“Ten inch!” Is all he says, like it’s an obvious conclusion.
“Yeah! It’s about a sandwich shop! You perve!” I say through fits of laughter. Ryder rolls his eyes, and heads back into the kitchen reappearing seconds later with a bottle of red wine.
“Alright then, Lexi, lets watch this non-porn. I like sandwiches, too,” he adds.
He pours the wine, and I press play.
*****
“Happy birthday!” everyone yells the second I open the front door to my apartment, scaring me shitless. ‘Everyone’ consists of Ryder, Tee, Layla, Sasha and Jet. I put my skull handbag down on the bench and walk over to them, a timid smile on my face.
“What’s all this?” I ask, looking over the huge skull chocolate cake, and table full of gifts.
“We wanted to surprise you,” Tee says cheerfully.
“Yeah, since you forgot to mention it was your birthday,” Ryder says, his eyes narrowed.
“That’s cos it’s not a big deal,” I tell him, eyeing the snacks I only just noticed.
“Thank you all so much, this is lovely,” I tell everyone, giving each of them a grateful hug. When Jet’s hug lingers a little too long, Ryder growls and calls out an indignant “Hey!”
“Calm your farm, Ry,” Tee calls out.
“Layla, I assume you baked all of these,” I say gesturing to the cake, cookies and cupcakes.
“Yeah, I hope you like them. We argued between a skull or a guitar cake, and skull won out,” she says with a grin. She looks stunning as always in high waisted jeans and a peach colored blouse.
“It was actually Ryder’s idea,” she whispers to me, giving me a wink. I thank her and give her another hug.
“Where’s Cole?” I ask her.
“Chase is watching him tonight, so I can have some fun!” she says. Tee cheers from somewhere around the apartment.
“Are you going to open your presents?” Ryder asks me. I can’t help but check him out in his distressed jeans and tight black shirt. The man is magnificent.
“I can’t wait to unwrap you, that’s for sure,” I murmur to myself.
“Careful what you wish for, darlin’,” he says in response.
I’m about to respond when I see Tee walking out, carrying a carton of beer. “Tee!” I gape.
“What?” she asks, confused. I gesture to the beer.
“What? It’s a party!” she calls out loudly. Layla cheers.
“I just realized that we mustn’t have any friends, Tee, because the only people here are your family,” I say with a chuckle. Tee glances around, only now noticing. She shrugs and pulls out a funnel.
“Tee! You are not funnelling beer!” I tell her.
“No, I’m not, but you are!” she says with that evil smirk of hers. “Oh, who am I kidding, I am too!” she says. I palm my face, and look over at Layla, who is pouring tequila shots. Innocent Layla! There’s a knock on the door so I walk over quickly to answer it, my mouth opening in shock at the person standing on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him.
“Happy birthday, Lexi!” Kade booms, pulling me in for a hug. He moves past me, and walks into the apartment, acting like he’s been here before. I follow him into the kitchen, and curse when I see what’s been going on while I was answering the door. Tee is funnelling beer, and Sasha is pouring it down for her.
“What do we have here?” Kade asks, walking over and grabbing the funnel.
“Kade, what are you doing here?” Layla asks him, frowning.
“Chase sent me to babysit you,” he smirks.
“He's so ridiculous,” Layla says.
“Oh come on, I’m the life of the party! Come pour the beer down for me!” Kade calls out to her.
Layla hesitates, and then grins as she walks over and starts pouring the beer, as Kade gulps it down. Ryder comes up behind me, and wraps his arms around me.
“You smell good,” he whispers into my ear, causing the hairs on my nape to stand on end.
“Do you think they'll notice if we sneak away for a few moments?” I ask him.
“Lexi girl, I think you and I both know I can last longer than that,” Ryder teases. I tickle him on his ribs, giggling as he slowly walks with me, steering me towards the bedroom. I wince when Kade points out our departure and starts to sing ‘Birthday Sex’ by Jeremih.
“Leave them alone, Kade! It’s her birthday and she deserves some good lovin'!” Tee adds with an encouraging nod. I hide my face into Ryder’s chest. I know he's silently laughing, because I can feel his chest rumbling.
