by Dani René
Tugging away from him, I turn and make my way to the door once again. My mother’s emotional pleading echoes behind me, but I don’t care. When I reach the car, I slip into the driver’s seat and sigh, realizing what I’ve just done.
It all comes crashing down around me and I can’t stop the tears.
Anger, frustration, happiness, and sadness all rush through me like a melody kicking back loudly as it vibrates through me.
My family is torn apart because of lies and secrets.
Starting the engine, I blink away the salty drops of emotion and take a cleansing breath before making my way back to the apartment.
To my home.
To Ryder.
28
Ryder
My brother. Well, half-brother. This shit is weird. Like those damn soap operas that my mother used to get hooked to. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it when Piper strolls into the living room.
“Preston is coming for dinner,” she informs me, settling her pert little ass on my lap. “He’s still trying to come to terms with the news as well.”
“For years I believed that my father was an asshole, and this just proves he was. But, it doesn’t make sense. Why your mother? I mean, our folks never saw eye to eye.” Shaking my head, I reach for Piper, pulling her closer to my chest. “I’ve always wanted a brother, and Preston was pretty much it for so long that finding out we are related is great. I think I’m just disappointed in my father. You know?”
“I do. My mother always used to harp on about me being perfect, making sure I had all the right clothes, said all the right things, but she was the one who’d messed up.”
“Are you ready for the showcase tomorrow?” I ask her, changing the subject before the past takes away from the fact she’s got her first showcase as a teacher tomorrow.
She nods. “The kids are. I don’t know if I am.”
“What do you mean? You’ve done an amazing job with them.” And she has. I haven’t been there for all the classes, but I know Piper would’ve made sure they were all ready for their big debut.
“I just wanted to be there on stage with them, just once, you know?”
“Then do it.” I urge her. “I love you, baby girl, and you should be up there.”
She looks at me with affection and happiness in those big blue eyes. My lips find hers, and I can’t stop tugging her even closer. Each time we’re together feels like it’s new, exciting, and I know I love her with all my heart. I want her to go up there and dance, to enjoy the freedom that music offers us.
“I wish you were up there with me,” she mumbles against my mouth.
I should be beside her, but I can’t. There’s no way I can bring myself to step onto a stage, not with my leg. It’s taken years for me to build the courage to teach dance, to even get up and dance for myself. Having people watch me is not something I want to do.
The doorbell sounds down the hallway and Piper is up and heading that way. I follow behind, knowing I’m about to see Preston again. Since the confession, he’s been scarce and now I get to meet my half-brother, officially.
“Hey, Pip,” I hear him greet his sister. I enter the living room and meet his gaze as he turns my way. “Bro.” He smirks. “Didn’t think it would be as official as it is now, but since we’re related, sort of.”
“I think we’ve always been brothers, just not by blood,” I tell him, pulling him into a hug. “Piper made dinner.” I gesture to the table in the dining room. It’s set for three, and I know my girl went all out. This apartment will soon be history when Piper and I move to LA, and I’ll miss this space.
“Thanks, Pip.” He pulls her into his arms and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I always knew you’d be good for my best friend.” I overhear him whisper to her and I smile. He did, it’s true. Even before the accident, when he found a photo of her on my phone and I finally admitted my feelings for his sister, he punched me then told me not to hurt her.
It took time for me to come to terms with people knowing about my love for the blond beauty. All the time I’d known her she was off-limits, she was too young and I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize my life and hers, so we remained friends for two long years.
“Let’s eat,” Piper announces excitedly, her bare feet pattering on the tiled floor as she heads to the kitchen. When she returns carrying two large bowls filled with different salads, we follow her to the table and settle ourselves. “Drinks?”
“I’ll have that lemonade you made last night,” I respond.
“The same for me.” Preston looks over at me with a smirk. “I’m done, man. It’s time we all took a healthier route.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”
He chuckles. “He’s your brother now too, so you’d better get used to that shit.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I tell him.
