by Janie Marie
Jane’s phone chirped with a notification, and she snatched it before heading to look out her window. She just wanted to feel like she was close to them.
Ryder Cuteson: Talk to me, babe.
She smiled, calling instead of texting him.
He answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she croaked, leaning against the window. No one was outside, but it was nice to hear his voice and at least see the same spot she usually saw him in.
“You okay?” he asked as a door on his end slammed. “Come to your window.”
“I’m already here.” She darted her eyes around, her pulse humming as soon as she spotted him.
He grinned up at her. “My little pervert.”
She pressed her hand against the window, her head bobbing. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” He rubbed a hand over his heart. “You say the word, and I’ll come for you.”
“You’ll get in trouble.” She wasn’t going to let him get in any more trouble.
He shrugged, sliding a hand into his pocket. “You’re worth it.”
“Stop being cute.” She traced her fingers over his face. “Did David go over there?”
“Yeah.” Now he scratched the back of his head. “We’re good, but I’m not the best to be around right now. Luc is talking to him.”
“Why aren’t you the best to be around?”
She swore his eyes flashed as he stared up at her.
“Because my girl was dragged away from me, and I had to stand there and watch like some weak ass bitch.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Sorry. I’m just pissed, and my mind is fucking with me. I keep thinking I should’ve told you how I felt years ago. Maybe shit would be easier. Well, not easier. Just not where you’re hurt. If I’m around anyone but you, I’m gonna take my anger out on them. So . . .”
Jane sighed, still drawing little lines over his perfect face. Ryder was sweet. With her. No one else. “I can’t believe Kingston slapped him.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s strong enough to take whatever shit his dad deals him, especially if it has to do with you.”
It was honestly the best thing that he and David were getting along. Even if Ryder wasn’t in the mood to be around David, he wasn’t bad talking him, and David had completely laid off talking crap about Ryder. “Will you tell him I found his letter?”
“Fucker had time to write a letter?” He chuckled and didn’t answer her question.
“It was a quick one,” she said, hoping that Ryder wasn’t upset about her wanting him to pass messages along. They might get along, but they weren’t each other’s errand boys.
“Yeah, I’ll tell him,” he finally said. “Your mom took his phone, I guess. He deleted everything in front of her. I don’t think he let her see what was there, but she told him to delete what he didn’t want her to see.”
“He doesn’t have a phone now?” Jane asked. Everything was out of control. She didn’t know how she was going to handle it all without them by her side.
He was quiet, then he sighed. “I’ll get him one, but I don’t know how long they’ll let you keep yours.”
“What?” Her breathing hitched, and she pressed her hand against the window even harder.
“Babe, this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t mind fighting for you or waiting for you, but you gotta remember you’ll make it through whatever they throw at you. I’ll be right here.”
Even though she didn’t feel it would work out, she still said, “Okay.”
He tilted his head back, exhaling loudly. “Baby girl, don’t start this shit.”
“I’m not starting anything,” she fired back, her heart burning as he glared at her. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“I’m not being an asshole. I just fucking know you’re doubting shit. I’ve never lied to you, Jane. We’re gonna make it through this.” He stayed quiet, watching her like a predator watches its prey. Still. Patient. He was waiting for her to make a move. “I need you to keep your mind clear, okay? Kingston is going to say shit to provoke you, and you acting like a brat is going to make things worse.”
“I am not a brat,” she said through gritted teeth.
“You’re talking to the guy you’ve been a cute little bitch with because you couldn’t admit you loved me.” His smirk was unmistakable. “I love you, angel, but you can bite when you want to. And I saw that fire in your eyes around Kingston. You want to rip a hole in his ass for hitting David and Luc, and you want to scream like a wildcat because he is keeping me from you. But that’s what he wants. He wants you to act like an immature little girl who is getting taken advantage of by the big bad wolves.” He might as well have had fangs with the deadly smile he sent her way. “He doesn’t know my little red riding hood is actually a wolf, a huntress, and the girl who lived. Outsmart him, Jane. Bite that little tongue—not your lips—and let him see that you’re not a child. You’ve been a good girl for a long time, but now you’re a woman. You’re my woman. You’re David’s woman.” He cleared his throat, his gaze, dark. “Are you Tercero’s and Luc’s woman?”