“Are we hitting a club?” Jet asks us all.
“After we do the tequila shots,” Kade suggests, causing Sasha to do a little booty dance.
“Where’s Nikki, by the way?” Layla asks Kade as she downs a shot. I giggle when I see the graphic shot glass she's using. It has a naked man on it with a 3D penis.
“She’s visiting her parents,” Kade tells Layla.
“Why does she even let you out alone? Or doesn’t she know you’re out tonight?” Tee taunts. Kade maturely sticks his tongue out at her. I glance up at Ryder, and nod at him when he slyly motions to the door. He locks it behind him after we both enter.
“Those sneaky sex fiends!” I hear Kade call out.
“Don’t be a cock block, Kade!” Layla calls out in return.
I can’t contain it anymore, I burst out laughing. Kade is such a character. Ryder pushes me against the wall and fuses his lips to mine. I forget about anything but him for the next hour.
I tip toe outside of the room, and head into the kitchen. Everyone headed out to the club after banging on my door and telling us to meet them there. I sit at the table and open all of my gifts. I feel a little overwhelmed; I've never really had anything like this done for me before. I slowly open each and every card and gift, loving and appreciating everything I was given. I'll definitely treasure it all.
I open Ryder’s gift last and my mouth opens in a gasp when I see the stunning gold chain with the word ‘LEXI’ written in the middle. It’s beautiful. There are two small gold skulls on each side, with diamonds in each pair of eyes. It’s so me, and I love it that Ryder knew how much I’d adore it. Ryder walks out just as I’m trying to put it on, and he silently takes the chain out of my fingers to clasp it for me.
“Thank you, Ryder, it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever received,” I tell him honestly.“Well, besides my guitar,” I quickly amend with a grin. Ryder chuckles, pushing back a honey blonde strand before kissing me sweetly on the temple. I breath in his scent, that masculine cologne I adore, and just Ryder.
“Are we heading to the club?” I ask him.
“Yeah, we should probably go keep an eye on them all,” Ryder says in mock exasperation. We both jump in the shower and get dressed to head out to Steele. I put my hair up in a high ponytail, teasing the front up. I choose an emerald green mini dress, it's strapless and shows off my new chain. Some mascara, and a little contouring on my face and I’m good to go.
We walk into Steele and I burst out laughing at the scene we come upon. Kade and Tee are engaged in some sort of dance battle, Sasha is chatting up some sexy looking man at the bar, Layla is sitting on the bar and Jet is missing in action. I can’t help but notice that even fooling around and probably drunk, Kade is keeping an eye on both Sasha and Layla, checking on both of them every few minutes.
They all beam when they catch sight of Ryder and me. Ryder tells me he’s the designated driver, if I want to have a few drinks. I don’t really want to drink tonight, so I decline. I want to remember this night, everything about it, in vivid detail. These crazy people have somehow become my family, and I appreciate them being here to celebrate with me. I lean my back against Ryder’s chest and grind my hips in a circular movement. Ryder instantly grips my hips with his fingers, bringing my body even closer to his. We are pressed so closely together not even a piece of paper could fit between us. I rotate my hips sensually, and hear Ryder growl into my
ear, “I had no idea you could move like this.” I smirk, even though he can’t see my expression, and grip the back of his neck with my right hand, my body rolling backwards into him as I do so. I can feel his arousal pressing into my behind, and the fact that he wants me again after just having me thrills me. We dance for a little while longer, and after Ryder calms down a little, I go and dance with the girls.
When Ryder walks out with another birthday cake for me, lit candles and everything, my eyes start to tear up. This is the best birthday I have ever had in my life, usually it was just me and my mum. Ryder places the cake down on the bar and sits me down on the stool. He runs and jumps on the stage, and the DJ stops playing the music, the club is momentarily silent.
“It’s my girl Lexi’s birthday today, so we're all gonna sing to her!” Ryder calls out. The club cheers.
