Read Ryder (Resisting Love) Online

Authors: Chantal Fernando

Ryder (Resisting Love) (2 page)

I put my guitar case safely under the bed where Tee won’t accidentally step on it. That guitar is the only thing I have from my father, who left us for another woman when I was five. My mother passed away three years ago and I’ve been nomad ever since. I’m alone. I’ve been travelling for the last three years, playing music, and taking random bar jobs wherever I go. My mother’s insurance money is still sitting in my bank account; I only use it when I really need to.

Truth be told, I haven’t missed Perth much in the last three years. I can only hope that I don’t run into my ex-boyfriend. If I never see him again, it would be none too soon.

“I’m gonna jump in the shower, Lex. You can put your stuff in these drawers, and I left half the cupboard for you. Make yourself at home, okay?” Tee says, motioning to the drawers.

“Okay,” I say, opening my suitcase and starting to put all my things out. A quiet knock on the door causes me to raise my head. “Yeah?” I call out.

“Can I come in?” It’s Ryder.

“Sure. It’s your house,” I reply dryly. He opens the door and hesitantly walks in, taking a quick glance around before bringing his gaze to me.

“Sorry about before, darlin’, it was…”

“You don’t need to apologize, Ryder,” I say, cutting him off. I pick up a handful of clothes and start to fold them.

“I know. It’s just…” He drums his fingers on his thigh, and sighs. I decide to put him out of his misery.

“Ryder, it’s fine,” I assure him.

“We’re cool?” he asks, searching my eyes. I have no idea why we wouldn’t be, so I nod. I’m graced with an easy smile. Tee walks in, dressed in a plush white towel, and nudges Ryder with her hip.

“Why are you in my room?” she asks as she steps inside and heads for the chest of drawers, pulling out lacy red underwear.

Ryder groans, and looks heavenward. “I’m not going to last a week!” He glances over at Tee and grimaces when he sees the underwear in her hand. “For fuck’s sake, Tee, at least pretend to wear granny underwear or something while you’re here! I’m heading out. I’ll bring us all dinner.” He shudders and walks out the door, slamming it behind him.

Tee flashes me an evil grin. “This is gonna be a fun week!”

I disagree.

 

*****

 

Chapter 3

 

Ryder

I’m sitting on the hood of my truck in front of Kidd’s house. The band usually meets here because Kidd has a huge garage where we used to practice when we were just getting started. His house has become our home ground. Kidd, Jet, and Sax walk out the front, greeting me with a handshake and a tap on my shoulder.

Jet is my baby cousin. My dad’s brother Finn cheated on his wife, Elena, with a stripper who ended up getting pregnant. Because of this, Jet isn’t always well received by our family. Aunt Elena won’t even look at him. Fuck, the way I see it, it’s not Jet’s fault Uncle Finn couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Jet has the Crawford family gray eyes and thick head of dark hair. At twenty-one, he is the youngest in the band.

“Hey, Ry,” Jet greets, leaning his wiry body against my truck.

“Hey, cuz,” I say, mussing his hair playfully. I love Jet. The kid hasn’t always had it easy.

“Did we get it?” Sax asks, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm. Saxon Tate is about two inches shorter than my 6’2, but a little more muscular. His brown hair is spiked up with product; fuck knows how long that takes him every day. His eyebrow ring suits him, and the women flock to him like crazy, although for some reason he rejects pretty much all of them. He has a noticeable scar on his other eyebrow that looks like a small knife cut.

“Yeah, we did!” I tell them, and then laugh at their cheers and coos.

Kidd grins. He looks nothing like his younger brother Sax, with his blonde hair and leaner build. Kidd is twenty eight, four years older than Sax.

“Fuck, can’t believe we got it,” Sax says, chuckling.             

“What? No faith in Morning Alliance?” I tease. We all know we have put our heart and soul into this band.

“I have faith, bro, but come on. Us, an opening act? That’s huge!”

It is. We’re finally going places. Not that I don’t love playing our weekly gigs at various pubs and clubs around Perth, but this is taking a huge step up. Jet starts talking about some chick he hooked up with, and my mind wanders to Lexi. What is it about her? I want a taste of her. Anything I can get.

I’m losing my mind.

“What’s wrong?” Jet asks, his brow furrowing.

“Tee’s back, and she moved her and her friend in with me,” I tell him, laughing when he cringes.

“Is her friend hot?” Jet asks, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

My grin is answer enough.

“Really?” Sax asks, interested. I’ve seen Sax hook up a few times, but Kidd told me he’s still in love with his ex, AJ.

“Yep,” I tell him.

“Are you gonna hit that?” Jet asks, giving me a crooked grin.

“I sure as hell hope so,” is my honest answer.

 

*****

 

“Ryder, this really isn’t necessary,” Sasha says, adding more purple lipstick to her pouted mouth.

