Braylen
I heard shouting coming from the living room, and although I was extremely tired and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, I had to find out what was causing Ryder to argue so loudly.
For the past several weeks, his mood would switch on a dime. Stress from the club or thoughts of Richard would do it easily enough. Oh, and I couldn’t forget jealousy whenever he stopped by the salon to see me and witnessed me working on some of my male clients—George being his least favorite, of course.
“Yeah? Well I’m tellin’ you. . . .” Silence “No, I’m not signing off on that. I don’t care. Absolutely not.”
I shuffled my bare feet along the hardwood floor until I came to the entrance of the living room. Clenching the sheet tightly around my naked body, I leaned against the wall and waited for him to see me. Some would say I was eavesdropping, but I chose to think I was giving him time to finish his conversation before having to deal with my intrusion.
“I don’t care how many assurances you give me, Rose. Zoe’s my daughter too, and I’m not comfortable with it.” Turning around, he finally spotted me standing there. “I’ll call you back. No, I’ll call you back,” he said through clenched teeth. Ending the call, he threw his phone on the couch. “Ask me again if I get along with Rose?” He snagged his half-full bottle of beer off the counter and chugged down the rest of the contents.
“What happened? Why are you so upset?” I trudged forward and sat on the arm of the sofa. “Do you mind me asking?”
“No, I don’t mind.” He grabbed another beer from the fridge and drank half of it before answering. “She wants to let Zoe go to Ireland with a group of kids from her school.”
“Like a field trip or something?”
“Yeah, somethin’ like that.”
“And why don’t you want her to go?” I knew I was treading a fine line, but I was curious why he was so upset.
“Why?” he shouted, furrowing his brows at me like I was some kind of alien. “Because it’s a foreign fuckin’ country and neither of her parents will be with her.” Okay, that kinda made some sense. “She’s a beautiful girl. Someone’s gonna snatch her up and sell her. The sex trade is alive and booming all over the world.” He paced, trying to regain some semblance of control.
I didn’t know what to say. I’d watched enough shows and read enough books to understand where he was coming from.
“Did you tell Rose those things?”
“She wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise. Ramblin’ and arguin’,” he mumbled.
I wanted to comfort him, to offer him advice, but what did I know about raising kids and what was best for them? What was safe?
Before I knew it, Ryder was standing directly in front of me, his hands resting on my shoulders, his fingers stroking back and forth over my naked skin. “Why don’t you lose the sheet?” I knew what he was doing, distracting himself with the prospect of sex.
“Why don’t you deal with the issue with Zoe before it escalates and causes you to have a stroke?” I arched a brow, enticing him to disagree, but he remained silent. The only indication he was considering it was the slight tick of his jaw.
“I’d rather deal with you.” He tried to tug the sheet from me, but I moved back, falling onto the couch before I could right myself. Ryder laughed, which was a welcome sound indeed, plopped down on the cushion beside me and positioned me on top of him.
Before we started anything, me still shielded and straddling Ryder’s lap, Brutus waddled up next to us and sat at Ryder’s feet. He was still too little to jump onto the couch, although he definitely tried enough times. The only thing the little pup would accomplish was falling on his butt, only to try again. I had to give it to him—he was persistent, much like his owner.
Brutus was one lucky dog, thriving in his new home, his missing limb never slowing him down. I hated thinking what would’ve happened to him had Ryder not followed his gut instinct and trailed the bastard who so carelessly tossed the three-legged puppy from a moving vehicle.
“What’s up, buddy?” Ryder asked, moving me slightly to the side so he could lean over and see him. “Tell Mommy she needs to give me some lovin’.”
“Mommy? Since when am I Mommy?” To say I was shocked was putting it mildly.
“Well . . . I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” He hesitated, and I had no idea what he was gonna bring up. Was him calling me Mommy his subtle way of telling me he wanted to have a baby? Because I was nowhere ready for something like that. Besides, we were still working on our relationship, and some days it was really hard. I tried to move off his lap but he held me in place.
“Stop freakin’ out, babe. You have no idea what I want, so stop overthinking it.” The bastard smiled as I continued to try and stand up. But it was useless. He was too strong and if he didn’t want me going anywhere, I simply wasn’t moving.
“What did you want to talk about?” If he says “baby” I’m gonna throw myself backward and hope Brutus moves out of the way in time.
“I think you should move in with me. You’re here all the time anyway.” He shrugged. “It just makes sense.”
The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Oh, so you don’t want a baby?” Closing my eyes briefly, I could’ve kicked myself.
“What?” He laughed, making the entire scene much more humiliating. “What made you think I wanted a kid?” He continued to chuckle while loosening his grip on me, so I seized the opportunity and swung my leg over his so I could finally plant my feet on the ground. “Hey,” he rumbled, “where do you think you’re goin’? We’re not done talkin’.”
“Then stop laughing at me,” I snapped, unexpectedly irritated with the turn of our conversation. Brutus barked behind me, sticking his nose into our business, and I found myself outnumbered all of a sudden.
I had no time to escape before Ryder hopped off the couch and grabbed my hand. “I’m not laughing at you,” he snickered.
“You still are,” I pointed out.
He finally composed himself. “Let’s try this again. What made you think I wanted a kid?”
“Because you called me Mommy.” Even saying the word made me feel somewhat awkward.
“I said that in reference to Brutus. I wasn’t even thinkin’ about it when I said it.” He crowded my personal space. “It just fit. Besides, I think he likes you better than me.” He looked down at the puppy and feigned annoyance.
“No, he doesn’t.” The words weren’t even fully out of my mouth before Brutus grabbed hold of the bottom of the sheet and tugged. I hadn’t been expecting it, and before I could gather the material to my body, he ran off with it, leaving me completely naked.
“You’re right. He just might like me better after all.”