Unforgettable

by Alexander, S. B.

  The crowd was quiet as they listened.

  “I still need a bio from Haven.” Lucas gazed out at the crowd.

  I raised my hand. “I’ll get that to you tomorrow.” I had one I’d written for my college application, and it didn’t need much tweaking.

  Lucas nodded. “We’re just about sold out of tickets. And before I open the floor to questions, I would like to remind you that as a participant, you’re not allowed to bid on anyone.”

  The ladies in the room booed and pouted.

  Vicki clapped. “Ooh, I’m glad I’m not in it. I can try and snag Lucas.” She sighed. “On second thought, I don’t have that kind of money.”

  There went my chance of buying a date with Ryker.

  “Questions?” Lucas asked.

  Tab, who was sitting in the front, waved her hand. “What happens if someone doesn’t show at the last minute? Do you have stand-ins?” She sounded as though she knew someone might not show. “Because I would like to volunteer.”

  Beverly nudged her then whispered something in her ear.

  Lucas glanced at the front row where Ryker was sitting.

  The chairs were set up in two sections, separated by an aisle. I had a direct line of sight to Tab and Beverly, who were in the section over from me. But Ryker was in the first row in my section, and big heads and poufy hair blocked my line of sight.

  “If someone doesn’t show, then we’re down one person. That’s it. We’re not scrambling to find another,” Lucas said. “Any other questions?”

  “We’re ready to drink,” someone said.

  Lucas held up a stack of flyers. “Make sure you grab one of these. It outlines all the details.”

  The crowd scattered, each person taking a flyer. Some headed to the bar, while others didn’t move, talking to their friends beside them.

  Ryker went up to Lucas and said something in his ear. Lucas lifted his head and pinned his gaze on me. Then Ryker and I locked eyes.

  Erik came over. “What club, ladies? Ajax and Vin are in.”

  At the moment, I wasn’t into going to a club. I was more interested in finishing the conversation Ryker and I were having before Lucas’s speech.

  “Excuse me for a minute,” I said. If Ryker and Lucas were talking about me, then I wanted to know what they were saying.

  I brushed past Tab, who snarled at me. But I didn’t stop. If I did, we would be pulling each other’s hair out. I settled at the podium with Lucas and Ryker. “What’s going on?”

  Flicking his blond curls out of his eyes, Lucas chuckled. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”

  When Lucas melted into the group of people on the floor, Ryker combed a hand through his black hair. It had a bluish hue to it in the bright lights of the room.

  I anchored my hands to my hips. “So what did you say to Lucas? I know it was about me.”

  23

  Ryker

  This woman was doing crazy fucking things to my head and body. She was standing with her tits out, and they were on full display through her tight shirt—round, full, and needing my attention.

  All I could think about was my mouth on her nipples, and I was sure they were puckered tighter than someone sucking on one of those sour gummy candies.

  “I told Lucas we should kick you out of the lineup,” I said as sure as my dick was growing. Good thing I was behind the podium.

  She laughed, wild and free, a sound that sent blood to my groin. “Please do. I’m only in it because, honestly, I was tired of you on my ass.”

  I feigned a pout. “But you liked me gripping your ass the other night.”

  Horror flashed in those big emerald eyes as she glanced at the group standing close to us that included the Sims sisters.

  Follow the yellow brick road.

  I didn’t care who was listening.

  She inched closer to me. Suddenly, her lilac scent began making me dizzy and horny and itching to do a repeat of the other night.

  I swore my libido was on crack. I was a horny bastard but usually not every minute of the day. Hell, I hadn’t been able to get Haven out of my head. Jacking off twice a day had been the norm during the past week.

  She took a play out of my book and poked me in the chest. “Did you hear what I said?”

  I blinked. “I was replaying”—I leaned in close to her ear—“sucking on your tits.”

  She let out a soft moan. “You’re a piece of work.”

  “How about we get out of here?” I asked.

