Somee
When I woke the next morning, my tablet was digging into my side, reminding me of the hours I spent online last night doing a deep dive on the man who had me questioning my morals.
Why on earth would I be crushing on a man who had an entire social media page dedicated to his viral moments?
His very naked viral moments. I was a glutton for punishment, because I watched every video on that page, viewed every photo, and read more comments than I should have.
Some from the women who starred in those videos with Ryland, singing his praises for the night they had.
I rolled over, groaning with the visuals embedded in my mind and my core clenched with the memories of things I had no business enjoying. No woman could ever be touched by that man and walk away unchanged and I refused to do that to myself.
My body felt weighted but relaxed, which I attributed to the mattress that cradled my tired limbs last night.
This thing was pure perfection and massive.
I assessed that the bed was a California King after I climbed in and barely took up any space.
I was in heaven and felt totally rejuvenated after only one night.
Once I forced myself to leave the comfort of this heavenly oasis of soft cotton sheets and Tempur-Pedic foam, my first stop was the bathroom. After emptying my bladder and moving through my skincare routine, I brushed my teeth and raked a brush through my hair after I unwrapped the silk scarf.
Natural hair was great, but with my delusional need to believe I could roll out of bed, dress, and get anywhere in the city within fifteen minutes, I quickly learned that my hair in its curly state was more of a headache.
With a keratin treatment, I kept a fresh blowout or my hair flat ironed, because spending thirty minutes every morning defining curls would have gotten me fired for being late.
Tackling Rylee’s hair was enough, and even with hers, I tended to keep ponytails and French braids. One week of trying to get both of us dressed and out of the house on time was enough punishment for me to learn to do hair at night and keep Rylee in a bonnet when she slept.
Once I was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved tee, I pulled on my cable knit slippers, grabbed my phone, and went to check on Rylee.
My first stop was her room but I didn’t find her, which made sense because it was after eleven.
I was honestly shocked that I’d slept so long and that no one interrupted me.
I was surprised to see Rylee in the kitchen with a woman wearing a uniform shirt and jeans.
She was pretty, slim with cocoa brown skin and braids pulled back from her face in a ponytail, exposing high cheekbones.
Rylee was next to her and reached the woman’s shoulders, which let me know she had to be standing on something.
The closer I got, I realized the two were in the middle of constructing what looked like subs from the ingredients placed on the counter—lettuce, deli sliced cheese, tomatoes, and various meats.
Rylee was smiling, layering cheese, so her eyes were down but the woman noticed me and smiled, tapping Rylee. A goofy grin split her face and her hands were moving.
“Somee, look. I’m a chef in training. J-O-Y is teaching me how to make food.” She finger spelled the woman’s name. Ryland mentioned a chef but I pictured more frumpy and less glam. Joy was gorgeous.
“I see. You making some for me?” I signed back and she nodded wildly.
“Ryland said I shouldn’t wake you because you were tired but that you would be up in time to eat lunch, so we’re making Italian subs.”
“Oh my favorite,” I signed.
She went back to piling ingredients onto the sub roll, giving Joy a chance to introduce herself
“I’m J-O-Y. S-O-M-E-E, right?” she signed, finger spelling both my name and hers. I nodded and looked around.
“Where is Ryland?”
“In the gym. Rylee wanted to help with lunch, so he’s doing recovery. Do you know where it is?”
“No,” I signed and she pointed in the direction. “Downstairs in the basement at the end of the hall.”
How did she know about the basement but I did not…
“Thank you.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome. Any requests for lunch?”
I shook my head. “No, what you’re making is fine.”
“Perfect.” She offered a smile and I returned it before going to find Ryland. I crossed the house, taking the stairs to the basement.
We hadn’t toured this part of the house yesterday and I assumed it was because neither me nor Rylee would be spending much time here. It felt very much like a glorified man cave.
There were flat screens on two of the walls facing each other, a bar in the corner, and sofas that contrasted the one in the living room because they were more comfy looking with rounded cushions instead of the block design of the ones upstairs.
It smelled like Ryland, woodsy and sweet, like sandalwood and bergamot.