Tercero’s, she thought in an instant, but who was she to Luc? Did she really want to make things harder? She liked him, but she had Ryder and David, and she had Tercero if he wanted her.
Ryder grunted. “Your silence says enough.”
“Are you mad?”
“Kinda.” He rolled his neck, and she could hear the pop through the phone. “It’s fine. You haven’t had time to really think about shit, and I told you it was up to you. So, you can explore shit with Tercero and Luc. But that’s not my concern at the moment. Right now, I need you to get things as smooth as they can be with your parents. I want you to clear your threads to me and David. And anything you sent Tercero. I’m surprised Kingston even let you have your phone, but if he sees our texts with you, we’ve got little chance left that we’ll get you at all before the school year ends.”
She shook her head. “He wouldn’t—”
“Jane,” he said, exasperated, “you and I have been together—he knows that. And he knows David was in your bed, and you were hardly dressed. To him, you’re being fucked by both of us and maybe Luc. No dad, even a stepdad, will let that go.”
“But you made love to me,” she said lamely.
He chuckled as he nodded. “I did. But that doesn’t matter to him. All that matters is I’m the idiot who punched him, who got the cops called on us, who let my brother take you out when you’re supposed to be mine. And I’m the guy who you stayed the night with when he expected you to be home. He’s not going to let me see you. He’s going to make sure we don’t have any contact at school, or he’s going to have you switched to another school.”
“He can’t.” Even as she said that she felt it, in her gut, Kingston was already arranging to keep them apart for as long as he could.
“Do what I tell you to, okay? Right now. Delete every thread between us and David. Anything that you talked about with your friend that talks about our relationship with you.”
Fumbling, she accidentally ended the call with him. “Shit.” Instead of calling him back, though, she deleted everything, her heart breaking because she wanted to keep those messages forever. But she trashed them along with photos from last night. Ryder had mainly used his phone, but at one point he’d taken photos of himself. Well, of them. Of him sliding in and out of her.
Jane squeezed her achy legs together as she sent a few to him before deleting them, and then again, deleting her text thread. Only then did she call him back.
He was laughing when he answered. “Thanks, baby girl. I’ll keep your porn stash safe.”
She peered out, wondering what would be different if he had told her his feelings years ago. Would she be with only him right now? Would David have moved on? Would Kingston welcome Ryder into the family and would he and David be happy as father and son?
“Hey,” he said, his deep voice really the most comforting sound in the world. “Look at m
e.”
That’s all she wanted to do, and she focused on him. There’d been so many nights where she’d spied on him, and he’d only smirk her way before acting like he didn’t care she was there. Except, almost every time, he managed to take some article of clothing off, and if she was a good girl, he took everything off.
Ryder held his hand up like she was. “Keep my spot safe, all right?”
She nodded, feeling like an absolute baby now.
“I’m gonna marry you one day, Jane.” Absolute certainty in his voice and the way he watched her. “I’m putting babies in you, and I’m gonna kiss your pretty lips every morning and every night. I’m going to stare into your eyes and watch the green kiss the gold dancing in the center. You’re everything to me. My moon, my heart, my soul. My Sweet Jane. Waiting longer than I already have is not so bad when you remember that.”
She licked her lips as tears flowed freely, biting the bottom one to keep from blubbering on the phone.
“Don’t bite,” he warned in that threatening tone that made everyone but her take off running. “I can see them from here. I’ll knock the door down and march upstairs to spank your perfect ass, then I’ll remind you who those pink lips belong to.”
She stopped biting and pressed the sexiest kiss she could manage to the glass.
