“The kind who respects what their friend wants,” I state.
Her shoulders fall. “I can’t do that. Maybe tomorrow night.”
We make our way back to her bedroom, and she unties her robe. “Have you heard from Ryder?” she asks.
“No. Why?”
“Just curious,” she says, and I look at her now naked body. She walks over to her long dresser and opens a drawer. She removes a pair of white lace panties, and I walk up behind her. Placing my hands on her narrow hips, I grip them tightly. Her eyes meet mine in the dresser mirror.
I pull her hips back, and she gently shakes her ass against my hardening cock.
**
Friday went by rather fast, and I half expected to hear from Ryder but never did. He’s been MIA for a few days now, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. But I haven’t called him. Whatever he’s working through, he needs to do it on his own. Becca has decided to give up on him and Ashlyn getting back together. When she found out that Ashlyn had gone to see Bradley instead of Ryder, she was upset. She knows they love each other, but she knows that she can’t push them. Just like I can’t push her to tell Ryder about us. She feels stuck between a rock and a hard spot, and I feel the same way. But like me and Becca, they have to figure it out on their own.
I spent Friday night at my house and let Becca have some alone time with Ashlyn. She texted me a few times last night, telling me it wasn’t going well. When I asked what she meant by that, she sent me a picture of two empty wine bottles with a caption that said Ashlyn is drinking her sorrows away. I’m not sure if that was over Bradley or Ryder. At this point, I think they’ve both hurt her about as badly as you can hurt someone you love without causing physical pain.
Saturday came, and I had to go into the office to do a few things for Mr. O’Kane. What should have taken two hours ended up taking over five. Becca brought me lunch and stayed until I was able to leave. Once we were in my car, I asked her my place or hers, and she said hers. I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road. Her scent in my car was intoxicating, and the smile on her face was blinding. I didn’t even try to hide my hard cock under my jeans as I weaved in and out of traffic to get to the Q’s as fast as I could. I kissed her deeply in the elevator on the way up to her floor, and I had a hard time even opening her front door from her lips being on mine and her hands in my hair.
I finally get it open, shoving the front door open, and my hands grip her hair harder. Her hands let go of my hair and dig into my chest. My lips are on hers, devouring them. We come to a sudden stop as her back hits a wall. I yank her head to the side by her hair, and I deepen the kiss. She moans into my mouth, and my cock hardens. Her hands trail down my chest, over my stomach, and to my pants where my shirt is tucked in. She yanks it free. My hands leave her hair and grab her ass. I pick her up off the floor, and she wraps her legs around my waist.
Someone starts coughing behind us. Becca pulls away from me quickly and jumps down. “Oh, God.” She looks at Ashlyn who I now see is sitting on the countertop. “I’m so sorry, Ash. I didn’t think you were home,” she says in a rush.
I start tucking my shirt back in and clear my throat. “We didn’t mean for you to see all that,” I say unable to meet her eyes.
“Don’t apologize. At least one of us is getting laid.” She tries to help the situation. It doesn’t.
Becca gives an awkward laugh and then stops when I look down at her. “So,” she says, rocking back on her heels, “what are your plans for tonight?”
“Nothing,” she responds and takes a drink of her beer. An open pizza box sits next to her untouched. Becca told me she’s worried she isn’t eating much.
She frowns. “It’s Saturday.”
“And?” Ashlyn asks.
“You know what?” I say, clapping my hands as I try to make this awkward situation better. “You girls should go out tonight. A girls’ night.” I know Becca isn’t much of a going out girl, but her friend needs some cheering up. She needs some free drinks by a man who finds her attractive, and she needs a reminder that she doesn’t need Ryder to make her feel that way. I have to say I’m disappointed in him. I thought he would come back busting down the door and demanding that she take him back. The saddest part it that he hasn’t even tried.
“No thanks,” she says and picks up a small piece of pizza. Come to think of it; it’s the first thing I’ve seen her eat all week.
