Chapter 14
Ryker warned me earlier this week that the next few days are going to be really busy for him. He wasn’t lying. I’ve not seen him other than keeping to my word and running at the gym Monday and Tuesday. I was able to watch him do what he’s good at while he was sweaty and flexing his ego-boosted muscles. But unfortunately, when I was done, I had to leave him behind and go home alone as he pushed on. I only get to talk to him for a few minutes at night if I’m awake when he gets home, and he takes a five-minute break to talk to me before I go to work. All this not being around him…It only makes me miss him more.
When I talked to him this morning, he sounded so tired and worn out my heart wept for him. He told me Daniel and Flynn were going to run him into the ground today since tomorrow he’s leaving for Texas. He warned if I were to come this afternoon, he more than likely wouldn’t be able to give me much attention. I decided against running all together, and told him to text me when he was done.
But I’m impatient and didn’t notice how much I thrived from observing him do what he does. Plus, I’m falling madly…blindly in love with him, so I’m going to surprise him with something to eat, even if it only grants me his smile. Staying on the safe side of his diet, I grab a grilled chicken wrap and sneak in a brownie. To be silly and to bring him a matching grin, I’ve written I’ll do squats for dinner on the bag. He can be mad at me all he wants. He won’t do anything about it…he can’t.
Massive boobs isn’t manning the door when I enter through the gym’s front doors. I make my way to his secluded training area of the gym wading through the gym’s main area. It’s busy with men and women working on various machines—several men using weights, more women using the ellipticals.
Quietly, I pull open the door and step in. Ryker’s in the ring with a much larger sparring partner than he had the other day as camera flashes come at him from all angles, illuminating the room with quick bursts of strobes. Daniel and Flynn are off to the side watching and looking peeved at the many people photographing him. Instead of interrupting, I step to the side in the corner and watch with pride.
The man who’s interested in me, the same man I’m falling head over heels for is a sexy as hell MMA fighter. I would’ve never guessed I’d be in this…relationship? Are we in one? We’ve never discussed it. I’ve been so caught up in him, I’ve failed to talk to him about the exclusivity between us. He’s a fool to think I’d go anywhere else. He’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of. But am I to him?
A well-dressed man in a dark gray button up shirt and black slacks yells for them to stop and for Ryker to step beside the punching bags. I watch in awe as Ryker wipes his forehead with the back of his glove and strides with his shoulders pulled back and every titillating muscle I’ve licked flexing with his movements.
Abruptly, my breath gets sucked from me as two beautiful, nearly naked women—both in azure colored bikini tops and the shortest damn shorts ever made—step beside him. They pose running their hands all over his body. Cameras flash as the women move and caress his skin. The brunette on his right says something and the trio laughs causing another burst of flashes.
The man in the gray shirt says something I can’t quite understand and Ryker poses again as if he’s about to fight, in the stance he’s taught me. The photographers click away.
A stunning, drop dead gorgeous brunette with long wavy hair, sporting an azure blue mini skirt dress and tall black boots up to her thighs sashays toward Ryker. She hangs off his arm, his side, and then drags her finger down his spine as photos are being snapped. He chuckles, shaking off the shudder it caused, grinning to her.
I’ve seen photoshoots before. None of this magnitude and definitely none so sexy, especially with a man I’m consumed with.
I watch in disgust at the multiple women pawing at him when something is called out and Ryker’s body visibly relaxes. He’s looking down, taking off his gloves when the flock of women surround him. At first, he pays them no attention as he walks to the side of the ring and leans against it. But one of the brunettes is desperately trying to get his attention, dramatically flipping her hair flirtatiously while the blonde continues to trace his arm with her fingers.
He watches the blonde the most, but peculiarly eyeing them both. When their hair moves off their shoulders, his eyes move. When their hips lean closer, his head moves toward the action. One of the women says something and they all laugh, the women more coquettishly.
Jealousy has my blood boiling. I feel like I’m going to get sick. I’m trembling in outrage.
The damn brunette leans into him, pressing her palm to the center of his chest and he smiles peering down at her. He bends as she stretches to her tiptoes and whispers something into his ear. Whatever it is she said has his eyes widening and his smile stretches into a large grin as he scrapes his teeth across his bottom lip. He looks up to the man in the dark gray shirt and shakes his head.
My heart sinks, dropping to the floor in anguish, smashing in hurt. I don’t know what the hell I’m witnessing, but I’m through torturing myself. If I’ve ever needed to know what being with him will be like, this is all the proof I need and I don’t like it. I let the bag fall where I stand before turning on my heel and storming out.
Tears threaten me as I rush out of the gym. When I make it to my car, they’ve begun spilling onto my cheeks. I’m an idiot for thinking he and I were more than just fuck buddies. I don’t stand a chance with him. And I’m a damn moron to have developed any type of feelings for him.
It’s two hours later when he sends me a text.
Ryker: The surprise would’ve been better with your face to go with it.
Hurt and anger flood me again, pulling me back into the darkness and I snap, hiding behind the keyboard of my phone.
Me: You looked busy. I didn’t want to interrupt.
Ryker: I wish you had. I always need your smile.
Me: Being pawed by beautiful women probably douses my smile.
Immediately, my phone rings, and my broken heart slams against my chest.
“I don’t know what the fuck you think you saw—”
“I watched enough of it, Ryker,” I interrupt him.
“Whit,” he growls. “I—”
“Look,” I interrupt him again. “I get it. It was a crash course in the package you come with and what I was getting myself into. Quite frankly, it’s nothing I’m interested in. We’re too opposite with different directions we want to go in life. I really need to get some sleep. I have a long day tomorrow,” I lie. “Good luck with your fight. I hope you kick his ass.”
I hang up, swallowing against a tight throat and toss my phone on the night stand, praying he doesn’t show up.