Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
JONES
“Clay’s been glowering at them the entire time,” Sam said with a snicker. One of my twin cousins had her back to the wall and was currently laughing at something Dan had said to her. As Sam said, Clay was sitting at a table not too far from them, glaring daggers their way.
The six of us migrated closer to watch the show. We crowded around one of the food tables to make it not so obvious that we were watching. The benefit was that I was able to snack on all the good food along with the entertainment.
“Do you think Clay’s teenage crush on the twins is still alive? Is that why he looks like he’s about to storm over there and punch Dan in the face?” Ryker commented.
“He’d better not. If they start a fight, they’re banned from all future cookouts,” I muttered over a bite of grilled chicken. Papa really was the master of the grill.
“So I hear you moved to town recently,” Ryker asked, glancing at Ryan.
I shot him a look, begging him to play nice. Sam was all smiles, so I couldn’t use him to gauge his fiancé’s mood.
Ryan nodded. “Yeah. My daughter and I moved here a few weeks ago. I was hoping to have found a place of our own sooner than this, but for now, we’re still at my grandma’s.”
“The rental market around here has been brutal recently, isn’t that right?” Sam chimed in. Ryker smiled happily as they told Ryan about how trying to rent an apartment led them to pretend to be engaged, which, in turn, led to them falling in love and getting engaged for real.
They were all laughing by the time the story was over.
Ryker glanced at me, which shot a bolt of worry through me, because it looked like he was definitely about to do something, but this was Ryker.
He’d always had my back and had been nice to Deke despite hating his guts, all because I’d asked him to.
He probably wouldn’t do anything to Ryan… right?
“If you want, uh…” Ryker cleared his throat, and with an encouraging look from Sam, he continued, “We have a weekly brunch at Hector’s on Sundays. You could, um, bring your daughter and join us if you’re free. ”
Ryan looked surprised as I felt at the invitation. I’d asked them to be cordial toward him, but their inviting him out was a pleasant surprise. Ryan glanced at me, and I nodded. I would love to be out in town more with them.
“You’d want me to join you guys with my kid?” Ryan askedincredulously.
Sam shrugged. “Sure, if she wants to come. My sister joins us with my nephew sometimes.”
Ryker, Jordan, and Wren nodded. My brother and his boyfriend hadn’t come to the last couple of brunches since they were out of town for Wren’s vlog, but they did join occasionally.
Ryan glanced at me again. I reached for his hand because it looked like he really needed some grounding at that moment. I loved how the tension seemed to melt off of him at my touch.
“Only if you want to,” I told him. I would love to have him around my friends, but I didn’t want to pressure him either.
He nodded. “Thank you. I’ll talk to my daughter first and see if she’s up for it.”
I caught Ryker’s eye and mouthed a thank you for making the effort of trying to include Ryan. He patted me on the back.
I really had the best friends…and as soon as I thought that, Sam muttered an “Uh-oh.” Clay had stood from his seat and was striding toward Dan and my cousin .
“Aww, fuck,” I muttered, and our group abandoned our food to hightail it over there before a fought broke out.
“What did you think of today?” I asked Karla later that evening. We were sitting on the rocking chairs on the porch, watching the sunset.
Karla refused to sit on either of our laps and opted to lie on the patio floor with Lily. I should build them a wide chair that they could both share for the nights we enjoyed the sunset together.
I reached for Ryan’s fingers. He smiled at me and settled our hands on his lap. This was exactly what I imagined when I first bought these chairs. These slow, intimate evenings with people I cared about, enjoying the final moments of the day with me.
I never thought the people who would fulfill my dream would be the first person I loved and thought I could never have, a little girl, and a dog I now couldn’t imagine my life without.
Would it be selfish to hope to keep them all forever?
Karla was gently petting Lily’s stomach. It was one of her favorite things to do recently, and the future mama was very indulgent with her. I smiled at the idea that Lily might think Karla was one of her pups.
Karla’s fingers mindlessly weaved through Lily’s belly fur. I thought she wasn’t going to answer my question, which I understood. But then she tilted her head our way and shot us a toothy grin as she exclaimed, “It was fun!”
An ‘ Oh ’ slipped from Ryan’s lips, and I knew he was trying not to make a big deal out of it, but the tight grip on my hand told me he wasn’t as unaffected as he seemed.