“Come on.” Becca sticks her bottom lip out, surprising me. Even she can see that her friend needs it. “It’ll be fun. I haven’t had the chance to take you out on the town. You’ll love it.”
“Okay,” she says, but she’s only doing it for Becca.
Becca jumps up and down excitedly. “Yay. You’re gonna have so much fun.
Ashlyn gives her a fake smile and a head nod. I turn to look at Becca, and she’s already looking up at me. She licks her lips, and the tightness returns to my jeans.
“For Christ’s sake, just go do it,” Ashlyn says to us.
I laugh, and Becca’s face turns red. “Give me five minutes,” she tells me, kissing me on the cheek and taking off down the hall. “Be ready in an hour,” she hollers to Ashlyn.
I haven’t been left alone with Ashlyn since all this went down, so I turn to face her and seize the opportunity. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Her brows arch in surprise. “Sure.” She puts down the pizza and beer and then rubs her hands on her sweatpants.
I come to stand across from her in the kitchen. I look up at her blue eyes, and I can still see the sadness in them. She looks away. She looks different, thinner, and hair is up in a messy bun. No makeup and wearing sweatpants with an overly large t-shirt. “I just wanna say I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything,” she tells me.
“That’s exactly it. I didn’t do anything!” I say with a growl. “I should have stopped Ryder. I should have told him that when Bradley came over, we all had a late lunch then took a nap before watching a movie in the living room. But instead, I stayed back in Becca’s bedroom when I heard Becca call out his name in surprise.”
“You did what was right,” she assures me.
I shake my head. “I’ve never been known as a coward, Ashlyn. But that night I was.” I still think about the situation from last week. I should have been able to do something.
“No, you weren’t. If you had done something, he would have been mad at all of us.”
I run a hand down my face and sigh, looking down at the floor myself. I know she’s right but ...
“Do you love her?” she asks.
I look up at her. “Do you love him?”
“I’m not sure I know what love is,” she says.
My shoulders slump, and I run a hand through my hair again. “You can’t compare what Becca and I have to what you and Ryder have,” I say honestly.
“We have nothing,” she says softly.
“That’s bullshit!” I growl.
She sits up straighter on the counter. “Jaycent—”
“I don’t wanna hear your excuses, Ashlyn,” I interrupt her. “I know what I saw. I may not know you, but I know my best friend. He’s been in my life since we were four. I’ve never seen him look at a woman like he does you. I’ve never seen him be so ... attentive to anyone as he is with you. Trust me; I’ll be the first one to admit that Ryder can be a fucking dick. But he also has a lot to give. And I know he was willing to give it to you.” I can’t help but tell her the truth. I’m hoping that this will give her what she needs in order to do whatever needs to be done to get them back together. ‘Cause it’s clear to me that she is gonna have to be the one who takes that step.
She shakes her head. “I don’t understand how I got here.”
I place my hand on her knee. “People never see love coming.”
She looks up at me. “No offense, but I don’t see you as a hopeless romantic.”
I laugh at that statement. “No one ever does.” And then I smile. “I thought I was i
n love with a woman for a long time. Becca,” I clarify when she frowns. “Then one day.” Two weeks ago. “She gave me the chance to show her just how much I’ve loved her. And I was wrong.” My smile widens. “I realized that I loved her from afar. Out of reach. When I was able to hold her. Touch her. Kiss her. What I felt for her didn’t even compare to what lengths my love for her will go.” Then my face goes serious. “I’ve known Becca all her life, Ashlyn. And I’ve loved her for a long time. But I was seven years older than she was. When I finally had my chance, she went off to college. Far away from me. But I believed in fate. And I’ve always been the guy who believes in love.”
Her head drops, and she stares down at her hands in her lap. “Love can’t happen in three weeks, Jaycent.”
“Says who?”
She looks back up at me with an “are you kidding me” look on her face. “Everyone.”
“Well, everyone is wrong,” I say simply, and she snorts. “Every day, Becca does something new, and I fall in love with it.” I smile. “You’re holding yourself back because you’re afraid of what? That he won’t love you the same?”
