Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
RYDER
Jake
Don’t forget my chocolate chip cookies.
Jake
and my muffins
Ryder
It’s on the list you made me, dumbass. I won’t forget.
Jake
Just making sure. Oh, and see if they have those ice cream yogurt bars I love so much.
Jake
The ones coated in chocolate.
J esus, I don’t know how he stays fit with all the sugar he loves to consume. It’s my turn to go grocery shopping, and if I don’t have Jake’s sweet tooth items in my cart, there will be hell to pay later.
Ryder
Any other poison you want to put in your body, or is that all?
Jake
Nope, that should do it.
I shake my head and put my phone back in my pocket. I reach for the last muffins on the shelf and pull away when I come in contact with someone else.
“Sorry,” I laugh. “I guess we both had the same idea.” I turn to look at the girl beside me and see brown eyes staring back at me. She’s very beautiful with her long brunette hair and petite frame—she must be only five feet four inches if that. For the first time in a long time, I find myself smiling back with a genuine smile.
“I guess we did,” she laughs, and her full pink lips widen in a grin.
“You go ahead. I’m sure they have some more in the back, and if they don’t, my brother Jake can suck it up.”
“I wouldn’t want your brother mad at me. I still have some at home and can come back later when they get more in.” She hands me the box of muffins.
“Thanks. You’re probably saving me from having to listen to him whine tomorrow morning for breakfast.”
“It’s no problem,” she laughs. “Glad I could save you from it.” Her brown eyes hold mine, and for once, I don’t want to walk away like I usually do when a girl starts talking to me.
“I feel like I should know the name of the girl who’s saving me tomorrow.”
“I’m Mackenzie, and you are?”
“Ryder,” I grin. “Do you come here often?” I cringe the minute I say the words. I’m obviously rusty at this.
“To the grocery store? Just when I’m out of food,” she laughs again, and I find myself wanting to hear more.
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good time to go,” I chuckle and run my hand through my hair.
“Well, it’s nice meeting you, Ryder. I guess I’ll see you around next time we both are out of muffins.”
“It was nice meeting you too, Mackenzie.” She smiles and starts to walk away. “Wait.” I hear myself say without being able to stop the words. She turns and searches my eyes before a small smile appears on her lips. “I was wondering if I could get your number and maybe take you out to dinner this weekend? If you are free.”
“I thought you would never ask,” she grins, and I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face.
“Perfect. Here,” I say, handing her my phone. “Put your number in, and I’ll text you later so we can set a date.” She types in her number and hands it back to me.
“Bye, Ryder. Hopefully, I’ll be hearing from you.” She smiles before turning and walking away.
“Bye, Mackenzie,” I say softly. I glance down at her number and ignore the pang of guilt I feel. I can do this. My brothers are right. It’s been three years. She’s moved on by now, and it’s about time I do too. I need to face the fact that she’s never coming back and see if I can find someone who will make me happy. I’m tired of being sad, and Mackenzie might just be the one who will be able to fill that void I’ve felt for the past three years.
“God, these are so good.” Jake takes another bite out of the muffin.
“I hope so. I took the last box from a girl who probably deserves them more than you do.” Speaking of said girl, my phone dings on the counter top and Mackenzie’s name pops up before I can hide it from Jake.
“Who’s Mackenzie?”
“The girl you stole the muffins from.” I glance at the text and smile when I see her confirm the date for Saturday night. I ended up texting her last night before I went to bed, not wanting to give myself a chance to back out of it. I know I need to do this and prove to myself I can move forward.
“You got a girl’s number?” He stops with his muffin in midair and blinks in surprise like he didn’t hear me right.
“Ryder got a girl’s number?” Miles walks in the cottage doors, and I groan into my coffee. His dark hair is sticking up and he’s only wearing black boxer briefs as he grins at me. I would bet my car he just Ubered a girl home and came straight from bed to get some breakfast.
“It’s not a big deal. We both wanted the last of the muffins, and I thought she was cute, so I asked her out.” I try to play it off, but my brothers are not going to let this go. I’m just as surprised as they are that I actually did it.
“It’s a huge deal,” Jake says, grinning. “It’s about damn time.”
“Ryder is back in the game!” Miles throws his arm around me and puts me in a headlock, ruffling my hair.
I easily get out of it and shove him off of me. “Jesus, you act like a fucking kid most of the time, and you’re older than me.”
Miles laughs and pours himself some coffee. “I act like a man when it counts. Trust me, the girls get the grownup version in the bedroom. Nothing wrong with not taking life too seriously. You two could learn from me. Even uptight Travis has turned a new leaf and is fun again. Of course, if I were married to a girl that looked like Sophia, I would be walking around with a damn smile on my face all the time too.”
