RYDER
Our band of misfits, young and old, almost filled the jet. How did my life evolve to this? All we wanted to do was play music, and now we had a whole new generation of musicians traveling with us.
“Hey, Ryder,” Chandler called as she and KeeMac made their way toward me. Looking at my beautiful daughter, a sense of pride welled up deep inside me. I had no right to feel this way. She’d had to work so hard to get to me. She’d lived an easy life, but for some reason, it seemed like her childhood lacked in some ways.
Thinking about all I’d missed sent fountains of guilt pouring over me. I should have been more diligent in finding her mother. I should have been a better boyfriend and never allowed Lainey to drive home alone that night. I should have been sitting beside her when she saw the test results. God, I hated myself for letting the years slip through my fingers.
“Ryder…” she put her hand on mine, “… what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, baby girl.” I took her small hand in mine wondering how it felt holding it when she was truly a baby girl.
She leaned over to speak softly, “You look so sad like you’ve lost your best friend.”
Kissing the back of her hand, I murmured, “When you’re with me, I’m never sad.” I tried deflecting her comments, but she saw right through my attempts.
“You know you can tell me anything. I feel like we’ve been through hell already, so everything else has to be heaven, right?”
How did I get this lucky? “Little girl, I love the woman you’ve become. My only wish is I could take some credit for it.”
She met my face with a soft smile. “The good thing is we have the rest of our lives to mold each other into a great family, and that’s going to be so much longer than the first twenty-one years.”
I nodded at her. Luckiest fucker alive.
The jet settled out at thirty thousand feet when the attendant came out with beverages. They never offered me alcohol, but the others drank around me. It used to bother me, but now it feels like another lifetime ago. Nothing about drinking appealed to me anymore.
“Hey, I thought that pretty little photographer would be on the ride over with us,” Joel called from across the aisle.
“Thought so, too, but she had other plans for today. Had to get back sooner than we all wanted to roll out.” I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but Chandler came aboard with other plans for me.
“Ryder?” I barely heard her whisper.
“Yes?” I said without opening my eyes.
“I wanted to talk to you about G’Anna.”
“Is that right? What about her?”
“You know it’s okay to have a girlfriend.”
This caused me to grin still having my eyes closed. “A girlfriend at my age is kinda funny.”
“No, it’s not. Why should you be alone?” She wasn’t going to let this go either. Chandler reminded me of a bulldog I once had, only a lot prettier.
“I’m a grown man, Chandler. I’ll decide if I need a girlfriend.”
“I just thought when I saw G’Anna in our suite, that maybe, you know…” she trailed off.
“I know, huh?”
KeeMac chimed in. “She’s trying to tell you that it’s okay to sleep with women in your own damn room.”
“Is that right? Well, I guess I’d have never figured that out.” I shook my head. His bluntness never ceased to amaze me.
“Hell yeah. Chan’s afraid you’re lonely even with all of us around. If our being in your room is stopping you, we’ll move to our own room.” Chandler swung her head around and mouthed something at him. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
I snickered to myself. “Look, baby girl, if I want a female in my room, I’ll take care of it. You worry about keeping the big guy beside you happy.”
“He is happy. Look at him.” KeeMac’s genuine smile told me they were good. “We want you to be happy, too.”
“What are you getting at Chandler?”
“G’Anna is a great woman. She’s easy to get along with, and I happen to know she’s not currently involved with anyone.”
“Oh yeah. That’s good to know.” I peeled one eye open and looked at her. “So, no one waiting back in Austin for her?”
“No, I’ve never seen her with a guy or even talk about one. I’m guessing it’s been a while, so she’s definitely on the market.”
“Baby girl, she is not a piece of meat. Please don’t say things like that about her. We’ve spent some time together this weekend, and I enjoyed every minute of it. We’ll see where it goes, but don’t worry about me I can take care of my own love life.”
“The thing is… I don’t want you to feel like it’s going to make things weird for us. I’m not a little kid who has to approve of the person you see or is going to be angry that you’re trying to take my mother’s place.”
I turned and looked at her. I’d never considered this for one minute. “Has this been bothering you?”
She nodded her head. “I wasn’t trying to pry or anything but… I might have asked the other members of Steel about the women you’ve been seeing.” She held up her hands when my eyebrows shot to my hairline. “Wait. Don’t get all mad. I simply asked if you had a girlfriend and if you’d had many over the years.”