“Happy birthday to you…” Ryder sings to me, along with everyone else. At the end I blow out my candles, and for once in my life I have to try hard to think of a wish. I have everything a girl could want. I wish for health for myself and my friends, blow out my candles, and sigh in contentment. The DJ starts to play dance music again, and I giggle as Ryder walks over and cuts me a small slice of cake, holding it up for me to take a bite. I moan as the chocolate hits my tongue, and watch as Ryder licks the remains off his fingers.
“My first time organizing anything for you, how did I do?” he asks into my ear. He says it like there are going to be many more times to come. I love that.
“It was perfect, Ryder,” I say sincerely. I don’t even need all this, but the fact that everyone put in such an effort for me makes me feel really special. Loved. Ryder throws a devastating smile my way, obviously pleased with himself, as he should be. We all party the night away, dancing, laughing and just enjoying life. We make it home in the wee hours of the morning, Ryder and Sasha crashing at our apartment. Jet and Kade take a cab home.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
The next morning Ryder makes me breakfast in bed, and we celebrate all over again.
*****
Chapter 10
Four months later
Lexi
Ryder and I have been going strong for almost five months now, and it’s been amazing. We spend all the time we can together. Unfortunately, every Friday night when he's been performing I’ve been at my other job. By the time I get home it’s late. Ryder's been begging me to come and watch him, and the next time he plays at Steele is on a Saturday instead, so I can finally go. I can’t wait to see him in action.
We're sitting in the living room, playing band hero. I’m on the guitar, and he’s on the drums. It’s so funny watching him concentrating, when he's the front man of a popular band in real life.
“Lexi!” he calls out chuckling. Oops, I was staring at him and not playing.
“You’re letting the band down!” he mock growls. After we finish the tour we're doing, we turn it off, and head into the kitchen. Ryder cooked us dinner earlier and I’m starving. I glance at my plate and my mouth waters; grilled fish, asparagus, and mashed potato. I take a huge bite enthusiastically.
“Someone needs to husband you right now,” I say, taking another bite. Ryder laughs, shaking his head.
“I’m serious! If the whole band thing doesn’t work out, you could become a chef,” I tell him.
“My mother taught me, and she knows her way around the kitchen,” he says softly, watching me eat.
“Stop watching me,” I hiss, my cheeks going pink.
“I like watching you,” he says simply.
“You’re making me nervous,” I counter. He grins and takes a bite of his own food.
“If I’m not watching you, that’s when you should be worried,” he teases.
“Is that right?” I say.
“You don’t mind my eyes on yours in the bedroom,” he adds with a chuckle.
My mouth opens in disbelief. “You can’t bring up things that happen in the bedroom at the dinner table!”
“Why not?” Ryder asks, giving me a full on belly laugh. He obviously finds this amusing.
“You just can’t! What happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom!” I say.
“I’m pretty sure I went down on you in the kitchen the other day,” he adds nonchalantly.
I can actually feel the flush riding up my neck, “Ryder!”
“Best meal I ever had,” he continues.
“Do you want another taste?” I ask coyly. I inwardly smile at Ryder’s reaction. His beautiful gray eyes smoulder and his nostrils flair slightly.
“Always,” is his husky reply.
“Good,” I say. I go back to eating.
“Lexi!” Ryder practically growls, his eyes narrowed to slits.
“What does that tattoo on your neck say?” I ask him, purposely changing the subject. I’ve been wondering from the first moment I laid my eyes on him. It’s in another language, a quote in beautiful script.
“It’s a secret. Nice change of subject by the way,” he says slyly.
“I’m just going to google it,” I announce before taking another bite of fish. Ryder stands up and pours me a glass of red wine, placing it down next to my plate.
“Thank you,” I tell him quietly.
“You’re welcome,” he says in a deep tone. I run my gaze over the rest of his tattoos, admiring his two full sleeves of beautiful artwork from shoulder to wrist. Our eyes meet and his are now a dark gray, and intently on me.
“Like what you see?” he asks bluntly.
“You know I do, Ryder,” I say between sips of wine. Hell, what’s not to love? He shakes his head at me again and a chocolate brown lock falls over his forehead. I lean towards him and push it aside, Ryder taking my hand in his as I’m about to pull it away. He places a chaste kiss on the inside of my wrist, and gives me a full watt smile. We finish our meal in silence, the air in the room thick with sexual tension. Ryder gets up and clears my plate and I thank him. When he comes back into the room holding a plate with cheesecake, strawberries, and a bottle of whipped cream, I raise my eyebrow in question.