I followed the instructions and walked to the end of the hall where the walls shifted to tinted glass and I saw a bunch of expensive equipment inside, a treadmill, an exercise bike, an elliptical, and a weight machine similar to what was in a gym, but I didn’t see Ryland until I fully entered the room.
He was sitting in a cold plunge tub positioned in the corner, head back and eyes closed. As soon as I cleared the door, his gaze was on me. His eyes swept me from head to toe before he sighed.
“Thought I was going to have to come drag you out of bed.”
I took him in, the parts of his body I had access to.
Broad shoulders and thick arms inked by a very talented artist because they looked damn good.
The one on his right arm was my favorite.
A football field, flames, a football, and two helmets.
The words fear nothing stretched the length of the field.
I grinned. “It’s a very comfortable bed. Can you blame me?”
He chuckled. “I don’t. It’s the same one I have in my room.”
“So this is really a thing, huh?” I asked, nearing the tub, noticing his body submerged in ice water.
“Unfortunately, yes. It helps but it’s also torture.”
“I thought this happened after games.”
“Usually, yes, but I skipped it the other day because I had a flight to catch. I paid for not following my routine so I’m trying to make up for it now.”
“Sorry about that,” I signed.
“Not your fault. Don’t apologize.”
“I met J-O-Y. She seems nice.”
And she’s pretty.
“She’s new. I wanted to hire someone you and Rylee could communicate with, but if she doesn’t fit, we can try someone else.”
“Rylee’s making Italian subs. I think she fits.” I grinned at how comfortable Rylee seemed with Joy.
“So what’s on the agenda for the day?” I asked, feeling awkward standing here ogling the man while discreetly trying to see what he was wearing.
Most visuals I’d seen of athletes in ice baths were just them in spandex and I wanted a peek.
After enjoying the visuals of all his assets on social media, I needed real-time proof that it was just the angles and not the man.
“I would like to give Rylee a few days to wrap her mind around being here, but she probably needs to be enrolled in school. Unless you decided on homeschooling. I have to do everything by the book so there isn’t anything they can hold against me when it’s time to apply for permanent custody.”
“We should probably get her enrolled somewhere. Me being here is temporary. I don’t want Rylee relying on having me around and creating yet another thing in her life that will change,” I signed, noticing his gaze narrow a little before he nodded and his hands were moving.
“I agree. She needs to adjust to life here with me. Did you have any thoughts on the schools I sent? I can call and set up tours.”
I did a mental inventory of the schools he sent as options and provided my opinion on my top two.
“Chandler Academy is my top pick. Being at a school similar to Harrington would be the best option in my opinion. It won’t be as much of a culture shock.
But I’m also not opposed to Little Einsteins.
Their programs for Deaf and hard of hearing students closely mirror the way things were set up at Harrington.
The added bonus of hearing students sharing the classroom with Rylee might be a good thing.
She functioned fine in public school, although their resources weren’t that great.
I don’t feel that will be an issue at Little Einsteins. ”
“I’ll call and get an appointment for a tour. I already reached out to explain the situation and both were more than willing to accommodate getting Rylee enrolled.” He extended an arm, reaching for a towel hooked on a metal stand next to the tub.
Once he had it in hand, Ryland stood, and well…
fuck. My gaze moved the length of his body, enjoying the visual of muscled brown skin, more ink down his right side—some type of tribal artwork—and muscled thighs.
My eyes moved up to the white spandex shorts that covered his lower half, now very much see through because they were soaked.
The outline of a very impressive dick was pressed against his thigh, and considering the man was just submerged in ice water, there was no way it should have been as long and thick as what I was witnessing.
I didn’t snap out of my perusal until Ryland moved, stepping out of the tub and standing beside it. My eyes darted up to find him running the towel over his chest, wearing a smug grin.
He secured the thick gray cotton around his waist and signed, “I’m done here, so let me shower and get dressed.
We can have lunch then head out. I promised Rylee a fun day and touring schools isn’t what I think a six-year-old would consider fun.
We can find something else to get into while we’re out. ”
I cleared my throat. “Sounds good. I’ll start getting her prepped while you do that.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and left his gym. I needed space from my thoughts and the man consuming them.