With Piper at the school getting ready for the showcase, I’ve decided to hang back at the apartment to pack my things. I wanted to stay here longer, but there’s a building that’s just been put up for sale and if I don’t head out to put an offer in, I may miss it.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll head back to LA for a week before Piper will come home to finish up her studies. Two months and she’ll be living with me in the City of Angels. The one place I lost my youth, but it’s also the place I plan to build a forever in.
Checking the time, I realize I have to leave soon and head down to the school to watch Piper’s class. I’m excited and nervous. I want to be up there, with her, but I know I won’t be able to get through it.
Grabbing my keys, I head out the door and I’m on my way moments later. As the school comes into view, I notice all the cars parked along the sidewalk. One that’s missing is her father’s. I can’t believe he’s still holding a grudge.
When I step into the hall, I realize how many people are actually here.
“Ryder.” I’m surprised to I hear my father’s voice call out to me. “Sit with me.”
And I do. Settling beside him, I notice he’s not in his suit, but a pair of faded blue jeans and a white shirt.
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” I tell him as they set up the stage.
“Your girl is something else, Ryder.” His voice is filled with pride. “She sent me an invite and told me you might need someone to sit with. She also told me about what happened with her folks. They confessed. I know you may be angry with me,” he says, turning to me. “But after your mother left, I was lost, stupidly so. And I made a mistake.” The regret in his eyes is palpable, and I realize we all make mistakes. I’ve made my share of them, but forgiveness is better to live with than anger.
“Thanks for being here.”
It’s all I can offer him for now. But he nods, and we settle in for the show.
Epilogue
Piper
Two years later
“Are you going to finish up today?”
He sighs over the line, and I know I’ve asked him this a hundred times before, but I’m excited to see what he’s been working on. Ryder told me I’m not allowed to become his wife until we’re both ready, and I am. But we waited until our studio is off the ground and it’s become one of the most successful dance studios in Los Angeles.
“Ryder, ignoring me isn’t going to make me go away.” I know I sound like a nag, but I can’t help my excitement.
“Baby girl,” he growls down the line, which does funny things to my belly and sends a tingle of electricity between my legs. “I’ll be home in an hour, and if you’re not naked on our bed, I’ll rip those clothes off with my teeth.”
“Sex isn’t always the answer, Ryder,” I retort playfully, earning me another panty-melting growl down the line. I’m about to continue my tirade when suddenly the door flies open and he saunters inside with a bouquet of bright red roses.
“What are you doing here?”
“You’re not naked.”
“That wasn’t an hour,”
I bite back, knowing it will earn me a night of him keeping me on edge while he licks and kisses every inch of my body.
“Butterfly,” he says. The warning tone of his voice tells me I should head to the bedroom, but the roses he hands me steal my attention. There are a dozen beautiful buds and they smell incredible. “I wanted to wish you happy anniversary, so I bought some flowers. I heard women like this shit.”
Rolling my eyes, I pin him with a glare. “It’s not shit, and yes, women like it, but your fiancée loves it, and she loves you too.”
“I know she loves me,” he coos. His hands grip my hips and lifts me up. The flowers find a place on the countertop and I’m taken into the bedroom. “And I’m about to show her just how much I love her.”
“You can’t right now,” I inform him with a pout.
“Why the fuck not?”
“Preston and Jeremiah are coming over for dinner with their dates.”
At that news, he groans in frustration, and I know why because I can feel his erection at my core, ready to slide into me, but we don’t have time.
“You know, baby girl…” Ryder’s gaze locks on mine, and I suck in a breath. There’s so much more emotion in the way he looks at me than ever before. He’s always stolen my breath, he’s always been the beat to my heart, but right here, at this moment, I know he’ll be my forever. “You’re the woman I was made for.”
“And you, Mr. Kingsley,” I whimper when he presses his cock against my body. “Are the only man I was born to love.”