“You do know that’s your sister-in-law you’re talking about, right?”
“Yep,” he grins. “Sophia loves me and knows I’m joking around. It’s also been fun as hell to get Travis riled up for the past year. I don’t think it will ever get old,” he laughs.
“Speaking of Sophia and Travis, when are they coming?” Jake finishes his muffin and refills his coffee.
“They will be here Friday, which means you two idiots have exactly five days to get this place ready for them.” Travis and his wife, Sophia, are spending the summer with us again. They did it last summer once they got back from their honeymoon. Our parents and Savi even stayed for a bit. Max had the time of his life having all of us here, and I look forward to spending some time with my nephew. It’s what this place is for, anyway.
“Don’t forget that we are hosting the Fourth of July here for Sophia’s brother and all of her friends, so we will need to get the other bedrooms ready next month for them,” I remind my brothers. “They’re still waiting to see if Skye and Cole can fly in.” We met them at Travis’s wedding and got along great with them, so hopefully, they can make it.
“We’ll have the house ready. I’m looking forward to having them here this summer, especially the party on the Fourth.” Jake eyes Miles, and they both start grinning.
“You guys have already started buying fireworks, haven’t you?” I look between the two of them, and they bust out laughing.
“Wait until you see what we got. We had to go big this year because we’re the hosts. Crystal Isle fireworks won’t hold a candle to Blue Haven’s.” Miles’s eyes light up with excitement.
“How the hell did you buy them so early? It’s not even June.”
“Online. You can buy anything online. When the fireworks tents go up, we’ll get the rest of them,” Jake grins.
“Just make sure you’re safer this time. You about caught your dick on fire when it went the wrong direction and almost landed on you.” I look at Miles and can’t hide the amusement in my eyes.
Jake busts out laughing. “I’ve never seen him run so fast in my life.”
“Can you blame me? You might as well bury me in the ground if my dick falls off. There would be no point in living anymore.”
“You could always wear a strap-on,” Jake says, barely getting the words out between his laughing fit. “They make them in hot pink, too. It would look good on you, and women love pink.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just suggest that a strap-on would even come close to what my dick can do. I’m also going to try and forget why you would even know what colors they come in. Should I be worried that yours isn’t working?” Miles can’t stop his grin.
“Mine is definitely working. It’s got five-star ratings across the board. I can’t help it that ads pop up on my browser, and I see the different colors advertised.” Jake shrugs his shoulders.
“You do know that your ads are based on your browsing history, right?” Miles ducks when Jake throws the dish towel at him.
“I’m going to hit the weights before I go to work,” I laugh, shaking my head and walking to the garage. When we all moved in, my brothers and I turned part of it into a home gym. I love being able to walk in here anytime I want and not have to deal with sharing my space with others.
“We haven’t forgotten about your date!” I hear Jake yell as I leave the room. “We want to hear all about the grocery store girl!”
I close the door on them and put on my headphones to drown out their laughter. I glance down at my phone to put on my playlist when I see Mackenzie’s text. Smiling, I open it up and reread it.
Mackenzie
I was hoping you wouldn’t forget about me. Saturday night sounds good. I’ll meet you there at eight.
Mackenzie
Did your brother enjoy the muffins this morning?
I type out a response.
Ryder
He did enjoy the muffins. Thank you for sparing me the whine this morning.
I’m surprised when I see three dots appear right away.
Mackenzie
Anytime. I’m glad I could help.
Ryder
See you Saturday.
Mackenzie
I’m looking forward to it.
I set my phone down next to weights and smile. Surprisingly, I am, too. Maybe I can do this after all.
I toss and turn in my sleep. A moan escapes my lips as memories invade my dreams.
“ I have enough saved up, and Jimmy gave me a raise. I know you said your parents wouldn’t approve, but you're eighteen now, and you’ve graduated high school. There’s nothing keeping you from still having to live with them. Let me take care of you. I want you here with me.”
She looks around the one-bedroom apartment that I signed the lease for this morning. I got a steal on the place. The owner of the condo is a client of Jimmy’s, and I’ve worked on his car when he brings it in. We worked out an agreement where he would give me the rent half off, if I did some side jobs for him in the future.
It’s in a nice area, and the beach is within walking distance. I loved it the minute I saw it and knew immediately that I wanted to live here with Eve.
“They will disown me, Ryder. I will have no money for college or be able to help you pay for this place until I can find work.”
