by R. Linda
“Like I said before, it’s always been you. Before I left with Kenz to go to our aunt’s, it was you. You never noticed me, but I sure as hell saw you, Bailey.” He brought his hand up to cup my cheek, slowly leaning closer.
“You did?” My heart skipped a beat or three hearing him admit that. “Why did you never say anything?” I whispered, leaning in closer to him too, breathing in his scent. He always smelled the same. So distinctly Ryder. And I loved it.
“I came back, and you were with Chace. I lost my chance then, but I’m not losing it this time. Say you’ll be mine, Bailey,” he demanded, brushing his lips softly across mine and then down toward my jaw.
“Yes,” I breathed. A jolt of electricity went coursing through my veins as his hand came to rest on my hip.
“For real this time, Bailey. Tell me you’re mine. I need you.”
“Yours,” I mumbled, unable to form a coherent sentence while Ryder’s lips worked their way down my throat and my fingers threaded into his hair. “All yours, Jones.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
“You stupid little slut,” I heard a girl scream as I walked down the hall with Ryder, who instinctively wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder.
“This is all your fault!” she screamed again. She was drawing a crowd.
“What’s going on?” I asked Ryder.
“I have no idea.” He shrugged and stood on the tips of his toes to see up ahead in the crowd as Christina’s voice continued to echo down the halls.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he hissed and turned to look at me. He looked worried and apologetic at the same time.
“I’m sorry, Bailey. I wanted more time, but that’s not going to happen.”
“You lying freaking—” I could hear Christina still screaming, but I tuned her out as I listened to Ryder.
“There was more to my story last night. I just didn’t want to overload you too much. I wanted to wait for it to sink in properly before I explained the rest. I’m sorry, love. It’s out now.” He apologised to me and pressed a kiss to my lips before pulling me through the crowd to Christina, who was still screaming like a banshee.
Oh my God. Surely, I wasn’t seeing things right. Ryder stepped through the crowd into the centre of the circle, immediately letting go of my hand and rushing over to the stunning blonde girl who was staring at Christina with a look of disgust on her face while Chace stood beside her looking embarrassed.
“Kenzie! What are you doing here?” Ryder asked her. “You weren’t supposed to come.” He pulled her in for a hug before turning back around to face Chace and Christina. Christina was furious, and Chace looked as white as a ghost. It all made sense now.
“Back off, Christina,” Ryder spat at her when she began screaming more obscenities at his sister.
“Babe, come on. Let’s just go. Please.” Chace was pleading with Christina and trying to pull her away from Kenzie, but Christina wouldn’t let him.
“You ruined everything.” Christina shrugged off Chace’s hand and stepped closer to Kenzie, screaming in her face. Kenzie was every bit her brother’s twin, as she was not one to back down from a fight. She stepped forward and shoved Christina back into the lockers.
Kenzie spoke so calmly and softly that it was terrifying. “No, you and your boyfriend ruined everything. Everything you two touch turns to trash. You think you are better than everyone else and that people want to be just like you. Guess what, princess? They don’t. And after today, no one is going to even look at you or Chace again.”
“Kenz, can we discus—” Chace tried to ask but was cut off with a glare from Kenzie. The saying if looks could kill made perfect sense at that moment.
“What he did to me, to Ryder, to Bailey. It’s all coming out now. You and him are done,” she said to Christina before looking at Chace, who was hunched over, turning green. He looked like he was going to throw up or pass out.
Ryder stepped forward and pulled Kenzie back from Christina, keeping a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm.
“Ha, you can’t touch us. We are better than you,” Christina hissed, and Kenzie stared blankly at her for a moment, one eyebrow raised. And then, in a total Ryder move, Kenzie winked at Christina and spun around to Chace like she knew she could bring them down.
“And you! You worthless sack of shit.” She smiled sweetly. Oh my God, she was so much like her brother. Chace backed up until he was pressed against the wall.