I cup his face in my hands, pulling him closer until our lips touch. It’s a gentle kiss, nothing hungry about it. It’s a classical song playing loud and clear, rather than the rhythm filled bass of a hip-hop song. But even though he changes the music on me every day, Ryder is the only man who knows how to make my heart dance wildly and unconstrained.
“I love you more than a love song,” he whispers.
“Well, you’re soon going to need to love two of us, rather than just one.”
He stills for a moment, not quite getting what I mean. Realization filters over his expression and his eyes fill with glistening tears.
“Do you mean what I think you mean?” His voice is husky when he asks me.
“Yes, we’re going to be parents.”
At that, he spins me around and I’m dizzy with happiness, and with a heart filled with more love than I ever thought possible.
“I fucking love you, my perfect soon-to-be wife.” His husky growl makes me tremble.
“And I fucking love you, my flawed, yet perfect soon-to-be husband,” I tell him, kissing him fully on the mouth. His tongue dances with mine just like our bodies do.
Flawed, yet perfect in our imperfections.
Playlist
Dance Like We’re Making Love - Ciara
Na Na - Trey Songz
Cookie - R. Kelly
Perfect - Ed Sheeran
Ride it - Jay Sean
Unsteady - X Ambassadors
You’re Beautiful - James Blunt
Dancing with Your Ghost - No Resolve
I Got You - Corvyx
Run - Leona Lewis
Because of You - Kelly Clarkson
Losing You - Witt Lowry (feat. Max)
Rockstar - Post Malone (feat. 21 Savage)
Shape of You - Ed Sheeran
Silhouette - Aquilo
One Track Mind - Thirty Seconds to Mars (feat. A$AP Rocky)
No Te Quiero - Sophia Del Carmen
I Mean It - G-Eazy
Let’s Get Lost - G-Eazy
Kiss Me Through The Phone - Soulja Boy, Sammie
Click here for the full list
Acknowledgments
This story was one helluva ride. It started out slow, easy writing, but then Ryder hit me with a plot twist I didn’t see coming. And I knew that somehow, I needed to get through it. Both he and Piper left me in tears, but ultimately, happy tears that they could love each other unconditionally.
Thank you Emily for your hard work in polishing these two characters for me!
Thank you to the four ladies who helped BETA this story—Alicia, Allyson, Cat, and Sheena—I can’t imagine what I’d do without you!
A huge thanks to my my Angels street team—Tre, Sheena, Sarah, Lisa, Caroline, TJ, Hayfaah, Joy, Cinders, Fran, Erin, Tanya—thank you for pimping my work EVERYWHERE. You ladies rock!!
To my PA who’s taken over the reigns to keep me in check, Diane, thank you for everything! You’ve been a godsend!
My reader group, The Darklings, as always, you’re the only place I know I’ll find like-minded ladies and a handful of gents who will have a laugh without drama. The group has grown so much and I’m excited for the future! Thank you for being there.
To all my author colleagues, thank you for always sharing, commenting, and supporting me. I appreciate every one of you. Having a support system is important and you ladies provide that and so much more.
Readers and bloggers, from the bottom of my little black heart, THANK YOU. All you do for us authors is incredible. Reading and reviewing is demanding on your own time and you do it with a smile. Thank you so, so much. You are valued and appreciated for taking time out to show us so much love.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review. I’d love you forever. (Even though I already do!)
About the Author
Dani is an international bestselling author and proud member of the Romance Writer's Organization of South Africa (ROSA) and the Romance Writer’s of America (RWA).
A fan of dark romance that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. It's from this passion that her writing has evolved from sweet and romantic, to dark and delicious. It's in this world she's found her calling, growing from strength to strength and hitting her stride.
On a daily basis, she has a few hundred characters, storylines, and ideas floating around in her head. From the feisty heroines she delivers to the dark, dominant alphas that grace the pages of her books, she promises light in a world filled with danger and darkness.
She has a healthy addiction to reading, TV series, music, tattoos, chocolate, and ice cream.
www.danirene.com
[email protected]
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