Chapter 20 Ryker
TWENTY
RYKER
I don’t know what possessed me to stick around.
I should leave before Liam gets here. There’s no reason to cater to his little obsession with me. No reason except sex, of course.
I think I’ve had more sex these past few months than in most of the previous years combined.
Most people would think that was pathetic, but there never seemed to be any point to fucking random men if they weren’t going to get me off properly. I suppose I could have tried to join one of those kink clubs, where everyone wants to play at being a sadist, but…
Safe words kind of kill the mood.
I’m scrolling through another article about the CEO-rial Killer—he just murdered some New Valence bigshot—when the door opens and Liam’s group enters, destroying the quiet atmosphere.
“No, Maggie! It’s true!” Rebecca says. “I swear, Angelique Starr is one of my firm’s clients! I wanted to get her autograph, but the partners would have murdered me if I’d bothered her.”
I try to remember where I’ve heard that name before. A movie star of some sort?
Maggie shakes her head. “Pics or it didn’t happen. Right, Liam?”
“Hmm?” Liam asks, turning his head as he scans the restaurant until his gaze falls on me. “Yeah, exactly.” He abandons them by the door, heading in my direction without waiting for them.
I internally roll my eyes, but I get up from the booth. It’s mostly so that Liam has to take the inside seat, but he takes it as an invitation to plant a kiss on me.
I don’t think I’ve ever kissed a man in public like this.
I’m not ashamed of being gay, but I have no intention of coming out to my family or anyone in my hometown. I don’t talk about myself to anyone, and I’ve never mentioned a partner to my clients.
For a single split second, I have the urge to push Liam away from me.
Fuck. Since when am I a coward?
I reach up to cup Liam’s cheek and kiss him back, before breaking the kiss and motioning to the booth.
“I was about to leave,” I lie.
Liam scoots into the booth ahead of me. “That would’ve been rude,” he chides me. “After you said you’d be here. Do you know how hard it is to wrangle those three?” He huffs.
I get in next to Liam, and I make sure to sit at the edge so none of the others can join us in this booth.
“We said we were sorry,” Rebecca says, getting into the booth across from me. Carl slides in after, and Maggie’s left to take the spot next to Carl.
She scrunches up her nose, looks around, then grabs a separate chair so she can sit at the end of the table instead.
“I’ve never been to this place,” Maggie says. She grabs one of the menus and opens it up. “Ooh, margaritas. Specialty margaritas. I’m in. Rebecca, you’ll take one too, right?”
“Of course!” Rebecca replies. The two of them start talking animatedly about food and drinks, and I’m exhausted already.
This is why I’d left the club. I’d hoped Liam would turn up alone, but I’m not surprised I wasn’t so lucky.
For all that Liam pretends to be cold and hardened, he thrives on attention.
That’s what’s going to get him caught. The little brat won’t be satisfied being an unknown.
Liam squeezes my knee beneath the table. “Have you ordered already?” he asks. “Do you know anything about this place? I didn’t check its reviews to know what to try.”
I tilt my head at him. “It’s Mexican food. Order whatever you usually get at a Mexican restaurant.”
The server arrives, looking a bit frazzled. She has her electronic device in hand. “Hi! Sorry, I didn’t see you all join the table. What can I get you?”
Everyone puts in their orders for far more food than I would have bothered with on my own. I wonder if all that dancing—and all the drugs—build up appetites.
Once the server is gone, Liam scoots even closer to me. “Where are you headed next?” he asks.
I shrug. “I’ve got a job up in New Hampshire.
One in Connecticut too, but I hate driving in Connecticut.
The fucking roads there…” I remember being stuck in traffic for hours because I’d planned badly, and rush hour is awful there even when there’s no construction.
“I might head south after that, if the job I’ve got lined up pans out.
I wouldn’t mind doing a longer tour all the way down to Florida at some point.
Might wait until fall for that though. Nobody wants to do Florida in the summer. ”
It’s been a while since I’ve gone to Florida. And the everglades are a perfect place to stash a body. If I dumped it near some alligators, it’d be devoured enough to make identification near impossible.
There’s a thought.
“You should take me with you,” Liam says brightly. “I love Florida.” He rests his head on my shoulder.
“Oh, what’s in Florida?” Rebecca asks. “Besides amusement parks, but you don’t strike me as an amusement park kind of guy, Ryker.”
“Beaches. Nature. Swamps.” I grin at Liam. “Maybe I should take you camping during the height of mosquito season.”