“You think you can knock me up and tell me to get rid of it? You think your parents’ money can pay to shut me up, to keep me from telling the whole damn world about your son?” She screamed in his face, and the entire hall fell silent. Oh my God. Chace was Cole’s father. Chace and Ryder were friends. How could I not remember that?
“You’re an arsehole just like your parents. Here’s their money. I never touched a single cheque.” She put her hand into her back pocket and pulled out a wad of cheques and threw them in his face. “I don’t want your money. All I ever wanted was my baby.” I had no idea where the teachers were. Usually they would have broken this up by now.
Chace opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to form the words. He just stared and flapped his gums like a fish instead.
“You should be ashamed of yourself. What you did to Ryder…that was low. Who waits until their best friend leaves town to make a move on the girl he’s in love with? Was it just to hurt him for sticking by his pregnant sister instead of you? You were never his friend. A friend wouldn’t do that.” She glared at Christina briefly. Neither Chace nor Christina knew what to say. They just stared dumbfounded at Kenzie like everyone else.
Was she talking about me? She had to be. Ryder said I was with Chace when he came back, so he’d lost his chance. Ryder was in love with me? No, he couldn’t have been. I looked over at Ryder, who was covering his face with his hands in embarrassment like he didn’t want Kenzie to say that. He peeked through his fingers and saw me staring, so he dropped his hand and gave me a wary smile, trying to gauge my reaction. I didn’t know what expression I had on my face, but he suddenly relaxed and smiled that smile that made me want to drag him into the nearest closet and rip his clothes off.
Dammit, I was in trouble.
Kenzie took a step closer to Chace, and he paled. He had nowhere to go but face her. “But what you did to me…was worse. Coming into my home last night, in front of my son, and threatening me to leave town again. All so you can protect your precious reputation and destroy ours. Go to hell, Chace.”
“What? No, of course—”
“Save it, Chace. You’ve done enough. Like it wasn’t already bad enough that you had to go and break up with Bailey for this little whore. But you wanted Bailey to believe Ryder was the lying, cheating scumbag. Ha! Let me guess. You and Christina were screwing each other behind Bailey’s back the whole time?”
“I would nev—” Christina tried to stand up for herself.
“Shut up, Christina. No one wants to hear you speak. No point denying it. You’ve wanted Chace forever. I know you slept together while he was with me. Just after he found out he was going to be a daddy, yeah? Before he ordered me to terminate my baby.”
I couldn’t listen to any more. It was too much to take in.
Chace was Cole’s father. Ryder was in love with me. Chace only went out with me because he wanted to hurt Ryder. Ryder was in love with me. Chace and Christina were together.
It was too much.
I spun around and pushed my way through the crowd that was still silently watching the whole thing in shock. There was something seriously wrong with Chace. Who behaved like that? But Ryder is in love with me. That thought alone almost sent my heart into cardiac arrest. How someone as beautiful and amazing as Ryder could fall in love with me was beyond my understanding, but I wasn’t going to complain.
“Bailey,” he shouted as I shoved through the doors and ran outside.
“Bailey, wait. Please?” He called after me again. I
stopped moving, and he caught up with me, coming to a stop behind me.
“Please, Bailey. Don’t be mad or upset. I wanted to tell you everything. I just didn’t want to dump it all on you at once. She wasn’t supposed to come here today. She wasn’t meant to confront them like that. I’m s—”
“Shut up and kiss me, Ryder.” I turned around to face him. His eyes lit up, and his perfect pink lips spread into a wide grin before they were suddenly on mine, devouring my mouth. His long arms wrapped around my back, pulling me in close, while I threaded my fingers through his wavy hair. I needed his kisses right then like I needed air. He was the best distraction I knew of. A simple brush of his lips on me and I swear I could forget my own name.
“You’re not mad?” he said against my lips between kisses. I felt him take a step forward, causing me to step back.
“No.” It was true. While I would have preferred to find out from Ryder rather than in front of the whole school, I understood why he didn’t tell me last night.