“I don’t care about the money, Eve. I got a good deal on the place and can easily afford it. I can help with your college classes, too. Don’t you want to get out from under that house?” I know my parents would let Eve move in with my family, but I selfishly want her all to myself. I don’t want to have to worry about not having privacy.
“You know I do. I hate living there.” She bites her lip, and I can tell she’s worried. Stepping in front of her, I release her lip with my thumb.
“Forget about what your parents want or what I want. What do YOU want?” I search her eyes and see the emotions swirling in them before she breaks out in a grin.
“I want to live here with you. I want that more than anything,” she whispers.
A grin spreads across my face as I pick her up and twirl her around, causing her to laugh. “You just made me the happiest guy alive.” I set her down and get lost in her baby blues.
“I know another way I could make you even happier.” Her blues turn darker as she holds my gaze and steps out of her sandals. Her hands go to her cutoff shorts, and they slide to the ground seconds later.
I watch her remove her tank top and bra, and my breath gets sucked out of my lungs just like it does every time I see her naked. She couldn’t be any more perfect to me. Unable to hold back any longer, I walk her back until she hits the wall.
“Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you are, my evening sun?” I press my body against hers, and she moans when she feels me getting swollen for her. “Look at what you do to me,” I whisper against her neck as I kiss the spot behind her ear. “You make me so fucking hard every time I’m near you.”
I reach down and find her soaking for me as I push two fingers in. “Ryder,” she moans, lifting her hips to meet me. Her hands claw at my back as she tries to take my shirt off. I step back and lift it over my head. She watches me as I lick off her arousal with my tongue. God, I love the taste of her.
Her eyes never leave mine as I drop my shorts and boxers to the floor. I don’t know how many times I’ve been inside her since that first time a year ago, but every time feels like a goddamn spiritual experience. She makes me feel more than I’ve ever felt before in my life and takes me to places I didn’t know existed.
“I think our apartment is about to be christened.” I lift her up and press her against the wall. “Do you want me to fuck you in our apartment now?” I learned early on how she loves it when I dirty talk. It makes me even harder knowing how much my words can affect her body.
“Yes, please,” she says, her breath getting more shallow as I press into her and take a nipple in my mouth. Her hands grip my hair tightly as I suck and swirl the tightened bud with my tongue. “Ryder, please,” she whimpers.
“God, I love it when you beg.” I reach down and center myself before plunging into her. She tightly wraps around me, and I groan when I’m deep inside of her. “Jesus, you’re so wet for me. You take me like I was fucking made to be in you.”
“You were made to be in me. No one else, Ryder.”
“You’re mine, Eve.” I grab her ass tighter and growl when her heels dig deeper into my back.
“Oh, God, I’m close, Ry.” She pants as I go harder.
“Let me feel you squeeze me, baby. I want you to drench me.” I feel her start to pulse around me as she cries out. Her tight pussy clenches me as I pour into her over and over again. Tremors flood my body as I give her all I have.
I keep her pressed against the wall as we come down from our high and try to catch our breaths.
“I think your apartment just got one hell of a christening.” She giggles against my neck.
“OUR apartment,” I correct her. “And yes, we definitely broke it in right.”
“I love you, Ry.”
“I love you too, Eve. Forever.”
“Forever,” she whispers.
I wake with a start, breathing heavily. My bare chest is soaked in sweat as I try to catch my breath. It’s been a while since I’ve had an intense dream like that. I had one almost every night for the first year and would wake up reaching for her only to find the bed empty as reality came crashing down on me. I glance at the clock and see it’s almost five.
My dick is hard and throbbing as images of my dream come back to me. “Fuck!” I yell into the empty room. Why is this happening again? I’m trying so damn hard to move on, and she keeps… fucking... haunting me. Groaning, I throw back the covers that are tangled around me, knowing I’ll never be able to get back to sleep.
My dick throbs again, forcing me to put my hand around myself to ease the unbearable ache and wishing it would remove the one from my heart as well. I close my eyes while I stroke hard and fast. I try to picture Mackenzie with her brunette hair and brown eyes. Anything that is real to hold onto, but auburn hair floods my vision as her blue eyes burn into mine. I finally give in to what my body wants…and what it wants is her. All it takes is images of her, and I’m cumming fast and hard as a tormented moan escapes my lips.
A deep sadness overtakes me and I blink back the tears. I refuse to let them fall. I gave her too many already and she’s not getting anymore. I head to the bathroom and clean myself up before throwing on some gym clothes. A run on the beach and a hard workout should help clear my head. I’ve got three days until my date, and I’ll be damned if I live in the past for the rest of my life. I need to erase her from my memory once and for all, and it starts with a kiss that I intend to get on Saturday night.