Brother’s Best Friend

by Kaylee, Katy

  “What happened with Ryder?”

  “He fucked Phoebe.”

  My mother rolled her eyes and let out a harsh breath at his use of the f-word.

  “What?” That couldn’t be true.

  “She went to his hotel to talk about wedding stuff, and he fucked her.”

  “Danny.” This time it was my father. “We get that you’re angry, but you can cease with the vulgar language.”

  “When?” I asked.

  “Last Friday. I went there to talk to him about the business and found them together.”

  I thought back to Friday and seeing Ryder. He was pissed at Danny, but if he slept with Danny’s fiancé, then he had no right to be pissed. Something was off.

  “Are you sure they slept together? Maybe it was just a misunderstanding.”

  Danny shook his head, his facial expression contorted into hate. “She admitted it.”

  My heart cracked, and my head spun. Ryder slept with her earlier that day and then me that night? I sank into a chair at the table next to my mom. “Why would they do that?”

  “Because he’s Ryder Malloy. All-American golden boy who can do whatever the hell he wants.”

  “What about Phoebe… it takes two to—”

  “Would you turn down Ryder Malloy?” Danny asked with derision.

  As it turned out, no, no I would not turn down Ryder Malloy.

  “He lured her in with promises to do better by her than I could and then tossed her aside when he got what he wanted.”

  My stomach felt sick. “Excuse me.” I rushed to the bathroom and threw up. I felt like such a fool.

  “You okay, baby?” my mother asked when I returned.

  I nodded. “Yes.” I inhaled a deep breath to stabilize my emotions. “Is the wedding still on?”

  “Your mother and I think at the very least it should be postponed,” my father said, his eyes on my brother.

  “It’s not Phoebe’s fault,” Danny argued. “She’s sorry.”

  First, how could she not be partly to blame? Yes, Ryder was a potent man, but I’d like to think that if I were engaged to someone, I’d have said no to Ryder. Why hadn’t Phoebe?

  Then I wondered why this discussion was happening. If Danny was going to forgive her, why did he even mention her cheating on him to my parents? “Then why are we here?”

  “This all started with your brother asking if we’d invest in his new business venture,” my father said.

  “The one you’re doing with Ryder?” I asked.

  “I’m not taking one cent from that fucker.”

  “But the two of you spent so much time planning this. Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to turn down the money,” I said.

  “I would turn it down if I could, but he withdrew it. He got what he wanted. The only reason he came back here was to take what was mine… again.”

  “Danny.” My mother’s eyes were sympathetic.

  “No, mom. I was the quarterback in high school until he decided he wanted to try out for the team. I was the one who was working toward a football scholarship that he got. I was the one who loved Phoebe, but he took her, twice.”

  “Twice?” I asked.

  He looked at me and nodded. “The first time was in college. He knew I had a thing for her and he slept with her then too. All he did was come back to take my woman and steal my dream again.”

  My heart went out to my brother. He wasn’t completely wrong. Ryder had achieved many of the things my brother hadn’t. But I couldn’t believe the man I’d just spent the weekend with would hurt my brother that way.

  We got my brother calmed down, and my mom served us a delicious dinner. Afterward, my father had the TV on watching ESPN. I was going to suggest he turn it off, so we didn’t have to hear about football when Ryder’s face flashed on the screen.

  I moved closer to the TV so I could hear what was being said.

  “… Ryder Malloy is just arriving in California after being traded to the San Diego Orcas where he’ll start as quarterback this fall…”

  “Good riddance,” Danny bellowed from the other room.

  I watched as the show had cameras on Ryder walking through the San Diego airport.

  “Ryder, Ryder… how do you feel to be in San Diego?” one of the many reporters asked.

  Ryder flashed his signature smile. “I feel great. I can’t wait to play for the Orcas.”

  A blonde woman with long legs and boobs too big to be real sidled up to Ryder. “Welcome to San Diego, Ryder.”