It was the first sentence I’d heard Karla string together, and based on Ryan’s reaction, he hadn’t heard her speak in sentences in a while, either.
I laughed and slipped off the rocking chair and pulled Ryan with me to lay with the ladies. Lily wagged her tail at our sudden movement, and Karla giggled. We maneuvered until she was in between Ryan and me, and Lily lying by our legs.
“Would you want to play with Imani again? I think she’d like that,” I asked.
Karla drilled into the space between Ryan and me, snuggling closer, then laughed and nodded. It wasn’t a verbal reply, but we were making progress, nevertheless.
Ryan caught my eye and mouthed his thanks. I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled the two of them close as our laughter welcomed the last of the sun’s rays for the night.
I didn’t think the day could get any more perfect…that was until I walked into my bedroom after washing up later that night and found a very naked Ryan lying in my bed with nothing but the white sheet covering his most intimate part .
“Fuck, did I just walk into heaven?” I murmured and strode toward him.
Ryan chuckled and grabbed me as soon as I was within arm’s reach. I toppled on top of him. Our lips crashed, tongues tangled, and his already-hard cock promised me a good time.
He made quick work of getting my clothes off and threw them somewhere on the floor. I sat up, my legs thrown over his lap, and my hands roamed his smooth chest.
Ryan smothered every inch of skin he could reach with kisses that had me feeling breathless by the time he was done.
“Karla’s been sleeping through the night more,” he pressed the words into my skin.
“Mm-hmm.”
“I was thinking…maybe we could try anal today?” He punctured the question by squeezing my ass cheeks.
“Fuck, yes,” I breathed in reply. Aside from the quick hand jobs we snuck in during the rare times Karla wasn’t stuck to Ryan’s side, we hadn’t progressed further. We hadn’t discussed positions or our preferences, but if Ryan wanted my ass, I wasn’t going to say no.
“I…I want to make this good for you,” he said, voice shaky, probably with nerves.
I bent over and kissed him again. My cock rising at the taste of him and in anticipation of what was to come .
“You just being you already makes this perfect for me,” I whispered.
An adorably shy smile graced his lips, and I couldn’t help myself from taking another taste. The kiss turned heated. His hands stroked down my back, flames igniting under my skin from wherever he touched. They landed on my ass cheeks again.
“But still…you’ve done so much for me, so I want to do something for you, too. I’ve, uh, I’ve been doing research,” he murmured, still looking adorably shy.
“Is this your first time doing anal?” I asked.
He’d told me he’d had some casual flings with guys before, and even if I had to press down the ugly flare of jealousy, I was happy he was able to explore that part of his sexuality.
I just assumed those flings had included having butt sex, but seeing his reaction now, maybe I was wrong?
“What? No! I’ve done anal before…” he firmly stated. “It’s the other thing I’m new at.”
“What are you talking about, Ryan?” I asked, thoroughly confused now.
He mumbled some words that I didn’t quite catch, then guided me off his lap and stood. “Here, I’ll show you,” he said over his shoulder, then padded to his duffel bag.
I flipped onto my back and propped myself up with pillows to watch his very fine naked form walk away. What was that saying, hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave ? Oh, yeah. I completely agreed .
“I, um, had to get creative , but what I read online said this could work. Don’t worry! I made sure to clean and disinfect it thoroughly before sneaking it over,” he said, sounding more sure of himself now.
“What are you—whoa! Why are you bringing that out?” I half-asked, half-shouted when I saw what he pulled from his bag. The item in question was a wooden spoon. A fucking wooden spoon. I probably had the exact same one in one of the drawers in my kitchen.
Ryan used one hand to grip the handle of the wooden spoon and lightly smacked the spoon end onto his open palm. I wasn’t proud of the squeak that came out of me at the sight.
“What are you, uh, planning to do with that?” I stammered out.
He tilted his head the same way Karla would. Even the cuteness of the action couldn’t quell my loudly pounding heart at watching him continue whacking the spoon onto his palm.
“I thought we could make do with this tonight, but I can order a proper whip if you want? I’ll have to use this place as the shipping address though, if that’s okay,” he replied, sounding entirely too earnest for this to be a joke.
