Ryder (Scandal U Book 1)

by R. Linda

  “Already covered,” Johnny said.

  “In that case, you’re free to go. Go home, spend time with your girlfriend, relax, and let me handle things, okay, Mr. Jones.”

  “Okay, thank you…?” I reached my hand out to shake my lawyer’s and realised I never got his name.

  “Ian Daniels.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Daniels.”

  Johnny shook his hand and clapped me on the back. “Now, let’s get you the hell out of here before you say something stupid and they deny your bail and keep my money.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t wait to get home to Bailey. Five days was too long.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Bailey

  If I never saw another lawyer again, it would be too soon. But things didn’t work out that way. As much as I wanted it to be over, as much as I wanted to curl in a ball and cry, I couldn’t.

  I was pressing charges against Chace. He needed to be held accountable for what he did. He needed to be stopped from doing this to someone else. I’d never forgive myself if it happened again. I saw what guilt did to someone.

  Indie was beating herself up over the fact she wasn’t with me when she should have been. And Ryder was sitting in a cell waiting to see if he’d be charged with assault.

  “Surely, they cancel each other out,” Indie said, digging her spoon into my ice cream container.

  I laughed. “The law doesn’t work that way.”

  “But in instances like this, two wrongs can make a right, right?”

  “In this case, I wish. Only because I don’t want Ryder to go to prison. But could you imagine if that was the way things worked? The world would fall into chaos. It would be anarchy. Everyone would be getting revenge on the people who did them wrong.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with a little revenge,” Indie said. “So, when does Ryder come home?”

  I shrugged. “Johnny rang me this morning to tell me he was on his way down to sort things out.”

  “Why Johnny and not Joan?”

  “Because Ryder doesn’t want to worry his mum. He doesn’t want her to find out. It would break her heart.”

  “She’ll find out if he goes to prison.”

  My chest squeezed, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. He couldn’t go to prison. I couldn’t handle it. Tears fell down my cheeks. “I’m scared, In.”

  She removed the ice cream tub from my hands and pulled me into a hug. “I know. It’ll all work out. I know it will. You just have to stay positive.”

  “But what if they lock him up? What if his lawyer can’t get the charges dropped?”

  “Can you speak to his lawyer? Maybe they can come to some sort of arrangement.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like dropping the charges against Ryder, if you drop the charges against Chace.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do that. Ryder wouldn’t let me. He wants Chace to pay, and now he’s suffering for it.”

  “Okay, well, maybe not drop the charges. But something. Anything has to be better than Ryder in prison, right?”

  I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted Chace gone, and Ryder home for good.

  The door opened, and in walked Ryder, followed by Johnny.

  I jumped off the bed and threw myself into his arms. Tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe.

  “I’ve missed you too, love.” He held me tight, his lips pressed into my hair. I sobbed against his chest. “I’m okay.” His was soft but did little to reassure me. He wouldn’t be okay until this was all over.

  His fingers brushed my hair behind my ears, and he tilted my face up to look at him.

  “Everything is going to work out.”

  He moved over to the bed and sat down, pulling me onto his lap and cradling me against his chest.

  “So, what now?” I asked.

  Johnny pulled up a seat and sighed, running a hand over his tired face. “Now we hope the lawyer can make a good deal,” he said to Ryder before looking at me. “You okay, pretty Bailey?”

  I nodded, then shook my head, then nodded again before settling on a shrug. I wasn’t anything.

  We sat and spoke to Johnny for a little while before he had to leave. “The lawyer will be in touch soon. Hopefully, with good news. You need to stay out of trouble. Keep your head down, go to work, study. That’s it. They’ll be watching everything you do. You so much as get a parking ticket, and you’re gone. Understand?”

  Ryder nodded, sliding me off his lap onto the bed so he could stand. “I got it.”

  “If that little douche face shows up here, and I hope like hell they don’t let him back, don’t you even look in his direction. This isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to test your patience. You need to keep your anger in check. Got it?”

  “I know. I will.”

  Johnny gave Ryder a half-smile and clapped him on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay, kid.”

  “Thanks, man.” Ryder pulled him into a hug before Johnny came over to me.

  “Chin up, sweetheart. You’re strong. You can do this.”

  I smiled through watery eyes. “Thank you.”

  Johnny walked to the door and paused. “I’ll be in touch.”

  He left, and the room fell silent. Indie sat, biting her nails nervously, while Ryder paced the floor. “Dude, you’re going to wear a track in the carpet. Stop.” Indie threw a pillow at him, and he stopped.

  Ryder dropped to his knees in front of me and buried his head in my lap. I threaded my fingers through his hair, playing with the curls. He had bags under his eyes and dark circles. He was exhausted. And thinner than he was five days ago. Did they not feed him?

  Indie cleared her throat and stood. “How about I give you two some time to catch up?”

  I nodded and smiled gratefully at her.

  Once she’d left, I lifted Ryder’s face and pulled on his hands. He climbed onto the bed with me and lay down.