  He grinned, and his eye sparkled at her breasts. “Thank you. Are you the welcome wagon?”

  Her smile was knowing. “Absolutely.”

  He draped an arm around her. “Show me the way.”

  My brother was right. Ryder Malloy was a fucking asshole.

  1

  Katie

  Life was good. I stepped out into the warm, dry air of southern California. I loved my hometown in Missouri, but nothing beat the weather in southern California, especially in March. The air was cool with the promise of warmth in the afternoon.

  Living in Los, Angeles, I missed my parents, who I video-chatted with weekly, and my brother, who continued to struggle since his marriage to Phoebe four years ago.

  Fucking Ryder Malloy, I thought as I got into my all-electric sedan to head to work at the premier sports and entertainment PR firm I worked for in Los Angeles.

  I hated him for leading me on the way he had that weekend four years ago, but I was a big girl and knew the score. Sure, I’d believed him when he said we had a good thing going, but there’d been a part of me that hadn’t trusted it. We’d been cocooned in our own world that weekend. But I determined that when he’d gone back to Nashville and all the pretty, leggy women flaunted their big tits in front of him, he’d forget me, or at least the weekend we’d had.

  What pissed me off more than what he’d done to me was what he’d done to Danny. That, I couldn’t forgive. But what had he been thinking, seducing and sleeping with his best friend’s fiance the week of the wedding? I’d always thought Ryder was a player, but I’d believed he was a loyal friend who cared about Danny and my family.

  What was worse, was that the ramifications of Ryder’s betrayal kept on coming. Danny’s marriage to Phoebe lasted barely three years, and as far as I was concerned, it was never a happy one. I always thought he should have put some of the blame for the affair on her, but bless his heart, Danny had done everything he could to make her happy. They even had a little boy who was the only thing good to come out of that marriage.

  Failure continued to follow Danny in business as well. Right now, he was on his third business idea, and I had no sense it would be any more successful than the last two that failed. I was convinced that Ryder backing out of Danny’s first business jinxed Danny from having success in any venture. Something broke in Danny that day when he caught Phoebe and Ryder together. While I was a big believer that we had to make our own happiness, Danny just couldn’t get himself out from the shadow of Ryder’s betrayal.

  Although we never talked about Ryder, I knew it had to be like salt on a wound for Danny to see Ryder’s success. He’d been a backup quarterback in Nashville, but when he was traded, he was the starting quarterback for the Orcas. Today, Ryder has had four good years with the team, taking them all the way to the playoffs this last season, although he lost in the league championship game. Ryder got hurt during that game when he was sacked, hitting the ground so hard, even the announcers said “ouch” as they watched it. While it was petty, I hoped he suffered.

  If things had been different, perhaps we’d still all be friends, and I’d have driven the two hours south to San Diego to watch his games. But over the last four years, I’d finally accepted Ryder for the selfish, arrogant, man he was. After all my family had done for him, he’d completely cut himself off from us. Of course, we didn’t want him around after what he’d done to Danny.

  Shaking my head of thoughts of Ryder, I weaved my car through the Los Ange
les traffic, reminding myself that I put up with the congestion because the weather was great and my job was awesome. I was excited about today because I was getting a new client. I suspected whoever it was would be difficult because I got the feeling no one above me wanted him. I was okay with difficult clients. Bring it on! If I did well, I’d be in a perfect position to get the promotion I’d been reaching for since I first was hired two years ago.

  I parked my car in the garage and walked into the sleek shiny building built on the backs of movie stars and athletes who needed help maintaining a good image. Most of them were their own worst enemy, but we were pros at rewriting the truth, spinning misdeeds and mistakes into tales that barely skirted the truth. I didn’t lie for a living, but I often felt like a magician, using smoke and mirrors to make the public see something other than the truth.

  “Hey Lawton.” My co-worker Alan tossed me a football. Like me, he worked mostly with athletes, although his were the big-league type, whereas mine tended to be up and comers. They weren’t known yet, but the leagues wanted to keep their images squeaky-clean as they groomed them for the big time. “Big deal today, eh?”