“Why would you ask them that? Why in the hell didn’t you ask me? I’ll always tell you the truth, Chandler.”
“I know, but I didn’t know if you’d get angry talking about other women in your life.”
“Let me tell you this, baby girl. There is nothing you can’t ask me. I’m here for you until the day I die. I meant what I said earlier.” She obviously needed more assurance about me.
“So, did I. That’s why I wanted to talk to you about women.”
“What you’re saying is all of this conversation started, so you could ask me about G’Anna?” She nodded her head. “G’Anna and I are good, Chandler. I spoke to her this morning before I got out of bed. I told the truth about her leaving. She had some work to do in her office so she can leave on the tour. That’s the reason she left early, and she’s already back there now.” The longer I spoke, the bigger Chandler’s smile got. “Are we good on this subject now?”
“Yes, we’re good.” She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “We’re perfect.” I pulled her to me. Getting a hug from your daughter couldn’t be any sweeter.
Large SUVs waited on the tarmac close to the hangar as we disembarked the jet. The band went their separate ways as everyone was ready to spend time around Austin before the long trip across to Europe. We parked in the parking garage of the hotel where I currently called home.
As KeeMac stepped out from the back seat and Chandler followed, he said, “I think we’re going to head back to my house to get things arranged to leave.”
“I thought you two were going to stay with me here.” I didn’t want to go back to spending my time alone.
Chandler spoke up, “We are, but we need to go start gathering all the things we need for the trip. We’ll be back later this evening before dinner.”
“Oh, right. I’m sure y’all have a lot to do to get ready for being gone for four months.” I waved to them as the car backed out of the lot. The bellman had taken my luggage, so I caught the elevator.
The walk into my suite felt empty and lonely. This triggered my depression. I’d learned to deal with my problems a long time ago. Staying busy was key, so I pulled my phone out and texted G’Anna.
Ryder: Busy
G’Anna: Not terribly. Put out a few fires
Ryder: Any burn you :)
G’Anna: No, thank God
Ryder: Plans
G’Anna: No, but I’m thinking about a nap. The flight was too early
Ryder: Come over and sleep here. My room is empty
G’Anna: Hadn’t been home yet. Come to my house
Ryder: Talked me into it. Address?
I rummaged around in the closet and pulled out the two helmets for my Harley and my leather jacket. It had been forever since I’d ridden it, but it traveled with the roadies, so I always had it. Riding my girl always made me feel free especially around the Austin area. I knew great places to ride for miles without traffic once you got outside the city.
She started up with the sweet rumble—music to my ears. I took shipment on the custom Harley about five years after we made it big. A ride settled my nerves when I had her beneath me. Convincing G’Anna to ride the bike with me might take some doing, but how could she say no to this beauty?
I pulled up to her home in an area west of downtown. Cute little house that looked like something she’d choose. I shut the bike down and walked to the door. It popped open before I could hit the first knock.
“Oh, wow. I heard that sound and knew it had to be you.” Her beauty caused an instant balm to my loneliness.
I turned and looked at the bike. “Yeah, not something you’d want to use to sneak up on someone.”
“Come in. I walked in maybe five minutes ago myself.” She turned and headed back into the house. “Want something to drink?”
When I walked in the kitchen area, an excellent sight greeted me. A perfect peach stuck up as she dug around in the refrigerator. “I have some diet drinks, tea, wine, sparkling water. Anything sound good?”
She peeked over her shoulder and busted me staring. She grinned at me and stood up quickly. “Guess that was an interesting view, huh?”
“Better than interesting, in my book.” I stepped forward and pulled her into my arms pressing my lips to hers. I heard the fridge door shut before I pushed her into the smooth stainless steel. I licked across the seam of her lips, and she opened allowing me access to her soft tongue.
Her hand looped around the back of my neck as she leaned her head to allow us both better access to deepen the kiss. As we dueled for space, I couldn’t help pressing harder into her, grinding against her. I felt a slight hint of hipbones against my lower abs. Her body fitted to mine ideally with her curves submitting against my sharp angles when I pushed against them.
I felt like a teenager when my dick stirred to life with the easy contact. Damn, this wasn’t going to be simple to control. Maybe I didn’t want to control my pleasure with G’Anna. She would shut it down if I came on too strong too quickly.
The kiss broke, but I continued down from the corner of her mouth, across her smooth cheek to her jaw leaving soft kisses. I didn’t want this moment end, and I needed her to know I wanted her.