Unforgettable

by Alexander, S. B.

“I know that.”

  “Is that why you took advantage of me tonight?”

  I rumbled with laughter. “Fact number one—you barged into my room. Fact number two—you took advantage of me. Shall I go on?”

  Her cheeks flamed. “We can’t do this again.” She pivoted on her heel.

  “Haven, one question.”

  Hunching her shoulders, she froze.

  “If your old man doesn’t want you near me, then why did you agree to do the fundraiser?”

  “It’s for a good cause,” she said as she headed for the door.

  I padded over to her before she walked out. “Oh, and one more thing.”

  She turned, her eyes roaming all over me.

  Inwardly, I grinned. She didn’t want to leave. I would guess it was taking some strong fucking willpower on her part to walk out.

  Hell, my own resolve had a crack in it, which was so unlike me. Usually, I had to kick women out of my bed. But I wanted to keep Haven, play with her, and not let her out of my sight.

  I caged her against the door. “I have a new nickname for you.” I seated my hand in between her legs. “Do you want to hear it?” I began rubbing.

  She closed her eyes, lowering her shoulders. “Nope.”

  I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Do you want to fuck me?”

  She humped my hand. “Nope.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t want my cock inside you? You don’t want to experience how wonderful I can make you feel?”

  She spewed soft noises.

  “Or how about my tongue again?”

  She pushed me away, but I didn’t move.

  “Stop,” she said weakly.

  I guided her hand to my groin. “He wants you. One more hour. Then you can go.”

  Her eyes flew open. “Nope.”

  “I’ll make a prediction, then. I had you in my bed, and I’ll have you there again. Only the next time, I’m going to fuck your brains out and ruin you for any other guy.”

  She snarled. “You’re an ass.”

  It was my turn to walk away with a grin the size of Texas.

  “What’s my new nickname?” she asked.

  “The Foreplay Queen.”

  Giggling, she opened the door. When she did, Beverly breezed in.

  Women. Tabitha, Haven, and now Beverly. I was all for women in my room, but I wasn’t interested in Beverly or Tabitha.

  “Are you here to take pictures of me again?” Haven asked, not moving from the doorway.

  Music floated up from below.

  Beverly pursed her flaming-red lips. “I didn’t take any pictures.”

  For some odd reason, I believed her. At the moment, she didn’t have a phone in her hand either.

  She blew past Haven and made herself comfortable on the edge of my bed. “Ryker, we need to talk.”

  I gripped the doorjamb to the bathroom. “The party is downstairs.” The last time she had been in my room, she’d wanted to screw me.

  Beverly folded her arms over her breasts. “Alone. That means you can leave, Haven.” She flicked her hand, shooing Haven.

  My little minx regarded me as though she were asking if I wanted her help. It was probably best Haven didn’t stay if she was worried about her old man.

  “Wait.” Beverly examined Haven then me. “Did you two just fuck?”

  Haven laughed, but it sounded somewhat neurotic.

  “What do you want?” I asked Beverly.

  Beverly eyed the shoebox on my nightstand.

  I rushed over to put the cover on the box then shoved it into the top drawer of my dresser. Nosy fucking family between her and Tabitha.

  “Talk, Beverly, or get out,” I said harshly.

  “What did you do to my sister?”

  I hated nosy people. “I didn’t do anything to Tabitha except throw her out of my room, like I might do to you.”

  “She’s saying you hurt her,” Beverly said.

  Haven reared back. “He’s done no such thing. When she left, she was in perfect condition.”

  Alarm bells went off in my head. It was never good when a woman cried that a guy had hurt her. Even incidents that were innocent could grow like a bad virus.

  “She was in my room when I came in.” I wanted to give full disclosure, and I didn’t want anyone lying about my actions. If Tabitha decided to blow anything out of proportion, my reputation would sink faster than a boulder in quicksand. “She went through my personal things. So I kicked her out.”

  “I saw him kick her out,” Haven said.

  “Well, she has a bruise on her arm,” Beverly added.

