Max (Ryan family Book 2)

by Ana Balen

  It was amazing to hear her say that.

  "Max," she called into my skin...

  "Right here, Bean."

  "Thank you for letting me sleep with you last night," she whispered in a small voice.

  "Never need to thank me for that."

  "It's just that," she continued whispering. "I can't get the sight of those girls out of my head.

  "I know," I couldn't either. It was fucked up.

  After a few moments of silence, she called," Max? "

  "Right here, Bean."

  "I fell in love with you, too."

  In the span of a day, she opened up and let me in. Sure, she still held some cards close to her chest, but in time I knew she would open up fully. I pivoted again, and walked the same path to the window.

  “Hello, big brother,” Rory sing-songed, hanging off the door.

  Fuck.

  I was so much in my head. I didn’t even hear them come in. I stepped forward, a smile forming on my face, but it died a miserable death when Jason limped in while dragging Skylar behind.

  “Please, help me,” he looked at me.

  His lips were pinched, almost as he was in pain. I got to them in two large steps. Panicked that Skylar was hurt.

  “Heya, Max,” she waved while still hanging off Jason, a wonky smile on pulling at her full lips.

  “Are you drunk, Bean?”

  “See, I told you, he doesn’t know my name.” She looked at Rory, or where she guessed Rory was, she was off by two feet and threw a handout, palm up my way.

  “I know your name, Bean,” I declared. “I know your fucking name.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” she whispered, cocking her head, and stumbling while doing it.

  “Max, take your woman,” Jason demanded.

  He looked at me expectantly. I didn’t know whether to laugh or yell at Rory. I told her to take Skylar out and have a good time. Not to drown her in alcohol. At least they didn’t end up in jail.

  That was a plus.

  “Are you drunk, Bean?” I repeated my question, looking down at her.

  She hugged me with both arms and shrugged. I made a mental note to get her drunk in the future and see what kind of fun the two of us could have. But right then, I needed to get her in bed.

  She had a long, hard day, and I was whipped. All I wanted was to throw Rory and Jason out of my house and crawl in bed with Skylar.

  “We need to talk,” Rory announced as Jason sat on the couch and rubbed his forearm and closed his eyes.

  He looked as if he would fall asleep any second. Pussy. He faced guys big as a fucking building every week but helping a woman stay on her feet exhausted him.

  “Not now, Rory,” I dismissed her, my focus going back to the woman in my arms.

  “You need to lock that woman and do it right,” Rory said, and I regrettably had to look away from Skylar that was staring dreamily up at me, not even hearing a word of what was being said.

  “What?”

  “She’s lost,” Rory looked to Skylar briefly to check if she was aware that she was talking about her.

  She wasn’t.

  Skylar was oblivious to everything going on around her and was residing in her happy land. Rory kept going.

  “She’s lost, and she's now finding herself, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

  “Rory, I-” I knew she would find a way to make me pay.

  I also knew it would be some kind of torture. What I didn’t expect was my sister to try and have a heart to heart with me at two in the morning. I didn’t get a chance to say more.

  “I watched you die,” Rory whispered, her eyes filled with tears. “You were there one-second, and in the next, a ghost sat in front of me.”

  My gut clenched, watching Rory as words fell out of her mouth, each one filled with pain. I also knew what she was talking about.

  Laura.

  My ex.

  The woman I was prepared to die for.

  The woman I wanted to marry.

  A woman I was prepared to do almost anything for.

  Anything, except to change who I was.

  Laura was five years ago. Laura had a vision of what her life should look like. Unlike Skylar, she didn’t want to work for it. She was convinced that it should have been handed to her just because she was alive. She also wanted me to quit my team. I told her countless times, the time for that would come, it wasn’t in the distant future, but they need to do it was still present. She should have been patient. She wasn’t. And the day she left me for a man fifteen years her senior who had a nine to five job, big car, and bigger account, I thought my world was ending. What I didn’t know was why she was bringing her up. Laura was ancient history and would remain so.

  “She destroyed you. That woman doesn’t deserve you. She never did.”

  I guessed Rory heard that Laura was back on the market.

  “Laura doesn’t exist for me anymore, Rory. So, you can drop it,” I tried to soothe some of her worries.

  She didn’t drop it.

  She carried on.

  “But Sky? Max, she’s the one who could give you everything.”

  Skylar decided she had enough of gazing up at me and broke off. I wanted to snatch her back the moment she was out of my reach. We all watched her as she stumbled her way to Jason who was sitting on the couch

  “You’re handsome, you know that? It’s a shame that you’re not as handsome as Max is,” she drawled.

  Then she slapped his cheek, turned, and found a new fascination, the living room walls. Jason looked at me, and I couldn’t help it, I gave him a smug smile.