“Are you trying to keep me here or tempting me to say, ‘fuck it’ and come take you right there in front of your mom and stepdad?” He sounded moody, but she loved it.
“Just showing you some love because you’re the sweetest boy I’ll ever know.”
“Sweet?” He chuckled, and damn it all if she didn’t love his laugh more each time she heard it. “How’s this for sweet?” Before she could blink, he’d tugged off his shirt, even flexing for her as he dragged a hand down his sculpted-by-the-gods abs. Then he snapped the button on his jeans. And smirked up at her. “That’s it.”
“Huh?” Jane kept staring at the ‘v’ carved into his waist that dipped below his jeans.
“This is all you get.” He gestured to himself. “Now call me sweet again.”
Her senses somewhat restored, she narrowed her eyes at him. “I can’t believe you just teased me to prove you’re not sweet.”
“I’m a monster, babe.” He chuckled again, now standing with a hand on his waist. It was a casual stance, but he managed to look like he was doing a photoshoot. “Our birthdays are coming up.”
“I know.” She didn’t want to have her first birthday with a boyfriend and not even get to see him.
“Are you upset about dating a younger guy?”
“You’re a day younger.”
“I’ll be a minor for one whole day.” He walked to a chair and sat. “Want to do some kinky cougar shit with me?”
“We might not even see each other.” She pushed her window open to feel closer to him. The cool air rushed past her heated cheeks, making her realize how worked up she really was.
“I’m seeing you on your birthday.” There was total confidence in his statement.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He leaned back, giving her an even better view. “It still feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t want to wake up if it is.”
“It’s real. It sucks right now, but it’ll be over soon.”
“What if it’s not?” She didn’t know what she would do if this went on longer than her birthday “I mean, I should be able to do what I want after my birthday, right?”
“Not while you’re living under their roof, babe.” He glanced toward his house as he continued, “I’d love to have you here with me, but we just got together. You need to stay at home. You’ll regret leaving like this. I don’t want to be the reason you lose what’s left of your family. It’s bad enough David got thrown out.”
The way he said that made her feel like he was saying it was her fault—that he didn’t want her around him—and she didn’t know how to respond.
He returned his focus to her. “Hey, don’t let your mind fuck with you. I’m just saying your mom has shit to make up for, and Kingston is the only dad you have left. He’s being a dick, but he’s not a bad guy. Your dad liked him, and he couldn’t have picked a better man to raise you besides himself. So, I’m not going to make you my teenage wife just yet.”
She didn’t mean to say it or sound so whiny, but she still blurted out, “But you’re blaming me for David getting kicked out, and you don’t want me.”
“The fuck, Jane? I am not saying any of that.” He sighed but not the annoyed sound she was expecting. “David knew the risks of being with you, and he chose you. That’s not your fault. And I’ve told you repeatedly, like I’m some kind of fucking stalker psycho, that I want to marry you and knock you up. I want you, but we need to finish school, babe.”
“Jane!” Her doorknob rattled as Kingston called louder. “Open this door, young lady.”
Ryder stood quickly. “Hide your phone. Don’t bring it up and maybe he’ll forget.”
She breathed faster, her eyes pricking with tears when Kingston banged on the door.
“I love you, angel,” Ryder said softly. “It’ll be okay. I’m here. I’ll stay here all night. Okay?”
“You don’t have to,” she cried, but she wanted him to.
“I’ll stay,” he promised. “Hide the phone now. Call me after he leaves. If he finds it, it changes nothing. I’m still here. I’m still so fucking in love with you, and I have a house full of the other fuckers who’ve got it bad for you. We’re not forgetting you or walking away.”
“Okay,” she said, flinching with every bang on the door.
“Just in case,” Ryder said, “good night, my moon.”
That agonizing pain in that happened when she really had to cry but was trying so hard to hold in flared in her jaw and ears. “Good night, Ryder.”