  I had gripped her a little too hard. “Do you really want to make this a big thing? Because I have witnesses that can attest to my actions.” I hadn’t closed the door. Partygoers had been in the hall. So I was sure I had witnesses on my side.

  Haven studied Beverly. “You know something? I think you and your sister have some ulterior motives with Ryker, or maybe me.”

  Beverly fidgeted with a nail. “You’re being paranoid.”

  “No. I’m not,” Haven said. “Anywhere Ryker is, you’re in his face. Your sister wants something. You want something. And I know you’re working for my father.”

  Beverly rose, a scowl forming on her lips. “If you think Ryker is going to give you a second fuck, you’re mistaken. You’re a scrawny thing. Not his type.”

  Haven pushed out her tits. “He didn’t seem to mind these babies. I can promise you my breasts are not scrawny.”

  I held in a laugh. Maybe I would marry Haven Hale. I loved how she made sure no one was going to fuck with her.

  Beverly huffed. “Whatever. Look, Ryker, I don’t want any trouble. I have a sorority to run.” She regarded Haven. “And I’m not working for your father.”

  “What about your sister?” I asked.

  Beverly moved a wad of her hair off her shoulder. “My sister couldn’t even tell you who Senator Hale is. She said she was hurt. I didn’t believe you would do such a thing, but I had to check.”

  “Keep your sister out of my room and away from me. She’s not welcome here anymore.”

  Beverly nodded. “I’ll see you at the fundraising meeting next week, then.” She smoothed a hand down her miniskirt. “I guess I’ll see you too.” She considered Haven before she left.

  “I don’t trust her,” Haven said when we were alone.

  A perfectly good night had turned sour. I was beginning to believe that I should give up women for the time being. Too much drama.

  But as I studied Haven, I thought, No fucking way. I had a feeling she was well worth any drama, including that caused by her old man.

  22

  Haven

  The ballroom at the Marriott was filling up with the contestants participating in the fundraiser. Some were hanging around the bar that was set up adjacent to the door.

  “Do you want a drink?” Vicki asked.

  She wasn’t a contestant, but I’d asked her to tag along. We’d thought we could hit a club for a couple of hours after the meeting. We had class the next day, so we weren’t planning on staying out late.

  “Just water. I’ll grab us seats.”

  She went to the bar while I headed over to the rows of chairs that were facing the podium. A maintenance employee was setting up the mic while men and women lingered around.

  I counted twenty-five people, but I didn’t see Ryker or Lucas.

  Erik swaggered over to me, holding a beer bottle. His brown eyes were filled with mischief and mayhem. “Hey, pretty lady. I see Ryker convinced you.”

  I snickered. “He did no such thing.”

  “He likes you.”

  “He likes all women.”

  Erik held back a grin. “True, but you’ve put a smile back on his ugly mug, and that means something.”

  I slapped a hand over my heart. “I’m touched.”

  He stuck out his bottom lip. “You don’t believe me.”

  Vicki interrupted us, handing me a bottled water. “Wha
t did I miss?”

  Erik casually checked her out. “Have we met?”

  Blushing darker than her rosy makeup, she swept a lock of hair behind her ear. “Vicki Moore.”

  I considered leaving them alone, but I didn’t see anyone I knew, and Ryker wasn’t present.

  Erik pecked the back of Vicki’s hand. “Care to get a drink later?”

  Vicki looked to me for an answer.

  “We can go clubbing another time.”

  “Dancing?” Erik perked up. “I like to dance.”

  Vicki and I exchanged a shocked expression. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the big and burly football player twirling and swaying his hips on a dance floor.

  The two began to talk about dancing and clubs around the campus. I tuned them out as I watched the door for Ryker. Yeah, I was dying to see him. Our sexual escapade was burned in my brain, and so was his dirty talk, which had had me twisted up for days.

  As I faintly heard Vicki and Erik, my mind went on a road trip like it had time and again during the last week. I hadn’t been able to concentrate. I’d barely listened to my instructors, and I’d struggled to do homework. When it came to sleep, I’d tossed and turned and kicked off the sheets. I felt like I was having withdrawals, like a drug addict not getting her next fix.