“Good because—”
“Less talking, more kissing,” I said, pulling his lip between my teeth, making him groan.
“Bailey.” He hissed my name and lifted me by the hips. I squealed in surprise. He placed me on a cold, hard surface. I had to pull away to look around at where we were. We had somehow kissed our way into the parking lot, and I was now sitting on the front of his car with him standing between my legs.
“Am I interrupting something?” someone asked from behind Ryder as he brought his mouth to mine again.
“Yes, now piss off,” he called out before pressing his lips to mine, ignoring the person standing behind him. I heard them clear their throat and start laughing.
“Ryder, stop,” I said, pushing against his chest slightly. I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. He looked like a child who had just dropped their ice cream cone.
“I don’t want to stop.” He pouted and stepped back, then turned to face Kenzie. “Impeccable timing you’ve got there, Kenz,” he said as he wrapped her in a hug. “You okay after that?”
“Yeah. Sorry it went down like that.”
“It’s okay. They had it coming.”
“Yeah, and I’m sorry I outed everything to Bailey like that too. I swear I didn’t realise she was there.” Kenzie apologised to Ryder and stepped around him to see me.
“I’m sorry about that, sweetheart.” She smiled at me.
“That’s okay. I’m sorry too,” I said truthfully. I was sorry for all she had been through. She seemed like a lovely person, and she shouldn’t have had to put up with everything that she had.
“It’s so good to finally meet you. You are all Ryder talks about.” She smiled at me. “Well, you and Cole. I swear you are the only two people he loves more than himself.” She laughed, causing Ryder to groan and roll his eyes. There was that “love” word again…
“Kenz, please shut up.” He hissed at his sister while he tried to pull her away from me.
“Why? I’m finally here talking to the girl you haven’t shut up about for years. I can see why you love her,” she said to him, making him smile briefly before turning his wary gaze to me. Again.
He was worried about my reaction again, whether or not I was going to freak out about him being in love with me. I wasn’t going to freak out. What girl in her right mind would freak out if Ryder was possibly in love with her? Standing there watching him with his sister and listening to her speak about her brother the way she did, I realised it.
I was in love with Ryder freaking Jones.
The intense attraction between us had been there from the start. The way he always had a calming effect on me. The way his soft touch and harsh words would send shivers up my spine. The way I was so scared to lose him to another girl or because I thought he’d be over the fake relationship once I realised I was over Chace. The way he never failed to make me smile or laugh or feel good. The way I couldn’t get him out of my head. The way I wanted to rip his clothes off all the time and the way I never wanted his lips to leave mine.
That was what love felt like.
“Well, anyway. I’d best be off. Need to go collect Cole and take him out to celebrate. Have fun, you two.” She smiled and wrapped her small arms around me in a hug before patting Ryder on the chest and walking away.
“Use protection, kids,” she called over her shoulder, making my cheeks heat up and Ryder laugh.
“So?” I said to him.
“So, that was Kenzie.” He smiled cautiously and took a step forward, placing one hand on my hip. “Sorry about her.”
“She’s nice. I like her.” I looked up at him as he dropped his forehead to mine.
“Good. Hey, let’s go somewhere,” he said. My eyelids fluttered shut, and I tilted my head back, trying to brush my lips against his. He chuckled and reached up to cup my face, holding my head in place so I couldn’t kiss him. I pouted. He was so temptingly close. Just millimetres from my lips.
“Where?” We couldn’t leave. We had school. Although I had a feeling I wouldn’t really protest too much. I knew I would willingly do whatever he wanted to do whenever he wanted to do it.
“Let’s ditch. Let’s just get away for the day. Away from the drama. Away from the crap. Just you and me. What do you say?”
“Let’s go.” I nodded and closed my eyes, waiting for him kiss me. I felt his thumb trace along my bottom lip, and suddenly it was gone, as was his hand from my hip.