“I don’t love him,” she says.
“Just because you say it out loud doesn’t make it true.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BECCA
“Where are we headed?” Ashlyn asks, sitting between me and Thomas in the back of Ryder’s escalade. I totally called Milton and asked him to drive us tonight. Jaycent offered to take us and pick us up, but I told him not to worry about it. He already did so much for me. I wanted him to enjoy his Saturday night too.
“Ryder and Dad sold some property last year to a man, and he opened a club on it.”
“Great,” she says dryly.
“Tonight is its grand opening,” I say excitedly, trying to get her to smile.
“Oh, I love grand openings.” Thomas claps his hands just as excited as I am. Sometime, while Jaycent and I were having sex, Thomas called Ashlyn and said he needed a night out as well. So he is joining us tonight.
Ashlyn rolls her eyes, and I smile at him. At least someone is happy about being out tonight.
Thirty minutes later, we pull up to a sizable black brick building on a corner lot. Bright white spotlights aimed up in the air sit out front, and my first thought is that they’re giving the Batman signal.
We all climb out of the Escalade, and Milton tells me to give him a thirty-minute warning when we are ready for him to come and pick us up. We start to walk to the building when Ashlyn speaks. “I wonder how many drunks will walk right off the concrete and into the river.”
I look over at the concrete slab that just ends and then there’s the river. The club sits on a corner across the bridge. You can see all of Manhattan from over here. It’s still early. I wanted to beat the rush, especially for a grand opening. Hell, it’s still freaking daylight.
I look back at her. “That would be terrible,” I say wide-eyed.
“They need to put a rail up,” Thomas adds.
She sighs. “I was just kidding.” She also lies. I’m not sure where her head is at, but it’s scaring me.
Thomas places his hand on her arm and looks at me. “It was nice of you to get her out tonight. She needs to get out more.”
She blows some wild strands from her face. “Let’s get inside. I need a drink.” She pulls away from him and walks toward the door.
We walk up to the front door as there is no line yet, and I smile. We may be hammered by eight p.m., but at least we’re not waiting in a line to get in. A man stands at the entrance. His arms over his large chest and legs wide. He has an earpiece in his ear. But instead of wearing a security shirt, he has on a black button-down, sleeves rolled up to expose his muscular forearms. Black slacks with Chucks. “Hello,” he says to all of us in a deep voice.
“Hello,” I say, handing him my ID.
“Well, hello there,” Thomas says with a wink.
He chuckles as he looks down at my ID, a small flashlight in his left hand. He frowns and then looks at me. “Is there a problem?” I ask concerned. My license is still from Washington State. I haven’t had the desire to mess with the DMV to get it changed.
“O’Kane?” he questions, handing me back my ID. “Are you any relation to Ryder O’Kane?”
Ashlyn stiffens beside me. I feel sorry for her; she just can’t escape him.
“Oh, yes,” I answer, taking a long breath. “He’s my brother.”
He smiles, and even his smile is threatening. I don’t think he means it to be, but it comes off as don’t fuck with me. He reaches out his right hand. “I am Jet Weathers. Welcome to Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Thank you.” I have overheard my brother talking to this guy on the phone while we were in Panama. I remembered it earlier after Jaycent and I had sex, and I looked it up. As luck would have it, their grand opening was tonight. “This is my friend Ashlyn and our other friend Thomas.”
He shakes hands with Thomas, and Ashlyn reaches hers out although it looks like a limp noodle. He pulls a walkie-talkie out of his back pocket and speaks into it. “Miller?” he calls into it. “Come to the front. I have a group I need you to show to the balcony suite.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that,” I say, waving my hands in the air.
“I do,” he says, and then another guy appears who I’m guessing is Miller. And he’s bigger than Jet is. Thomas actually whistles as he looks him up and down. Jet slaps him on his back. “Their tab is on me tonight.”
“No, really ....”
“I insist,” he urges, placing his hand on his chest.