  “I’m so sorry, love,” he whispered, threading his fingers through mine.

  “What for?”

  “Getting myself arrested. I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have gone after him. I was just so mad, and I couldn’t stop. I wanted to kill him. But I didn’t think about how it would affect you. This is my fault.”

  “It’s not. You shouldn’t have to apologise.”

  “I’ve ruined everything.”

  I rolled onto my side to look him in the eye. He needed to see I was being honest.

  “Am I upset that all this happened? Yes. Am I terrified I’m going to lose you?”

  Ryder’s jaw clenched.

  “More than I’ve ever been afraid of anything in my life.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut, as tears leaked out of the corner. He never cried. He was always so strong. My heart clenched.

  “But would I change things?”

  Ryder froze, not even a breath.

  “Not at all.”

  “You wouldn’t change things?”

  “No. Because changing what happened means changing who you are, and I wouldn’t do that. You are who you are. Sweet. Caring.” Ryder’s hand tightened in mine. “You are fiercely protective of those who mean those most to you. You love hard and give it your all. It’s what I cherish most about you. So, no, I wouldn’t change things, because I fucking love you just the way you are.”

  “And if I go to prison?”

  “Then I’ll be there every day to see you. Nothing is going to tear us apart. Not this. Nothing.”

  “I fucking love you,” he whispered, bringing his hand to my face. He leaned in and pressed his mouth softly against mine.

  My lips parted, allowing his tongue to slip between them and caress mine. It was a kiss filled with love, and feeling, and need. A need for reassurance, a need for comfort, a need for each other.

  I rolled onto my back, trying to pull Ryder with me, but he hesitated. His forehead touched mine, and he breathed against my lips. Wanting him closer, I slid my hands down his side and lifted his sh
irt. He reached down and placed his hand on mine, stopping me. He searched my face, a questioning look in his eyes.

  He was nervous, scared. Didn’t want to push things too far. But I needed him to. I needed far. I needed to feel him against me, his skin on my skin. I needed his weight above me, to erase the memory of Chace from my body.

  I tilted my chin up and kissed his bottom lip. He released my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me to his chest. “Bailey,” he whispered as I gripped the bottom of his shirt. His eyes flickered between mine, warring with himself.

  Tugging his shirt up, I moved until I was straddling his legs. He pushed himself to a sitting position and raised his arms above his head, giving in and letting me remove his shirt. Ryder’s fingers danced along my spine, pushing my shirt higher until it was over my head and discarded on the floor.

  “Are you sure?”

  Cupping his cheeks, I nodded and kissed him again. I needed this. I wanted him to consume me and make me forget about all the bad. He held me tighter, one arm around my back, the other in my hair as he drove his tongue into my mouth.

  Flipping us over, he laid me on my back. “Let me love you,” he said, dragging his lips down my neck, tracing my collarbone with his tongue. I played with his hair, twisting the strands around my fingers, and he continued sliding his mouth over my body, my chest, my ribs, and my stomach.

  His fingers gripped the waistband of my leggings and pulled them down, removing my underwear along with them. His hands and mouth were everywhere, caressing and massaging my skin. Every touch, every taste erasing a bad memory from my mind and body. Reaching behind me, I unclasped my bra and threw it to the side.

  Ryder stood and discarded his jeans and boxers before climbing back onto the bed and pulling the covers over us. Nudging my legs open, he positioned himself between them and kissed the tip of my nose. Shifting my hips, I tried to bring us closer, but he pulled back.

  “Not yet,” he whispered against my lips. He was losing control. I could see it in the way his arms trembled while he tried to support his weight, the sweat dotting his brow and bottom lip pulled between his teeth.

  He lowered his mouth to my breast, licking and swirling his tongue, sucking on one before moving to the other. I moaned. His mouth was hot and wet and perfect. My body arched, and my eyes drifted closed. I trailed my hands across his shoulders, down his back, touching him wherever I could, but it wasn’t enough.

  Sensing my desperation, Ryder brought his face back to mine and kissed me, slowly, deeply. His hands found mine and brought them up to the pillow on either side of my head. My skin was on fire as I lifted my hips, feeling him against my centre.

  With his eyes closed and his lips still on mine, he slid into me, filling me all the way and stopping. My eyes fluttered closed again, and I moved my hips, urging him to do the same.

  “Look at me, love.”

  I opened my eyes and stared at him. His face was full of love, every emotion he felt on clear display. He moved his hips back before easing them forward in long, slow movements. Over and over.

  My eyes never left his. Every breath against my mouth, every taste of his tongue, every brush of our skin. Every long, deliciously torturous movement of his hips against mine was full of love, desire, and need.

  He was so much a part of me that I couldn’t bear to lose this, to lose him. A lump formed in my throat, and tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes. Ryder leaned in and kissed each one away.

  We took our time, cherishing every moment, kissing away every tear as the passion and pleasure built between us, pushing us over the edge. Trembling bodies, shaking limbs, soft moans, we collapsed together and held each other tight until we both drifted to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ryder

  We went through the motions of everyday life. But neither of us was really living it. It was as though a heavy raincloud had settled over us. There was always that underlying fear that the news we were dreading would be delivered today.