“Come on, love. What are you waiting for?” He laughed when I opened my eyes and saw him opening the car door.
“Apparently not you.” I sulked as I climbed into the car, which just made him laugh harder.
“Patience is a virtue, Bailey,” he said as he climbed in beside me.
Ryder and I drove around town aimlessly after leaving school, both of us trying to process everything that had just happened. The whole thing went down so quickly that we both needed the chance to catch up. The secrets. The lies. The betrayals. They were out in the open for all to see and hear. Eventually, he turned to me and said he just really needed to do something fun to forget about the drama for a day.
“Okay, so let’s do something fun,” I said. “What is there around here to do that’s fun?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged thoughtfully. “Come on. I have an idea.” He turned the car around and drove back into town. After a few minutes, we pulled up out the front of his house.
“Uhm…what are we doing at your house?”
“There’s someone I want you to meet.” I was confused. I had already met his mother. His father wasn’t around. I’d just met Kenzie a couple of hours earlier. I didn’t know who else he wanted me to meet.
As he opened my door for me, it suddenly dawned on me. “Cole?”
“Cole.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “It’s okay. You’ll love him.”
“I’m not worried about that.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. I wasn’t worried about not liking the kid. I loved children.
“Well then, why so nervous?” Ryder stepped closer and bent his knees so he was level with me.
“What if he doesn’t like me?” I asked nervously, causing Ryder to throw his head back and laugh.
“Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about?” he asked when he finally calmed down.
“Yes. He’s one of the most important people in your life, if not the most important person. If he doesn’t like me, then…then…I…” I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to hold back the tears as a lump formed in my throat. I knew I was being stupid, but the thought of Cole not liking me had me worried that Ryder would change his mind about me. Cole was the biggest part of his life, and I wouldn’t fit in if Cole didn’t want me to.
“Then nothing, Bailey. If Cole doesn’t like you, he doesn’t like you. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry.” He reassured me by kissing my forehead before pulling me up to his front door. “But I know for a fact he’s going to love you.”
As soo
n as we walked in, I wished I’d stayed in the car. Kenzie was sitting on the sofa in tears while a little blond-haired, green-eyed boy with Ryder’s dimples sat at her feet.
“It’s okay, Mumma,” the little boy was saying over and over again, patting her on the knee.
“Shit,” Ryder hissed when he saw how much of a mess his sister was.
“Cole, buddy. C’mere a sec.” Ryder crouched down in the doorway and opened his arms out to the little boy, who immediately jumped up and ran into his embrace.
“Uncle Wyda,” he squealed, “Mumma’s sad.”
“I know, buddy. I know. I’m going take care of your mumma, but first I want you to meet someone, okay?”
“Who’s that?” Cole whispered in Ryder’s ear while looking over his shoulder at me. Ryder chuckled.
“That’s Bailey. That’s who I want you to meet. You think you can say hi to Bailey?”
“Hi, Bayey.” Cole smiled up at me while Ryder ruffled his blond curls and placed a kiss on the top of his head. I swore my heart swelled in my chest just watching the way Ryder was with Cole. So caring and loving. There was no bad boy in him at all. He was all heart.
“Now, can you play with Bailey for a minute while I take care of your mumma?” Cole nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Good boy. You be nice, okay? She’s very special to me,” Ryder said, making my heart race and my cheeks warm as Cole tilted his head to the side and eyed me curiously. Probably to see what was so special.
“Do you mind?” Ryder stood and faced me.
“Not at all. Go make sure Kenzie’s okay.” I smiled and leant into him as he kissed me quickly.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I dropped to my knees so I was at Cole’s height. “Hi, Cole.” I smiled at him.
“Play cars. Come on,” he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me into the living room. Very demanding. Just like his uncle.
Ryder was whispering to Kenzie and attempting to get her to stand up as I sat down on the floor with Cole. I was so distracted watching Cole play. Amazed at how similar he and Ryder really were, I didn’t even notice Ryder and Kenzie had left the room.