally trying to avoid his line of questioning that could lead somewhere I’m not quite ready to go just yet. Right now I just want to find her.
He eyes me warily but turns around and starts clicking away on his keyboard. Mere seconds pass before he’s found her. Jesus Christ, he really is fast. “Do I even want to know how you learned all this?”
“Real talk, Ryker? You dated my mother for a minute. You’re not my father, so fuck off and mind your own business,” his expression is flat and brokers no room for discussion. Alright then.
“Understood,” I nod. “Roll the tape from where you found her.”
“Please, Axel, can you roll the tape?” He mocks. “Sure thing, Ryker. Since you asked so nicely.”
Oh my god. I don't remember him being quite so snarky. “Please, Axel, can you roll the tape?” I repeat through gritted teeth.
He points to the screen in front of him on the bottom row. “There she is.”
I watch my girl on the screen, fucking sneaking out the employee entrance with another server. And she has all of her stuff in tow, staring off in the direction of the bar. Fuck.
I’ve searched everywhere and I’m at my wits end. I tried calling her several times and left at least half a dozen embarrassingly frantic voicemails. I don’t know if I’m more worried or pissed off that she ran, but ultimately I’d just like to know why she didn’t talk to me first.
I’m sitting in my car, with my window down, staring into space when it hits me that there’s one more place I haven’t looked. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.
I pull up to her apartment ten minutes later. Looking up, I see a light shining in the window. She’s here. And now I’m seriously considering that tracker again.
It takes me all of twenty seconds to get to her door. “Arabella Olivia Bradley, you better open this fucking door or I swear to god I will kick it the fuck down.” I really don’t give a flying fuck about the door. I’ll replace it if I have to.
I hear footsteps on the other side of the door, followed by the unlatching of the deadbolt. She pulls the door open and stands there looking up at me with wide eyes.
“You sounded like the big bad wolf just then.” Does she think this is a fucking joke? And why is she answering the door wearing next to nothing?
My blood starts to boil in as it starts pumping harder and faster, then my breathing becomes ragged.
“You fucking left,” I huff. “Why?”
“I did,” she frowns. “Ryker, I saw her touching you and it made me realize that lines are starting to blur. I’m starting to develop feelings and I need to protect myself–protect my heart. I knew what I signed up for, that this was just an arrangement we made so I could learn, but seeing her hands all over you. I’m nothing like her. I’ll never look like that, no matter how hard I try and I don’t want to be what keeps you from having who you really want.”
I step forward until I’m fully in her apartment and I’ve backed her up to the arm of her couch that sits square in the middle of the room. I slam the door behind me and lock it for good measure.
Reaching out, I snake my arm around her, grab a fistful of her soft curls and tug her head back until she’s forced to look me in the eyes. Her pupils dilate and I can feel the last ounce of my restraint slipping away.
Leaning forward until my lips brush her ear, I nip her earlobe gently and tell her, “Sweet girl, don’t you know? All I see is you.”
She shakes her head slowly and I can tell her brain isn’t fully processing what’s happening or what’s about to happen.
“Then you haven’t been fucking paying attention.”
And then I slam my lips to hers, claiming her like it’s the last thing I’ll ever get to do.