  As I chewed on a nail, heat pinched my cheeks in anticipation of seeing Ryker. I wondered if he would talk to me or even acknowledge me. Or maybe he’ll be his asshat self.

  Oh my God! I was so screwed.

  You were screwed the minute you met him and even more so when you took advantage of him, Foreplay Queen.

  My cheeks burned. I’d never been forward with a guy. Ryker somehow brought out a side of me that was new and exciting. Maybe knowing he was the Foreplay King only made me want to prove to him that he wasn’t the only one who could wow a partner in the bedroom. After all, I did like a good challenge. Still, our rapturous, intense, and unforgettable night was something I wanted to do again and again.

  He’s not that guy. He doesn’t do long-term relationships. “One and done.” That was Ryker James’s motto, at least according to the scuttle around the dorm.

  We could never be a couple, not with my father in the picture.

  Vicki touched my arm. “Are you okay, Haven? You look pale.” She felt my head like my mom had done many times when I was a little girl not feeling well. “No fever.”

  When I blinked, Erik was near the podium, talking with Ajax and Vin, and more people had shown up.

  “I’m fine. Maybe after this, I might go back to the dorm.”

  “No, you’re not. Erik wants to take us to a club. Besides, I know what your problem is—withdrawal from Mr. Big Dick.”

  The only thing I’d shared with Vicki was confirmation that Ryker’s dick was big. In fact, it was huge.

  Nevertheless, after a month of living with me, Vicki could read me like a book. But I didn’t get the chance to confirm or deny her statement before Beverly Sims glided in with her sister on her heels.

  Vicki followed my line of sight.

  “Is Tabitha in the lineup?” I murmured.

  The sisters could pass as twins, not only because of their physical attributes, but they both wore red miniskirts, black scooped-neck tops, and wedge sandals. The only slight difference in their appearance was that Beverly wore her hair up off her shoulders and Tabitha let her blond waves hang free.

  Vicki sipped on her soda. “I checked the website earlier. I didn’t see her name.”

  “Did Tabitha rush for her sister’s sorority?” I asked.

  “No. Word around the house was that Tab wasn’t interested in being under her sister’s thumb.”

  It was clear that Beverly stood up for her younger sister regardless of what the rumor was about Tabitha.

  “I still believe Beverly had something to do with taking that pic of Ryker and me that first night I met him.”

  “Maybe it was her sister,” Vicki said. “They both have the same features.”

  Possibly. I dipped back into my memory bank, trying to recall anything else about the woman other than blue eyes and blond hair. But I’d been in such a hurry to get Ryker a washcloth that nothing else had stuck in my brain.

  The door creaked open, and Ryker swaggered in, looking just as delicious in his ripped jeans and Lakemont T-shirt as he did naked.

  The air in my lungs evaporated.

  “Close your mouth, Haven. It’s impolite to drool,” Vicki said through a laugh.

  I inhaled and shook off the yummy chills that wracked my body.

  “You’re in so much trouble,” she cooed.

  In more ways than one.

  Tabitha sashayed right up to Ryker before Beverly could stop her.

  Most of the thirty or so people in the room stopped talking as though they could sense something big was about to go down.

  Ryker tensed his large shoulders, and his biceps flexed at the same time as he held up his hands as though Tabitha were arresting him.

  My feet moved quickly, and my brain shut down as I hurried to his rescue. A laugh broke out in my head at the thought that Ryker James needed rescuing.

  Lifting up on my tiptoes, I flattened my hands against his hard chest and kissed him on the lips. “Hey, honey.” The word “honey” came out a little garbled.

  He winced.

  Asshat.

  But when I stuck my tongue into his mouth, his hands landed on the small of my back, and his body softened as he pulled me to him, taking over the kiss, possessive yet punishing.

  I pressed my body to his, losing myself in the moment. I swore I’d died and gone to a world where the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and water was flowing in the background.

  His tongue invaded me, exploring and taking as though I owed him something.

  Oh, that’s right. I did owe him. He’d wanted more from me last weekend, and I had blown him off.