Liam’s horror overtakes his expression. “No more nature. There are nice resorts there.”
“I’m not staying at a resort,” I say immediately. “I like seeing the world as it is, not the fake version presented by resorts.”
Maggie shakes her head. “Really? What makes a resort fake? It’s everybody trying to make a living by catering to us rich fucks, sure, but how is that less real than suffering out in the mud? They’re different aspects of the world.”
I smirk at her. “All right. Let me rephrase. I’m not a rich fuck, and I can do my own work. I don’t need an underpaid person doing it for me.”
“They get tipped all the time,” Liam protests. “And I’ll tip even more with you there. C’mon. I went camping with you. The least you can do is experience the lap of luxury for a few days for me.” He bats his eyelashes at me. “Think about it. We have time.”
He really thinks we’ll still be hooking up in a few months?
On the other hand, I’ve seen him more than any other person lately. Even my parents don’t see this much of me.
“Maybe,” I say. “If you think you can manage not to be a pain in the ass during the drive down there.”
“Drive,” he repeats. “That’s like… a lot of hours. No, we’d experience it the right way. First class all the way.”
I roll my eyes. “I’d be going for work. I’m driving with all my equipment. If you want to fly on your own, go ahead.”
“Oh, that’s no fun,” Rebecca interjects. “You two lovebirds should go together without work in the way!”
“See? Rebecca gets it,” Liam replies, tilting his head so he can look up at me properly.
His blue eyes shine with desire. I pat his thigh underneath the table, and on a whim, move my hand slightly higher.
Liam isn’t hard anymore, but I’m sure I could get him worked up again.
Liam bites his lip, stroking my fingers with his. “Anyway, we’ll see in a few months,” he says. “By then, you’ll owe me for doing what you want to do all the time, I bet.”
Before I can respond, the server returns with our food. Nachos and guacamole for the table, quesadillas and carne asada and enchiladas, as well as all the drinks.
I lift my beer to the server to thank her, immediately taking a sip.
The conversation turns to something vapid, and I can tell Carl feels just as out of place as I do. If he’s working at one of the Asteroid stores, he’s more working class than any of this lot.
Maybe the CEO-rial Killer has the right idea of it.
I should target all the rich fucks of the world.
No more luxury resorts that destroy the campgrounds or nesting sites of birds and produce more waste in a day than most households do in a year.
No more sweatshops producing fashion for cents that gets sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
No more companies that need my services to restructure or reduce human capital or whatever it is they need from me.
That sounds like so much more work though, and it’s not like it’ll stop humanity from being horrible. There are going to be new CEOs and new rich brats.
I finish my beer and order another.
“You’re being quiet,” Liam says, resting his head against my shoulder.
“Because you’re all being loud,” I counter. I run my fingers along the inside seam of his pants.
He shivers. “You can still be a part of the conversation!” he insists. “Unless you’re feeling uncomfortable?” He lifts his head so he can study me. “I really appreciate you being here.”
Maggie, on her second or third margarita—and that’s not even counting what she had at the club—leans forward. “How’d you two meet anyway? Liam never said.”
For once, Liam is quiet. He doesn’t have a good lie at the ready, apparently.
I squeeze Liam’s thigh and answer, “He thought my car was his rideshare and got in while I was stopped at the side of the street. I was amused enough to give him the lift.” I grin. “Of course, even when I made him aware of his mistake, he refused to get out.”
“You were just so accommodating,” Liam says easily, taking my cue. “And hot. How could I miss out on the opportunity to find out more about you?”
“Sounds like Liam,” Rebecca says, sipping from her margarita. “Never taking no for an answer.”
I grin as I squeeze Liam’s cock through his tight jeans. “Oh, I’ve managed to get him to accept a few nos.”
“Reluctantly,” Liam says, squirming next to me. “And gracelessly. But yes, I have been known to accept a no or two.”
“He’s not good with denial, is he?” I ask the group as I continue to tease him. “Let me guess: his parents gave him everything he ever asked for.”
Liam shifts, closing his thighs around my hand, but then he spreads his legs wider to give me more access.
Maggie lets out a very loud huff. “Did they ever. Even my parents put limits on my spending. I wanted The XX Experience to perform at my birthday party and they said no, but somehow Liam finagled his parents to get the same band to perform at his birthday party?”
Christ, they really are all spoiled brats.
Liam might not even be the worst of the lot.