“ Why would I want a whip ?” The question came out more of a squeak than anything else.
Ryan’s brows furrowed. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I get it wrong? Is being tied up more your thing? Or maybe heat play? I’ve mostly researched spanking, but I can look into other things.”
“Wait, wait. Slow down, Ryan. Where is this all coming from?”
“I told you. I want to make it good for you. And while I don’t think inflicting pain is my thing, I’m willing to try it out. For you,” he replied, blue eyes a little worried but also firm, which made me believe he really meant it.
I held my forehead, still confused why he was suddenly bringing up spanking and being tied up and me liking pain? Where the hell did that come from?
A faint memory wiggled toward the front of my brain. It felt like something that had happened so long ago, long before Ryan and I had established these cozy nights together.
Ryker had confronted me at Hector’s, worried that seeing Ryan again would break my heart. I think I remember him saying something about me being a masochist, and…oh no.
“Wait, hold up!” I exclaimed, rubbing my suddenly throbbing head. “Why do you think I like pain?”
Ryan strode to the bed and placed the wooden spoon at the foot of it—far from me, thankfully.
“It’s okay. You know I wouldn’t judge you for that.
I might not be able to give you what you need, but I’ll try my best,” Ryan said soothingly and took my hand.
I would have been touched if not for the absolute ridiculousness of the situation .
Fucking small towns and their rumor mills…
“Ryan, my dear Ryan,” I said and rubbed the back of his hand with mine. “I need you to be honest with me. Do you…do you think I’m a masochist?”
“Are you not?” he asked, eyes wide with obvious surprise at the question.
I couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. I laughed so hard I could barely keep my upper body straight, falling into Ryan’s arms with my forehead rested on his shoulder.
He caught me. His hand frantically stroking my back again as he murmured, “It’s okay if you are. I’ll do my best to meet your needs.”
God, I fucking loved this man.
I laughed and kissed him hard. I pushed him down until his back was flat on the bed, and I was on top again.
“I’m not a masochist. Pain is definitely not my thing,” I said when I pulled back from the kiss.
“You’re not?” Ryan asked, looking a little dazed and a whole lot kiss drunk.
He seemed to have snapped out of it when I shook my head.
“Does that mean you’re not a bottom either?
Sorry, I just assumed that since you were a masochist, then you liked receiving…
which thinking about it now, I guess is pretty stupid.
You could be a masochist and want to top…
I’m not saying that you are a masochist, but I mean all the other ones out there.
” He waved in the air like these hypothetical masochists would suddenly appear .
The last of my willpower broke, and the laughter started again. I laughed so hard I rolled to my side.
“Shh, you’re going to wake up the girls!” he hissed. I tried to quiet down, but seeing Ryan all shocked but also panicked like that made the tickle in my chest even worse.
Next thing I knew, a “Daddy?” so soft I barely heard it through the closed door had me shutting up. Ryan jumped from the bed faster than I could catch my breath.
“I’m here, baby!” he called as he grabbed clothes from the floor— my clothes that’d been tossed aside earlier.
Fuck, he looked good in my pants. His trim waist had them hanging loose on his hips, which had me wanting nothing more than to drag him back to bed and worship him while he wore my PJ pants. I held back, knowing that Karla was so much more important than my lust-filled needs.
“This conversation isn’t over!” I called to Ryan’s retreating back. He waved a hand in reply, not even looking back as he went to find his little girl.
I flopped onto the bed, wondering if I was going to have to sleep alone tonight. I was really starting to hate how large my bed was. A few minutes later, Ryan poked his head into the room again.
I propped myself up on my elbows to look at him. “She okay? ”
“Yeah, woke up ’cause she was thirsty. She’s asking if we can sleep together tonight.”
I nodded, fully aware she was gonna want her daddy tonight. “Come give me a goodnight kiss before you go?”
Ryan crossed his arms with a twitch of his lips. “C’mon, our girl’s waiting for us.”
It took me a minute to process his words, but when I did, I shot up and hopped off the bed. Ryan’s eyes roamed down and lingered on my soft dick swaying between my legs. “No time for that! Our baby girl’s waiting!” I exclaimed and ruffled through my drawers for some clothes to make myself decent.
I’d never been happier to be cockblocked before.