25. Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter twenty-five
B rennan
I spent the whole day Friday getting ready for today’s cookout so I wouldn’t have to worry about any of it today.
But it didn’t take long this morning for me to realize the problem with that plan.
Now I had an entire day to kill and nothing to do to keep myself from being nervous about meeting Ryder’s friends.
Ryder had to go fix a leaking faucet in a bathroom he’d remodeled not long ago, so I was on my own.
It would have been better if Keegan had been able to come because he could have kept me company, but he already had plans for the weekend.
I thought about going shopping, but I honestly didn’t need anything.
Instead, I decided to make muffins. Not for any particular reason, just because I was nervous, and when I was nervous, I baked.
I was just pulling the muffins out of the oven when the garage door opened.
I smiled. Ryder was home. He came in the entrance to the kitchen, and I turned to greet him, but he stepped back out of my reach.
“Hold on,” he said, raising his hands. “I’m a mess.
I need to hop in the shower before I touch you. ”
I took a good look at him and laughed. “Oh my goodness, what happened. I thought it was a leak in a bathroom sink.”
“Well, that’s what they called me over for, but it turned out it was worse than we thought, and I had to go under the house. And someone”—he gave me a mock glare—“distracted me this morning with kisses, and I forgot to take my coveralls with me.”
“Okay, back out in the garage with you. I want you to strip out of those clothes right by the washer, and I’ll spray them with stain spray and get them in the washer while you shower.” I motioned with my hands for him to move back the way he came. “Go on.”
He chuckled but did what I said. He quickly stripped out of the messy clothes and then dashed naked back into the house. I sprayed his clothing and put them in the washer. Then I set a reminder on my phone to start the washer when he was done in the shower.
Which shouldn’t take him but a second. Or it wouldn’t have if he’d been in the shower. Instead, when I came back into the house, I found him naked in the kitchen, eating a muffin.
“What are you doing?”
“Eating a muffin. I couldn’t help it. They smelled so good.”
“You need to hurry up, or your friends are going to arrive and find you naked in the kitchen.”
“I’ll just give them a muffin, and they'll forget all about the fact that I’m naked.”
“Trust me, my muffins may be tasty, but they aren’t good enough to distract anyone from you standing here naked. Now hurry up.”
He popped the last bite in his mouth. “Okay, okay, I’m going.
” I checked the clock and saw that we had a few more minutes before anyone was due to arrive.
I just hoped Ryder showered fast because I didn’t want to answer the door and greet his friends without him.
I checked the patio to make sure everything looked good and then started setting out the appetizers for everyone.
I’d just pulled out the cake and set it on the kitchen table when Ryder came back in looking cleaned up and super handsome in his blue t-shirt and denim shorts.
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.
“No, I’ve got everything for now. You’ll get your turn when it’s time to fire up the grill.”
He slid up behind me and leaned down near my ear. “So can I get my welcome home hug now that I’m cleaned up?”
I turned to face him and melted into his arms as he wrapped them around me. I let out a contented sigh and laid my head on his shoulder.
“Are you nervous about meeting everyone?” he asked.
“A little.”
“Well, you don’t need to be. And I don’t just say that because they’re my friends, but honestly, these are good guys. They’re going to love you.”
“You think so?”
“I do,” he said at the same time the sound of motorcycles rumbled from outside. “Speaking of which, they’re here.”
“All of them?” I asked. I expected them to come a little at a time, not all at once.
“I don’t know if it was all of them, but it’s for sure more than one.”
He went to the front door, opening it. “Hey guys, come on in,” he called out.
He stepped to the side, and people started streaming in the door.
I recognized Owen from the night Keegan had tried to get me a job at the bar, and the two other men as the two who had been sitting there with Ryder when we first arrived.
I didn't recognize the other two men. I assumed the one with the very pregnant woman was Desi, and then one with the young man at his side was Max.
Ryder turned to me and gave me a reassuring smile, holding out his hand. I walked to him, placing my hand in his. “Everyone, this is Brennan. Brennan, this is Cooper, Lucas, and you’ve met Owen.”
“Hi,” I said.
He turned to his left and said, “This is Max and Travis, and Desi and Angela.”
“Nice to meet you in person,” Desi said, holding out his hand.
I shook it. “Same here.”
“I’ve heard so much about you,” Angela said. “Desi said that things have been running so much smoother ever since you joined them.”
I felt my cheeks heating and cursed my light coloring. “It’s been a pleasure.”
“Okay, come on. Let’s move out of the entrance and to the patio.”
He led everyone into the house and then through my office. “Oh wow, this turned out really good,” Cooper said as standing in the middle of the room.
“It did, didn’t it,” Ryder said. “Cooper helped me get all the furniture and stuff for you that weekend before you started.”
“Well, thank you, Cooper. I couldn’t believe it when he told me this room had been a dining room the day before.”
“Believe it. But he was determined this would be a great space for you, and I can see he was right. This must be a great place to work.”
“It really is,” I agreed.
We’d propped open the doors from the office out onto the patio so people could come in and out, and from outside, I heard someone say, “Holy shit, Ryder, what happened to your patio? It looks like something out of a magazine.”
“That was all Brennan,” he said. “You know if it was me, you’d be lucky to have enough chairs, much less these lights and decorations.”
I grinned at his comment and went to the kitchen to grab a couple of pitchers I’d made with drinks in them.
I knew the guys would mostly just drink beer, but Angela would need something else, so I made some freshly squeezed lemonade.
The other pitcher was sangria which I made for me, but I was happy to share if anyone wanted any.
“Can I help you carry anything?” A voice asked from behind me. I turned to find Travis standing there. “There are some plastic glasses in the cabinet right there if you could grab those.”
“You got it. Is that sangria?”
“It is. You want some?”
“Of course I do. I love sangria.”
“Me, too. This one is just plain lemonade.”
“The patio really does look fantastic, and so does Ryder. I’ve never seen him look so happy.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Good. Now let’s go have a drink.”