“Dessert is in the bedroom tonight,” he says huskily, motioning his head to the bedroom door. My breath hitches as I stand up slowly, and walk into the bedroom; an exaggerated swing in my hips. I hear Ryder growl as he walks closely behind me.
He doesn’t even bother closing the door.
*****
Chapter 11
Lexi
Laughing, Ryder and I walk hand in hand into the club. Morning Alliance are performing a gig at Chase’s club, and this is the first time I'll see him play with his band. I’m wearing a tight, fitted white dress, with a sweetheart neckline, and playful white platform heels. My hair is curled and let loose and wild, bouncing over my shoulders as I walk. My makeup is my usual mascara and bright red lips. Ryder’s eyes almost popping out of his head when he saw me was validation enough that I clean up pretty well.
Ryder stands behind me and nuzzles my neck, placing a few wet kisses there. Goosebumps rise on my arms, and my hair stands on end. Ryder is so affectionate and it’s still taking some getting used to. “Lexi girl,” he growls, “every pair of male eyes are on you right now.” I blush and give him a small grin, causing him to dig his fingers into my hips. “I’m both proud and frustrated as hell,” he whispers into my ear, nipping the bottom of my lobe with his teeth.
“Ryder!” I chastise, not used to PDAs. He chuckles deeply, and spins me around, giving me a deep kiss. We walk over to Tee, Layla, Chase, Kade and James.
“Look who finally made it!” Tee teases, giving me a sleazy grin. Ryder leads me over to the empty chair next to Tee. “I gotta go, my Queen of hearts,” he says to me, kissing me once more. “Look after my girl, Chase,” he says to Chase. Chase nods. Ryder, satisfied, leaves me to go prepare with his band.
“Can I get you a drink, Lexi?” Kade asks with an evil grin.
“No, thanks,” I say back, causing him to laugh. Ignoring him, I turn to James.
“So, J
ames, how are you?” I ask him.
“I’m doing alright, how are you?” James counters. He looks delicious in a blue shirt that shows off his ripped biceps and gives a nice view of his chest. Which, for your information, is worthy of being on a calendar. I stare at his lip ring as he bites it with his teeth.
“Lexi?” he asks, not for the first time.
“Huh, what?” I say stupidly.
James chuckles, shaking his head at me. What’s a girl to do?
*****
Twenty minutes later I’m standing at the bar, ordering myself a screwdriver from Payton when a man stands next to me. He motions to Payton with a nod, which she returns. I tilt my head to the side when I realize there's something familiar about him. I can only see his profile, spiked up brown hair, arms covered in tattoos, and an eyebrow ring. I don’t know anyone who looks like that, but I still can’t shake the feeling that I've met this man before. Payton hands me my drink, offering me a smile, and I pull a fifty dollar note out of my purse. The man next to me takes his own drink, thanking Payton.
When he speaks, I instantly stiffen because I know that voice. Oh, hell, do I ever know that voice. I put my head down, covering my face with my hair. How could I forget that posture? That delicious scent of his cologne? I slowly take a step back, turning around, and heading for our table.
“You forgot your drink, sweetheart,” he calls after me in his smooth voice. I realize there's no getting out of this. I’m going to have to face him. I turn around and look into the melted chocolate eyes of the boy who broke my heart.
“AJ?” he says, surprised, taking a step closer to me. “Fuck, AJ, you look so different. I've been trying to find you for years now.” His voice has turned hoarse, and his eyes are full of pain. Why he's feeling pain, I have no idea.
“Saxon,” I acknowledge him with a nod of my head. I don’t know what he wants from me, but he’s not going to get it. “I gotta go,” I say, stepping back once again.
“AJ, wait, baby, we need to talk. Fuck, I have so much I want to say to you. I’m not letting you leave again,” he says, deep emotion in his voice.
Ryder (Resisting Love) Page 6