  Stupid me.

  I should’ve hung around longer rather than run out like a scared puppy who had just lost her momma.

  “Argh,” Tabitha gritted out.

  Ryker broke the kiss, pulling my bottom lip with his teeth as if to say he wasn’t done with me yet.

  I prayed he wasn’t.

  Nevertheless, I bared my teeth as I whirled around. “I’m sorry. Did you have something to say to my boyfriend?”

  Tabitha stuck her hands on her hips. “Ryker doesn’t do girlfriends.”

  Ryker’s hand circled my waist until he seated his palm on my stomach. Now my back was pressed to his front. “How would you know? You don’t know anything about me.”

  Tabitha pressed her lips into a thin line. “I know enough.”

  Beverly flashed us, or maybe just Ryker, an apologetic expression. “Tab, what did I tell you? No trouble.”

  “Why are you even here?” I asked. “You’re not in the lineup.”

  Beverly’s nostrils flared. “My sister is my guest, just as your roomie is yours.” Then the two women stomped away.

  Ryker directed me to a quiet corner as Lucas’s voice blared through the speakers. “Testing, one, two.”

  Ryker poked me in the chest then gestured to himself. “What’s happening here?” He sounded as though I were the dirt beneath his feet.

  I stuck my tongue to the roof of my mouth. “What’s wrong? You don’t kiss?”

  His expression was vacant as he studied me.

  Suddenly, I felt small, weak, and pissed off. “Well?”

  “We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  I wrung my hands in front of me to keep them busy so I didn’t slap him. “Of course not. I was trying to help out a friend.”

  The blank look on his face morphed into surprise as his eyebrows lifted. “I’ve never had a girl as a friend.” He sounded so boyish.

  “Want one?” My heart fluttered at the prospect. Maybe he and I were better as friends.

  I’d had a guy friend once in my sophomore year in boarding school. Greer had been a local and atten
ded the public high school in town. Our friendship, though, hadn’t lasted long. He’d wanted more than friendship, but I hadn’t liked him in the same way.

  That would probably happen with Ryker, only I would want something serious with him. So maybe being friends was a bad idea.

  “What about your old man?”

  “You let me handle my father.” Although I was sure that kiss would get back to my father, especially if Beverly was feeding him intel on me.

  Lucas called Ryker’s name.

  “Got to go.” Then he swaggered his denim-clad hips up to his best friend.

  I was melting into a pile of liquid goo. If I had thought our thirty minutes of bliss the other night was hot, that kiss was hotter.

  Still, I had to ask myself the same question. What was happening?

  Vicki waved me over.

  I put one foot in front of the other and slid into the end chair in the last row. Thank God we weren’t in the front. I was beginning to realize I could only take so much of Ryker.

  “That was scorching,” Vicki whispered. “Everyone was staring.”

  “Did you notice if anyone snapped pics?”

  “I couldn’t tell you. I was riveted on you and him.”

  Great. As Lucas began talking, I started coming up with an excuse for my father. I debated whether I should come clean before anyone else sent him a photo or called him to give him the dirt on me.

  “Doesn’t Lucas look hot?” Vicki’s voice pulled me back to reality.

  “What about Erik?”

  She shrugged. “I can hang out with Erik and not sleep with him.”

  “Tell Erik that,” I said. “He wants you in bed.” I couldn’t blame Erik either. Vicki was pretty. She had silky hair, big doe-brown eyes, and a slim but curvy body, and she was tall. Plus, her legs went on forever.

  “So? Lucas is with other women.”

  “Maybe you should ask Lucas to go out,” I offered.

  “Nah. I might be forward in a lot of situations, but asking a guy out isn’t one of them. My mom taught me to let the guy ask the girl out.”

  “That’s ancient advice. You’re not ancient.”

  She giggled. “Let’s just have a good time tonight.”

  I was all for that.

  Lucas went through his notes on the fundraiser and gave information on the time to arrive, how to dress, and other mundane tasks that would take place. I knew all about fundraisers since my father’s aides had set several up for his campaign.