  “Like what?” I asked, tracking the woman in question with my eyes.

  I didn’t have the energy to live through one of Rory’s interventions. I needed to get Skylar in bed. Then I needed to get in with her and sleep But I knew it was my best bet to play along, or she would hound me until she said what she needed to say.

  “She could give you, you back.”

  I watched as Rory looked to a drunk Skylar who was wandering around my house, muttering about wall paint and a porch.

  “Hell, she’s doing it already, and you don’t even know it.”

  Oh, I knew it all right. I knew it with the way my blood ran smoother in my veins every time I laid eyes on her.

  “She’s tangled with some really bad shit.”

  “So what?” Rory exclaimed. “You know how the interior of a cell looks, in detail.” She waved her hand, “and I don’t hold it against you.”

  “You’re the one that put me there every time.”

  “Yeah…” she smiled wistfully then shook her head. “Look, all I know is that I’m tired of trying to revive a memory. And then one day someone who has the power to do it, came knocking at your door.”

  “She texted.”

  “Semantics.”

  “You don’t understand. She texted someone else. I was just intrusive.”

  “No. You were a selfish and nosy bastard,” Rory shrugged her shoulders.

  “Take that back!” I demanded and took a step toward my sister.

  “Please, don’t kill her,” Jason piped up. He stood up from the couch, walked over to Rory, and took her in his arms, almost as if he were trying to protect her. “I kind of like her.”

  He should have known better. Rory didn’t need his protection. She had her own. She took her phone out and dangled it in front of me, “You do anything stupid; I’m calling 9-1-1.”

  “You do that. I’m getting Jason drunk!”

  “You wouldn’t?” Her eyes popped out.

  “Try me,” I crossed my arms on my chest, knowing full well I have got the upper hand.

  The man couldn’t hold his liquor to save his life. And was a mess for a week after he had two beers.

  “Hey,” Jason straightened up. He looked offended. “Don’t I have a say in that.”

  “No!” Both of us said in unison.

  We were at a standoff. I didn’t have time to spar with Rory ton
ight. I had to get my girl into bed. But I was damned if I let Rory win.

  “She’s not ready, Rory,” I said. It killed, but I knew I had to give her time if I wanted a shot with Skylar.

  “Bullshit,” Rory fired back.

  “No, no bullshit. A fact,” I stated.

  “Damn, you're blind,” Rory rolled her eyes and shook her head. “That woman worships the ground you walk on,” she raised her hand to stop me from speaking. “And before you even go there, it has nothing to do with you saving her or anything like that. Look at her. She’s shitfaced. And while she was getting to that state, she talked. A lot.” Rory smiled, “and almost all of it was about you.”

  “Almost all of it?” I raised my eyebrows...

  “Don’t be a dick,” Rory deadpanned. “She also talked about her family. And she talked about Jacob. But what’s important, as she was talking about you, she made it seem as if you have no feelings for her, when I know that’s not true. She said you haven’t once called her by her name. You saw what she said. She’s convinced you don’t even know it.”

  Rory came closer still. She was acting like I was a wounded animal, and she had to be careful.

  “I told her I fell for her,” I admitted quietly. “Hell, I said it in front of Melanie and Chace.”

  “And what did you do after, hm?” Rory pushed, and when I kept quiet, she continued to drill me.

  “Nothing. And do I really need to remind you that she found out who Chace really was and she had to adjust to everything he was saying? Also, her ex is still out there. She won’t come and ask you outright to kiss her, give a girl a break.”

  “As I said, she’s not ready. There’s too much shit swirling around her,” I didn’t budge.

  “You’re an idiot,” Rory said. “Didn’t you wonder why she’s still here? Chace offered to put her in witness protection until this is all over. Melanie invited her to go with her to her parents. Hell, she could have gone back to that hotel, but she’s still here.”

  She did have a point, but too much was at stake.

  “I need to give her time,” I stressed.

  “No, what you need to do is take your head out of your ass and claim that woman,” Rory yelled, pointing at Skylar.

  “Why? Why do I need to do it so fast?”

  “Because she loves you!” Rory exclaimed and rolled her eyes. “And all her life, every single person she’s loved went away. And she’s terrified the same will happen with you! So, she thinks she’s better off if she just retreats and after it’s all over leaves. And I will not let you lose her.”

  I had nothing to say to that. Sure, I knew Skylar’s history. Brody filled me in. Just listening about her parents almost brought me to my knees. For her to think she would lose me if she let herself love me was unbearable. But she was the one who needed to ask for what she wanted. For too long, her life was out of her control. It was time for her to take it back. I still didn’t want Rory to think she was right. I would never hear the end of it.