I give him a weak smile and nod. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
Ashlyn opens her purse to dig for her ID, but he waves her off. “No need,” he says to her. “You guys have fun, and if you have any problems, let me or Miller know.”
“Thank you,” Thomas says excitedly.
Ashlyn wraps her arm around my shoulders, and I tense. “What’s wrong?” she asks.
I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it. She already knows that I don’t like it when people use my last name to give me stuff. But I guess this is more because of what Ryder did for him. Not just my name.
We enter the dark club and turn to the right, walking down a long and narrow hallway then out into an open area. The walls are a dark gray with what looks like black paint splattered all over them. The music blares as usual for a club, and the lights flash to the beat.
The man who went by Miller climbs a set of stairs covered in black carpet. We make it to the top and walk around a black railing. He removes a black rope and moves to the side for us to pass him. Two black couches facing one another sit with white throw pillows on them, and a black coffee table sits in the middle. “Here you go.”
Ashlyn and I sit down on one of the couches, and Thomas picks the one across from us, smiling up at Miller like an idiot. He raises his hand. Seconds later, a woman with black hair comes running over. He bends down and speaks into her ear. We can’t hear much over the music. When she pulls away, she’s nodding and smiling. He walks away, leaving her to it.
“Hello, everyone,” she calls out. “What can I get you?”
“Tequila shots all around,” I say, knowing they’re Ashlyn’s favorite. If I can’t cheer her up, I’ll get her drunk.
Thomas leans back on his couch and places his arms across the back, smiling. Then he looks at Ashlyn and frowns. “What’s wrong with you?”
“She’s had a shit week,” I say.
She snorts. “You’ve had a shit week.”
Thomas crosses one leg over the other and smiles. “Well, sister, we got all night, so start filling me in.”
“It’s nothing,” I say.
“Nothing?” Ashlyn snorts and looks at Thomas. “She found out her mother was paying her boyfriend to be with her.”
“She what?” Thomas asks wide-eyed, looking at me.
I throw her under the same bus she threw me under. “She
and Ryder broke up, and Bradley proposed to her,” I say, pointing over at her.
His head snaps to her. “You broke up with the king? And who the hell is Bradley?”
“The king?” I ask, pulling my lips back in disgust. Is he talking about my brother? Gross. “He’s no king.”
Thomas nods his head. “Oh, he is, honey.” He removes his arms from the couch and leans forward to put them on his knees and rest his chin on his hand. “Spill. Who is this other guy?”
She sighs heavily. “It doesn’t matter. They’re both gone, and I would rather not discuss it.” She looks back and forth between us. Thomas opens his mouth, and she adds, “Please?”
He closes his mouth and gives her a curt nod. The waitress returns and sets our first round of shots on the table.
Thomas and I both lift ours in toast, but before we can say anything, Ashlyn picks hers up and slams hers back. I set mine on the coffee table and slide it over in front of her; she takes it without thought. Thomas does the same, and then like mine, it’s gone. This time, I order two rounds for us.
JAYCENT
I sit straight up in Becca’s bed when I hear her voice coming from the kitchen. I throw off the purple comforter and white sheet and slide on a pair of basketball shorts and head toward the sound. I come to a stop at the end of the hallway once I get a view of the kitchen. Becca stands with her back toward me with a beer pressed to her lips. Ashlyn stands in front of the open fridge, handing another beer to a man I’ve never seen before.
“Looks like you guys had fun,” I say with a smile.
Becca spins around, her brown hair slapping herself in the face. “Baby,” she says excitedly, and the sound of her voice tells me she’s drunk.
“Holy hell,” the man says. “Am I dreaming?” he asks, pushing his hip against the countertop as his eyes look me up and down.
Ashlyn laughs, and it sounds genuine. “No, that is Jaycent. Becca’s boyfriend,” Ashlyn states and then closes the fridge. “Would you like a beer, Jaycent?” Her words are slurred, but I smile. I’m glad they had fun tonight.
“No, thank you,” I tell her. “What time is it?” I ask no one in particular.
Myself (Selfish Series, #2) Page 25