  I caught the ball and threw it back. “Bigger than yours, I bet.”

  He laughed. “I love that about you. No humility.” Alan was one of the first friends I’d made when I moved to California. He was about twenty years older than me but acted like an eight-year-old. He was a quintessential ladies’ man, but somehow that was charming about him. With me though, he treated me like I was just one of the guys, which was fine. Right now, my focus was on my career. I had no interest in romance, especially after what happened with Ryder. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to know a good man from a dud. Admittedly, an orgasm from a long firm dick would have been nice now and again, but it turned out fake dicks worked okay. It wasn’t the same, but at least a dildo wouldn’t break my heart or betray my brother.

  “It’s a cutthroat world, Alan.”

  “No doubt.”

  I walked into my office, and put my purse in my desk, and then looked over my calendar to get my bearings for the day.

  My phone buzzed. “Mr. Rasnor is here with his client,” the secretary I shared with a couple other publicists said.

  “Send him in.” The fact that it was Mr. Rasnor was what had clued me into a big client. Ray Rasnor managed several well-known and high profile NFL and NBA players.

  I stood, smoothing my pencil skirt and tugging my jacket down. Long gone was the frumpy girl I’d once been. My glasses were gone, my hair was still long, but trimmed every six weeks to keep it healthy and full. I still had my curves, but a few sessions with a stylist taught me how to dress to accentuate them. I could kill ‘em in a power suit and wow them at a gala.

  The door opened and Mr. Rasor walked in. “Ms. Lawton? I’m Ray Rasnor.”

  “Yes.” I held out my hand to greet him. A second man entered, and I nearly tripped over my own feet. “This is my client, Ryder Malloy.”

  Oh hell no. Of all the people that could have walked in my door, it never occurred to me it would be Ryder. Although, I’m not sure why I didn’t consider him. Of all the well-known athletes, Ryder more than anyone was in need of an image upgrade. He didn’t give a shit about people. He never did any sort of charity work or appearances other athletes did. If he was in the news, it was usually because of a bar brawl, or one of his latest women taking a picture of his junk and posting it on social media. It always got taken down, but not before enough people saw it to make the news.

  If it had been anyone other than Ryder, I’d have been jacked up with excitement about representing a bad boy. I loved challenges. And deep down, the public liked bad boys with a heart of gold. But I hated Ryder Malloy, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get my own feelings out of the way enough to help him. How could I make the public like a man I despised? Why would I want to help the man who betrayed my family gain love and adoration from the public? He didn’t deserve it.

  “Katie?” Ryder stared at me like he didn’t recognize me. He wouldn’t. Despite the spectacular sex we’d… or I’d had with him four years ago, I wasn’t his type. And I didn’t look the same. I was young and naïve back then. Today I was a bad-ass publicist.

  On the outside, he, of course, was the same, only better. His chest and shoulders seemed broader, his hair blonder, probably from the southern California sun, and his eyes, as crystalline blue as I remembered. I had to remind myself that this was the man who’d betrayed my brother. It was hard because my hormones remembered how his large hands had touched me, how his lips had kissed me, and I wondered if his being broader in the chest meant that other parts of him had gotten larger as well.

  Get a grip! “I go by Kate now.”

  “You know each other?” Mr. Rasnor asked.

  “We grew up together.” Ryder’s eyes studied me, although not sexually He seemed more curious. There might even have been a hint of sadness or regret, but I was probably projecting that. Ryder wouldn’t care about what he’d done to me and Danny. He probably didn’t even think he’d done anything wrong.

  I put my hand behind my back so I didn’t slap him for being an asshole and walked to my desk. I didn’t see how I could represent him, but I couldn’t very well toss him from my office without at least having the meeting. My boss might fire me for refusing a meeting. But I felt certain I could convince him that Ryder wasn’t a client this firm wanted.

  “Please sit.” I extended a hand toward the chairs in front of my desk.