  I walked Bailey to class and picked her up whenever possible. We went to work. We went back to the dorm. That was it.

  Bailey had finally packed her stuff up and moved it into the room I shared with Jack. She didn’t want to lose a moment together because we didn’t know if it could be our last for a long time.

  After word spread about what Chace had done to Bailey, Christina lost it. She trashed the room, destroyed all evidence of her and Chace, and packed up her things and left. No one knew where she went, just that she couldn’t be here any longer.

  I was grateful. The last thing we needed was her spinning the story to make Bailey the bad person. She had already suffered enough. People stared and whispered every time she walked across campus. The pitying looks were worse than the hushed tones.

  Everyone gave me a wide berth. Jack said it was because I was too good looking, and they were all jealous. Indie said it was because they were all scared of me. I was the dude who went psycho and beat someone half to death.

  We were still looking for a place to live. The need to put distance between us and the campus was greater than ever. Too many bad memories were contained in those walls.

  I crossed the campus to the Coffee Pot. I was meeting Bailey there after her shift finished to walk her to class. I stepped inside, and she smiled at me from behind the counter and held up her hand.

  She had five minutes left of her shift, so I sat in the booth in the corner and read the book I had brought with me. Lennon walked over a few minutes later with two takeaway cups of coffee.

  “Bailey said to give you these and tell you she will only be a few minutes.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  There was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. “Hit by another ball in the park?” I asked her.

  “What?” She startled, stepping back with wide eyes.

  I pointed to her cheek. “You have a bruise.”

  “Oh,” she glanced sideways and let out a shaky laugh, “I, umm…was pulling something out of the top of my closet and a box fell out.”

  I raised my eyebrows and nodded, not wanting to push it further. “Wow, you really are a klutz, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah. Always have been. I better get back to it,” she said, pointing over her shoulder before turning and walking away.

  I didn’t believe for a second that a box fell on her face, or that she got hit in the head by a ball at the park, or that she burnt her wrist in the kitchen. Or the numerous other excuses she’d made in the past.

  Bailey came over a few minutes later, pressed a kiss to my lips, and collapsed into the seat across from me. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” I smiled.

  “I’m exhausted. I really don’t want to go to class.”

  “Want to come to the library with me, then? I have to study.”

  “Can I watch you study?”

  “Don’t you need to study?”

  “I’d rather watch you.”

  I grinned and held my hand. “Come on, then.”

  Standing, I pulled her out of the booth, and we walked across campus to the library.

  We found a table in the back corner, and I pulled out my notes while Bailey went in search of a book to read.

  “What did you find?” I asked when she returned to the table and pulled out the chair beside me.

  “A romantic comedy.”

  I rolled my eyes. She loved reading romance novels. She had boxes of them back in Blackhill. “Of course.”

  “Shut up.”

  We sat in silence, me studying while she read her novel, until my phone rang. Bailey glanced at me with wide eyes. The fear in them was like a knife to the heart every time I saw that look. I took my phone out of my pocket and stared at the number flashing on the screen.

  Ian Daniels.

  The call we’d anxiously been waiting for.

  With trembling fingers, I pressed answer and put the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?” I could barely get my voic
e to work. We’d been dreading this call for weeks.

  “Ryder?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “Ian Daniels.”

  “I’m aware.”

  Bailey’s hands found mine and squeezed tightly. I took comfort in that, knowing she was trying to be strong for both of us, but it killed me knowing how terrified she truly was.

  “I’ve been busy with your case. Do you think we can meet?”

  “Sure. When?”

  “Today. Are you free now?”

  I looked at Bailey. Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth, and if she chewed any harder, she’d draw blood. Her eyes watched my every movement as I brought my thumb up to her mouth and freed her bottom lip.

  “Sure.”

  He gave me the address of a café in town and told me to meet him there in thirty minutes.

  “Bring Miss Mitchell. It concerns her too,” he said and hung up.

  I dropped the phone back onto the desk and ran my hand through my hair.

  “He wants to meet us in thirty minutes.”

  “Us?” Her eyes widened, and she sat straighter.

  “Apparently, he has things to discuss with me, and it concerns you too.”

  Bailey gulped. Cupping her cheeks, I rested my forehead against her. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “Me too, love. But at least now we’ll have answers.”

  I stood and packed my bag. Bailey dumped her book on the table, not bothering to put it away. Slipping her hand into mine, we made our way back to the dorm to drop off my stuff and for Bailey to change out of her work clothes.

  “What do I wear?” She was frantic as she rifled through the closet looking for clothes.

  “Anything. It’s not court. You don’t need to dress the part. Wear whatever you feel comfortable in.”

  She stood and moved over to my drawers. Pulling out a t-shirt, she threw it at me. “Put that on.”

  It was exactly the same as the one I was wearing. “It’s the same.”

  “Dammit, Ryder, just do it.”