He kissed his fingers and touched his chest, then ended the call.
Tears broke free, and she rushed away from the window to hide her phone as well as all of David’s letters. Then she opened the door, tears and all, and she glared up at the man who had such a similar face to David’s.
Kingston took in her appearance quickly before scanning the room. When he noticed the window open, he marched over to it. Jane waited for him to yell at Ryder, but he didn’t react other than shutting her window and tugging her curtain closed. “You’re grounded,” he said with his back to her. “No phone, no internet unless it’s for school, no going out for anything other than school. And absolutely no boyfriends.”
Jane tried to focus on everything Ryder had told her, that he didn’t want her mouthing off and getting into more trouble. All she wanted to do was scream at Kingston, but she closed her eyes and saw her boys in her mind.
Ryder and David stood side by side, serious expressions on their faces until they both smiled the way they did just for her. Her breathing slowed, and she calmed at the sight of Tercero. He wasn’t standing behind the others, just to the side of Ryder. Not pushing his presence in her face, but there. When she needed him, he was already there. And that left Luc. He was standing in the distance. Watching. Just watching. He wasn’t going to help her anymore, but she had a feeling that if she truly needed him, he would come for her.
“Look at me,” Kingston said, his tone a lot calmer than it had been.
Not wanting to but because she swore Ryder nodded at her to listen and do as she was told, she opened her eyes and met Kingston’s stare.
He sighed, taking in her tear-stained cheeks. “I always wanted a daughter, Jane. I thought I had one, and it was the worst thing to hear you didn’t think of me as your father. It was even worse to know you and David have been lying to my face all this time.”
She dropped her gaze to the floor. “It was only the last few days,” she mumbled, wondering why she said anything at all.
“Don’t lie to me. Sarah told me you’ve been hiding this from me for years.”
Jane jerked her head up, her breathing coming faster again. �
��No, she knew I loved David ever since I was a little girl. So did my dad. And she even knew about David loving me before he said anything. I had thought he stopped caring about me altogether, but she knew he was in love with me. She’s just been waiting for me to notice Ryder so I’d forget David. So, go be mad at her. I didn’t do anything wrong. You both did, and I hate you for hitting David and for throwing him out. All he did was love me and try to make you proud, and you destroyed him.”
His nostrils flared, and his jaw ticked, but he didn’t blow up like she had hoped he would. “I’m sorry for hitting him in front of you.”
“It’s not me you should apologize to. And you should feel bad for hitting him, period. And Luc. I hope you apologize to him. He was only trying to help.”
Now those blue eyes lit with rage. “Help? He was helping himself to a foolish, underage girl.”
“I’m foolish?” she shouted, slapping her hands down at her sides. “You’re the one who didn’t understand a boy grabbing a girl’s ass meant he liked her! You’re the one who has a wife who keeps secrets from him, and you’re the one who got knocked the fuck out by my amazing boyfriend.” Well, so much for keeping her cool.
Eyes still ablaze, Kingston held out his hand and barked, “Phone and laptop. Then you can pack a bag because I’m taking you to live with your grandmother. You’ll be enrolled at Helldonna. Happy? I’ve learned I can’t trust my wife, son, or daughter, and I can’t protect her in my own home. So, I’ll send you where you’ll be safe.”
Jane’s eyes welled with tears, but he only looked at her colder.
“Phone,” he repeated. “I know you have it. I heard you talking to one of them before I knocked. You’re not seeing those boys, and that’s final.”
Unable to keep her emotions in check, she cried, grabbing her phone and smashing it on the floor along with her laptop. “I hate you,” she screamed with all the venom she could.
He stared at the mess she’d just made in silent rage. His chest rose just as fast as hers was, and his fury filled the room like a crippling fog. “Then I’m finally doing something right,” he said with thin control over his voice. “As long as my daughter hates me, I’m keeping her safe from assholes and from herself. Now pack. You won’t return home until you graduate.”