  “Sorry, big guy. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Your moan and body language say otherwise. Besides, you said you wanted to be my friend.”

  “Friend. Not fuck buddy.”

  “Then, friend,” I teased, “want to hold my hand while I do something?”

  Intrigue flashed in her eyes even though her arched brow said she was skeptical.

  Lucas was going to accompany me, but I’d told him I wanted Haven to instead. She wanted to be my friend, and as I had sat through Lucas talking about the event, I’d decided why not. I recalled her telling me that she knew how it felt to lose someone. And she did have a way of calming me, not just in the bedroom. Moreover, that kiss… Fuck me. I’d never kissed a girl like that before. Sure, I’d locked lips and swapped spit, but the kiss between us had packed a punch right to my fucking heart.

  And how bold of her to rescue me from Tabitha. Normally, if a woman had made a move like Haven had, I wouldn’t have kissed her back. No, I would have pushed her away for sure.

  I should run as far away as I could from Haven. Yet deep down in the dark pits of my psyche, I didn’t want to. I was beginning to realize she was a drug I didn’t know I needed and not just in the sex department, and that scared the fuck out of me.

  “You went away again, big guy.” Her voice was alluring, angelic, and velvety—a bull’s-eye to the heart.

  I swallowed the dryness in my throat. “Come on. I promise where we’re going has nothing to do with sex.” The minute I grabbed her hand, something warm traveled up my arm and down into my chest.

  She tugged on my big paw, not moving. “I need to tell Vicki.”

  “Wave to her or send her a text.” If we stopped to talk, we would never get out of there, and I might change my mind about taking her with me. Plus, it was still light outside, and I wanted to get there before dark.

  Vicki was engrossed in conversation, listening to Erik woo her or some shit. Erik had a way of capturing a chick’s attention. He had eyes only for the girl he was talking to, listened intently, and touched her arm or moved her hair behind her ear. Chicks loved that shit, according to Erik.

  I’d never seemed to have a problem getting a girl in my bed without doing any of those things.

  Of course, Haven, strong-willed and not listening to me, strode over to Vicki, whispered in her ear, then returned. “Now I’m ready.”

  Erik gave me a nod and a grin, as did Ajax, Vin, and Lucas, who were near Erik and Vicki. My buddies knew where I was going.

  The Sims sisters watched Haven and me leave with evil in their eyes. I would also bet every other girl in that room was paying attention.

  I didn’t give a fuck. Let them talk. Hell, I was always part of a rumor or the talk on campus. That came with being the star quarterback. And Haven had her own celebrity status with her old man being a senator. It was almost impossible to do anything without a rumor spreading like the plague for either one of us.

  Once we were in my car, she buckled her seat belt. “You haven’t been drinking. Have you?”

  I fired up the engine. “You tasted me with that kiss. What do you think?” I might be pouring a fifth of liquor down my throat when we were done, although I was praying I wouldn’t need any booze with her at my side.

  She twirled her hair around in her hand and brought it forward so that it draped down her chest. “Fair enough.”

  I salivated to be that hand.

  Focus on the road, dude.

  So I wheeled my old man’s Infin
ity into traffic. He’d loved that car, but mine had been totaled when I’d rammed it into a tree. Yeah, I was still ticking away at my ten hours of campus duty.

  “Where are we going?” Haven sounded worried.

  “The cemetery.”

  She tucked her hands underneath her legs and gazed out the passenger’s-side window. “My mom is buried there.”

  Fuck me.

  I was a dick, bastard, asshole, and the list went on, but I wasn’t one to shove death in someone’s face. I pulled off into a gas station. “I wasn’t thinking. I’ll take you back.”

  She reached over the leather console and touched my thigh. “Don’t. I told you at the church you could talk to me. It’s hard to go through one death, let alone four. So if you need me to hold your hand, I’m your friend. I haven’t been to my mom’s grave in a while. I’m due anyway. You know, two birds, one stone, and all.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I am. But I don’t understand why you wanted me to come along.”