  “Small world,” Mr. Rasnor said looking to Ryder. His expression suggested that my past with Ryder could be a benefit for him. Sorry, dude.

  Mr. Rasnor sat in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

  “I didn’t realize you were in California,” Ryder said as he sat in the chair next to Mr. Rasnor.

  Only because you betrayed and left us behind. “Yes.” But I would not get reminiscent about our pasts. I was all business now.

  “It’s no secret that Ryder here could use a little positive press,” Mr. Rasnor started.

  I snorted, which was unprofessional, but hey, that was the biggest understatement in the history of the world. “Sorry.”

  Ryder grimaced, and his manager sighed.

  I cleared my throat. “Is it just good press you want, or are you hoping it will lead to endorsements too?”

  “Ryder is looking out for his financial future, so endorsements are a goal.”

  I wondered if Ryder ever spoke for himself. “It will take more than positive press to change his image.”

  Both Ryder and Rasnor frowned.

  “The thing is if he continues to get bad press, that will trump any positive media coverage he can get. And since Mr. Malloy has done nothing to garner positive feelings towards him—”

  “I nearly won the league championship,” Ryder grumbled, looking annoyed. I’m sure he thought having sexy good looks and a winning throwing arm should be enough to make the world love him. Why have substance when you have a big dick and lots of money?

  “Outside of football,” I clarified. “He’s starting from a pretty big deficit. I suppose you know that if you get injured and can’t play, your appeal will drop like a lead balloon.”

  Ryder sat back with his hands clasped over his abdomen like he didn’t have a care in the world, but his jaw tensed and his knee bounced like he was agitated. Good. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. I enjoyed putting him in his place.

  “Why is it you’re so averse to visiting sick kids in a hospital or some other good-will work?” I asked.

  “Ryder is a private man,” Mr. Rasnor said.

  This time I was able to hold back the snort, but I lifted a brow in a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me expression. I turned to my computer and did an image search using Ryder’s name. When the results came up, I turned the screen to them.

  “You mean private like this?” The screen was filled with images of Ryder with women, getting into fisticuffs with the other team’s fans or in a ba
r, and various other questionable behaviors. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it, Mr. Malloy?”

  If I’d jumped over the desk and pummeled Ryder, I don’t think my statement would have stunned him more. To be honest, it surprised me that came from my lips. It was a testament to how much I hated him that I’d compare him to his drunken, abusive father.

  The shock and the pain that crossed his face almost made me feel bad. Almost, but not quite.

  He turned to Rasnor. “Let’s go.”

  Mr. Rasnor’s eyes narrowed at me, and I knew he’d probably complain to my boss, which would then lead to me getting a lecture about being unprofessional.

  Then he turned to Ryder, “If you want to secure your financial future, we need this.” Then he turned back to me. “Can I have a minute with my client?”

  I shrugged and stood. “Want coffee or something?”

  Both men shook their heads. I walked out of the office, not sure if I was glad or worried about Ryder not wanting to hire me. I truly didn’t want to represent him, and at the same time, he could be the client that got me moving upward in my career. And if I could change his bad-boy image, holy cow, I’d be seen as a PR genius. I had to admit, there was an appeal to that. All I’d have to do is swallow my hate for him, which I felt certain I couldn’t do.

  At this point, I might not have a choice. Depending on what Mr. Rasnor and Ryder decided, I could be out no matter what.

  I left my office and headed toward the coffee machine.

  “Not even you can make Ryder Malloy into a media darling.” Alan laughed and shook his head. “No one could.”

  My inner competitor rose up. “Wanna bet?”

  He cocked his head. “Think about what you’re saying, Lawton.”

  “I am. Name the terms.” I didn’t know what I was doing Alan was right. It would take a miracle to make Ryder look like an angel. But I didn’t like Alan questioning my PR talent.

  “I’ll make it easy. At least one multi-million dollar endorsement. It can’t be for condoms or sex toys though.”