  “Hey guys,” Jason called. “I don’t mean to intrude in your tender moment, but there’s a trail of clothes, the ones I’m pretty sure Skylar was wearing, leading to the French doors that are wide open.” He snorted, “and there’s no sign of Skylar.”

  Fuck it.

  She could have the win.

  I turned, walked out, and sure enough, there she was sitting in an Adirondack chair, trying to get her jeans off her legs while looking up at the stars at the same time. Fuck. The moment my eyes hit her; my dick tested the strength of my zipper.

  “Bean, what are you doing?” I walked slowly towards her.

  My eyes were roaming her body. This is not how I wanted to see it for the first time. I planned to take my time and explore every inch of it, pulling the last morsel of pleasure from the experience and giving her the same. For that, I needed Skylar to be sober and conscious of her surroundings. Not three sheets to the wind.

  “You need a deck back here,” she mused. “It’s gorgeous, but it could be even more beautiful. Are you aware that you have a diamond in the rough on your hands? I can’t believe you plan to sell it.”

  “Are you trying to tell me you like my house, Bean?” this conversation was ridiculous, but at least she stopped taking her clothes off.

  And apparently, I needed to remind Skylar that we had an unspoken agreement.

  She was now living with me.

  “It’s the house I could live the rest of my days in,” she said offhandedly. “But it needs a porch and a back deck.”

  I almost didn’t hear that last part.

  Everything in me stilled.

  “Hey, I could design it for you,” she turned to me, her eyes unfocused, a bright smile on her face.

  “Even if you’re moving, you shouldn’t rob a family that will live here of that experience. Plus, it will increase the value of the house.”

  She kept blabbering, but I was focused on one thing she said.

  “You want to live here?” if she said yes, I would give it to her.

  She should get something she wanted. I planned to restore the house and flip it. Then find something she would like, but if this was the house she wanted, it was hers.

  “Nah,” she said and went back to looking up at the sky. “Not if you’re not here.”

  That was it.

  I had her.

  She was mine.

  Those five whispered words pulled me under, and I fell to the depths I never knew existed. Skylar Jackson would get anything she ever dreamed of, and then some. There was nothing in the world that would stop me from giving it to her. With the decision cemented in me, I pushed it aside for a moment and crouched by her chair.

  “Hey, Bean,” I called to get her attention. “Can I take you to bed now?”

  She smiled a blinding smile.

  “Sure.”

  I didn’t wait for her to change her mind and find something else that her drunk brain wanted to focus on. She squealed and then giggled when I picked her up.

  “Hey Max,” her delicate hand touched me for the first time to turn my head to her.

  “Hmmm?” I hummed my question.

  “Will you say my name?” she requested quietly.

  Her eyes were clear and expectant. Her face open and hopeful. Without a second thought, I did.

  “Skylar.”

  Even I could hear the roughness in my voice, I still said it. In response, she closed her eyes, leaned her head on my shoulder, and sighed, mine.

  “Max.”

  Hearing her say it the way she did and having her in my arms was the best goddamned moment of my life.

  “There it is,” I looked up and saw Rory leaning on the door frame, her eyes on us.

  “What?”

  She glanced at now sleeping Skylar in my arms.

  “A memory.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Skylar

  I stumbled down the stairs, convinced there was an angry leprechaun sitting on my shoulders and stabbing my temples with needles for every step I took. I was in dare need of coffee… and Max. I decided to get the coffee first. I turned to the kitchen and saw the French doors were wide open, and a rhythmic banging was pulsing in, straight to my abused head. What was going on? Who the hell had a death wish? I dragged my feet to see who it was. What I saw made my breath go in a whoosh.

  Between the piles of wood, Max was kneeling, looking up, and hammering on the beam. He was also shirtless. His skin glistened with sweat. Saliva poured in my mouth when I noticed he hadn't shaved. Sweet Mary, the man was sex personified. I stood there watching him, fitting the urge to jump over three steps to the ground and tackle him. I shook my head. I wanted to make sure I didn't dream of the sight before my eyes. As he reached down and turned on the saw, the muscles in his back contracted, I whimpered. He got on all fours and glided the saw over another beam tracking its glide. His hips lowered to the ground as he stretched to get the job done in one fluid movement. This must have been what he would look like when he sli
d inside me. I had to rub my thighs together, the need to go over to him, consuming me. The instant silence when he turned off the tool almost made me cry. I was enjoying the show, and then he looked over his shoulder and smiled

  "Are you a monster, or do I have my Skylar?"

  I moaned, hearing him saying my name. Will it sound like that when he says it while he's inside of me? I wanted to find out more than I wanted my next breath.