  In part, I didn’t either. “Lucas has been my rock. But he needs a break.” He’d been by my side every minute of the day. The man was made of steel, but he needed to let loose and not worry about my ass. “I need someone to hold my hand. I like your hand.”

  She squeezed my thigh. “So that was what you said to Lucas when you both looked at me?”

  “Yeah.” I probably should’ve asked her instead of dragging her out of the hotel, although she hadn’t protested. But I was finding the woman was making me do crazy things.

  I got back on the road. As we made our way through town, passing quaint shops and restaurants, silence followed us, but she kept her hand on me.

  I swore if she took it away, I might cry.

  Within fifteen minutes, I was flicking on my blinker as I pulled into Lakemont Cemetery and parked not far from where my family was buried. The funeral director had set up the gravestones earlier that day. Since I’d had football practice and then the fundraiser meeting, I couldn’t get away. In part, I’d been procrastinating. I hadn’t been able to muster up the courage. That was another reason why I hadn’t been thinking when I’d dragged Haven out of the hotel.

  Dread sat heavy in my stomach and only increased when I got out of the car.

  Haven joined me, propping her hip against the car. “I’ll give you a minute.”

  I closed my hand over hers. “No way.” I’d brought her there to hold me up.

  She didn’t object and instead gripped my hand as though she were trying to say, “I got you.”

  I prayed like hell she did because the moment I laid eyes on the headstones, my pulse banged in my ears like a drummer doing a solo performance.

  Mom was buried on one end and Dad on the other, with my brother and sister in between. Each headstone was inscribed with their names, their dates of birth and death, and their epitaphs, which Aunt Kari and I had collaborated on.

  As I stared at my mom’s stone, I covered my mouth with my free hand.

  Mom’s epitaph read, “Flowers are your sunshine.” My mom had loved gardening, and she’d had a thing for colorful flowers.

  Then I read Dad’s. “Taking chances is the only way to succeed.”

  Randal’s was next. “Your laughter was always infectious.” My brother had laughed all the time at just about anything. If I’d been having a sucky day, he would make me forget why.

  I saved Leigh’s for last. I knew once I read hers, the tears would come. Hers read, “You were always the rainbow in the storm.”

  I blew out an audible breath.

  Haven let go of me and hooked her arm in mine. “It’s okay to let it out. No judgment.”

  I wasn’t worried about her judging me. I was worried about having a heart attack.

  As I stared at Leigh’s headstone, I dropped to my knees. How had my life come to this? Why were they taken from me? I wanted to scream my lungs out or punch the oak tree behind us.

  Then Haven began rubbing my back. “Let it go, Ryker,” she said in her angelic voice. “I got you.”

  Fuck if that didn’t trigger the waterworks. One tear rolled down my face, then another. I couldn’t even think of the last time I’d cried. But the more I thought about Leigh and Randal and my parents, the more the tears started flowing. I inhaled deeply, smelling the myriad of flowers that surrounded the headstones, or maybe it was Haven’s lilac scent. Either way, the sweet aroma did nothing to ease the pain or the tears.

  “That’s it.” Haven’s voice was just a whisper as she continued to rub my back. The more she did, the more the tears poured out, like a rushing waterfall after a hard rain.

  Haven knelt beside me and took my hand. “The hardest thing for me when my mom died was reading her gravestone. Something about seeing the inscription punctured a hole in my heart. I cried like a baby that day, and when I was done, I felt a little less suffocated. I’m not going to give you clichés about healing, and I can’t tell you it will get easier. But do those things that will make them proud and happy as they watch down over you.”

  “Living my dream of playing for the NFL would make my old man happy. Finding love would make my mom and Leigh happy. As for Randal, he would be stoked to see me laugh with him.”

  “Then do those things.” A tear ran down her cheek. “And laugh as much as you can.”

