46. Evan
EVAN
My phone buzzed as the guys and I sat watching TV. I stared at the screen and saw Ryder’s name.
“Hey, man. Everything OK?” I asked, answering it.
Anson turned the TV down and looked at me, concern on his face. We’d been waiting for Rosalie to call tonight, but she hadn’t. Klaus said he thought Ryder was going to finally talk to her, so we didn’t panic.
Much.
“Yeah. Uh, can we talk? On speaker?” Ryder said, sounding nervous.
I put him on speaker.
“Go,” I said as Klaus and Anson both sat forward.
“So I told Rosalie,” Ryder said, his voice shaking.
Anson’s brows lifted, and he looked at me.
“How’d it go?” Anson asked as I sat with my breath held. I really wanted this to work out for Ro and Ryder.
“Uh, well…Shit.”
I glanced at the guys. Klaus was frowning, and Anson looked concerned.
“You’re killing us. What happened?” I demanded.
“We were making dinner. I danced with her. Uh… then I just kissed her. She didn’t kiss me back, and I was fighting for my life for a hot minute.”
Anson let out a breath, sadness crossing his face. My heart dropped, and Klaus hung his head.
“She asked me if I kissed her. I said if she wasn’t sure, I’d do it again, so I did. She…. She kissed me back.”
We all looked at one another. Hope was rising, thank fuck. I wasn’t worried before about their friendship being ruined because of this, but Ryder certainly had me on edge.
“What else?” Klaus demanded.
“Well, our girl is fast asleep in our bed,” Ryder said softly. He invited us to a video call, and I accepted it to see the camera pointed at Rosalie as she slept peacefully in bed.
And clearly she was naked.
“You fucked her?” Anson asked.
I swallowed hard, waiting for the answer.
“I made love to her. Yes. Three times,” Ryder said, breathing out. “And it was fucking everything, man. Everything. I’m so in love I could fly away.”
“Thatta boy,” Klaus said, grinning widely. “Knew you had it in you.”
“You had sex? Already?” Anson frowned. “Is she OK?”
“Yeah, already. What the fuck? Wasn’t I supposed to? Did I overstep?” Worry filled Ryder’s voice.
“I just thought you’d take it slower, that’s all,” Anson said. “I’m glad this went well. We were worried. Fuck, man. Congrats.”
“Thanks.” Ryder came onto the camera and grinned. He wasn’t wearing a shirt but was wearing his boxers. He raked his fingers through his hair and left the bedroom.
“Guys, thank you. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this. I think this is going to be a forever sort of thing. I’ve been wrestling with these feelings for so damn long, and now I have her… I just… I feel like I’m dreaming.” The grin was so big it was contagious. I grinned back at him.
“I’m just glad it worked out,” I said. “You had us worried, man. Seriously, though. Is she OK?”
“Yeah. Yeah, she’s fine. She freaked out on me, but I came clean and told her you guys knew and that you were all cool with it. And now… here I am.” He continued to grin, looking starstruck.
I chuckled at him. I’d never seen him this happy before. Ryder was typically fairly serious, and all business, but this Ryder looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
“So you’re in,” Anson said, shaking his head, a smile on his face. “This is awesome. We’ll have some real fun once we get out there in a couple of days.”
“Hell yeah,” Ryder smirked into the camera. “Might need a bigger bed.”
“Klaus has the hook-up,” I said.
Klaus shook his head. “They’re expensive, but I’m all about it if we’re doing this.”
“We definitely are,” I said, giddy at the prospect of our family coming together.
“Thank you, guys. Seriously,” Ryder said. “I’m just so damn happy. I’m going to get to bed. I’ll see you soon. Be safe, brothers.”
“You be safe. Keep our girl safe,” I said.
“Love you, Ryder,” Anson added. “I’m happy, man. Way to go.”
“Don’t fuck it up,” Klaus finished.
Ryder laughed softly. “I’d rather die than fuck anything up. Talk to you guys tomorrow.”
We bid him good night and sat in silence for a few minutes.
“Evan?” Anson called out.
“Yeah?”
“You really OK with this?”
“Are you?” I looked at him.
“I am. I’m happy. I honestly didn’t think he had the balls to make the move, so this is a really great surprise,” Anson said.
I settled back in my seat and shook my head. “All I know is she is very loved by all of us, and that alone is worth it to me. I want what she wants. This makes me happy. I love having my friends as my family and wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“Now onto trying to settle this horsemen nonsense,” Klaus muttered. “That’s going to be an interesting dynamic if it works out.”
“I think once we’re in Chicago as a more permanent fixture, it’ll be better. We can engage with the horsemen more and hopefully build a better foundation,” Anson said. “But fuck, I keep praying they don’t fuck this all up. It scares me.”
“Me too,” I murmured, “But I really think this time will work out. Older and wiser and all that. I’ll be able to assess the situation better once I’m there. If I don’t like how it’s looking, I’ll step in.”
“Even if it breaks her heart?” Klaus called out softly.
“Especially then because I won’t let a motherfucker ever hurt her again,” I said, turning the volume back up on the TV. I’d let shit go already when Cole was ghosting her. It wouldn’t happen a second time; that much I knew.