  I didn’t want to be cocky and say playing for the NFL was easy because it wasn’t. I hadn’t had any scouts talk to me yet, but I still had one year of college to go after this year. As far as finding love or a steady girl… well, that would be like trying to climb Mount Everest.

  “I didn’t know your family, but reading their epitaphs, I would say they were awesome people, especially your sister.”

  More tears flowed as I clutched Haven’s hand as though she were my lifeline. “Leigh was special.” My voice cracked.

  She sniffled. “You two were close?”

  “Very.”

  “Tell me something about her.”

  With my free hand, I wiped my nose. “She was brave and full of life. She worried about me, though. She worried that I would be a single man the rest of my life. She wanted me to find a steady girl. She thought love could tame the beast inside me. Her words exactly.”

  Haven giggled through another sniffle. “I wish I could’ve met her.”

  “She would’ve liked you.”

  The trees around us rustled as if Leigh were telling me she agreed.

  Suddenly, I was bombarded with memories as though I were on a battlefield. My childhood flashed before me, and I could hear Randal’s laugh as if he were right there. I could see my mom’s smile as though she were standing behind her gravestone.

  I shivered as I listened to my old man tell me to stay focused on football. “Keep your sights on the NFL.”

  I could even see Leigh smiling at me.

  I threw my face in my hands. Why? Why did the plane crash? What went wrong? My old man had been flying the private jet. He’d been meticulous about maintenance and repairs. But sadly, I would never know the reason, and even if I did, it wouldn’t change the fact that they’d died.

  More tears started streaming down until I was laboring for breath.

  Haven leaned her head on my arm. “I’m here for you.”

  I wanted to ask her why she would console a man she hardly knew. Maybe she was turning out to be someone I could count on, someone I could turn to.

  Before I could think, I was sobbing in her arms like a little boy.

  She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her holding me, rubbing me, crying with me said so much. I knew she had to be mourning her mom, but I also could feel her empathy, sympathy, and so much more.

  I shoved my hands into her hair and rested my forehead against hers. “Why are you here, Haven?” I was asking myself more than I was asking her.

  She batted her long lashes. “Because I’m your friend.”

  In that moment, time came to a screeching halt as I captured her lips in mine in a tender,
soft, and gentle kiss. Something inside me changed—blooming, twisting, flipping, and flopping—masking the pain I’d been accustomed to since that fatal day.

  I slid my tongue into her mouth as she opened for me. One hand cupped her cheek, and the other seated on the back of her neck. My breathing was staccato as I took my time to explore.

  She was putty in my hands. Maybe she was allowing me to release my sorrow and my pain. But I knew that was a lie because she was breathing as hard as I was.

  She tasted of sunshine and home, and I didn’t want to stop. The more I kissed her, the more that stabbing pain eased its hold on me.

  I adjusted us so my ass was on the ground and she was straddling me, just like the first night in my media room when I’d known nothing about her and the feeling of her on top of me had been lust, pure and strong.

  But now I didn’t want to splay her out and have my way with her. I wanted her, no needed her, to make me forget that I was alone on this planet, to make me forget that my family was dead, to make me forget that when daylight came the next day, that I would be okay.

  Her hands danced through my hair as she nibbled on my lip, kissed my cheeks, my eyes, then my neck. Her gentleness was suffocating yet freeing. I’d always been rough with women when it came to sex, but this was far from sex.

  What was happening between us was intimate and special, and I didn’t want it to end.

  I let my head fall back. “Kiss me.” I needed her mouth on mine. I needed to not stop kissing her because the more our mouths were fused together, the more the pain inside me didn’t exist. It had no place to flourish, bloom, and grow.

  Her tongue swept inside my mouth as she spewed soft noises.

  Tears careened down my face. “You’re changing me.”

  She kissed away every one of my tears. “I got you, big guy. Whatever you need.”

  I needed a friend, but she was turning into so much more.

  24