“Really? Because I think otherwise,” I say as I put my feet up on her coffee table.

“I’m in my twenties now, Ry, you don’t need to baby me,” she says with a musical giggle. My cousin has been hurt before, and now she tends to date a lot. I come over every now and again to see how she’s doing or just to hang out. I love my cousins and I try to visit all of them whenever I get the chance.

“You will always be a baby to me, Sash,” I tell her. She shakes her head as she sits down next to me, her thick long black hair tumbling around her.

“How are you doing, Ryder? No special woman in your life?” she asks nosily. Our family is always in each other’s business, we’re all pretty much used to it by now.  “You need to forget Nikki, Ry. She and Kade are solid,” she adds in a soft voice.

“You going to change out of that mini dress? Or continue to give me a heart attack every time you move?” I counter, ignoring her question. Nikki isn’t a subject I want to breach. I thought that one day when I was ready to settle down she would be mine, but I was wrong. End of story. Life goes on.

Sasha playfully rolls her eyes at me and tickles me under the chin.

“You need to relax, cuz,” she says with an encouraging nod.

“You need to wear more clothes, baby girl,” I say, once again glancing over her sparkly black dress and red high heels. She just grins and throws her arms around me. Doesn’t anyone take me seriously in this family?

“Come on, Ry, it’s just a first date,” she tells me, trying to put me at ease. The truth is, I’m worried about Sasha. Layla is taken care of and Tee can take care of herself, but there is something about Sasha. She’s fragile and needs nurturing. Her beauty is obvious, just like the other girls in my family, but Sasha’s heart is still wounded. There's something she’s not letting go.

Something or
someone.

“When you going to drop by and see Tee?” I ask her.

“Tee said she will drop by tomorrow,” she assures me. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell any of us she was coming home!”

I can only imagine what Sasha and Tee will get up to together, and the thought makes me shudder.

“I spoke to Tee on the phone today, and I hear this Lexi girl is a total babe,” Sasha tells me, her purple lips curving. I clear my throat. “She is, isn’t she? Are you gonna ask her out? I’ve heard she’s a cool chick, Tee told me she has no family or anything. She and Tee have been inseparable since they met,” Sasha says thoughtfully.

Lexi has no family? The thought saddens me. It must be lonely, I don’t know how I would survive if I didn’t have my family at my back.

“There’s a family function coming up anyway, so we can all catch up then,” Sasha announces, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What family function?” I ask, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Sasha puts her hands on her hips. “Jet’s birthday, remember?”

“Oh shit, yeah, I forgot. That’s gonna be a bucket load of fun,” I say sarcastically. Sasha huffs in agreement. There’s a knock on the door and I stand up, ready to hand out threats to the latest man that’s caught my baby cousin’s eye.

I don’t want to see her hurt again.

 

*****

 

Chapter 4

 

Lexi

Tee and I are playing band hero and laughing our asses off when Ryder finally gets home, his hands full of bags of food. I’m on guitar, and Tee is banging away on the drums. Tee presses pause when the food arrives.

“Yay! What did you bring us, Ry?” she asks, walking over to him.

“Pizza and some groceries. Mostly drinks and snacks for you guys,” he says, placing everything down on the kitchen table. That’s really nice of him. Tee pulls out two plates and loads them with pizza, bringing one over to me.

“Thanks,” I say, feeling a little awkward. Here we are, gate crashing his house, and he’s buying us food and treating us like guests. The pizza smells delicious; pepperoni with cheese dripping off the sides. My stomach growls loudly before I take a huge bite.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Ryder asks us as he picks up his own slice.

“I’m going out,” Tee announces.

“Where?” Ryder asks, standing straighter.

“Just out,” Tee replies, her dark brown eyes narrowing.

“Where?” Ryder repeats harshly.

“A guy I met asked me out to dinner,” Tee tells him, picking at her pizza.

“You just got here yesterday. When the hell did you have the time to pick up a guy?” Ryder asks.

Tee just shrugs. I laugh at the look on Ryder’s face. He looks like he wants to strangle her. I see him exhaling deeply. Then he pins those mysterious gray eyes on me.

“Looks like it’s just me and you tonight then,” He grins, like he’s pleased about that.

I gulp.

 

*****

 

Tee gets dolled up and leaves the house, but not before asking me a million times if I wanted her to stay home. I tell her it’s fine, I’m just going to have an early night anyway. Tomorrow we’re spending the day looking for apartments. Fun, I know. Tee kisses me on the cheek, and before heading out I hear her call out to Ryder to keep an eye on me. I laugh out loud when I hear Ryder complaining about her outfit, or lack thereof. He’s so protective of his family, it's adorable. I have a quick shower and change into my pajamas. About ten minutes later, Ryder taps on my door and walks into my room, taking a seat on my bed.

“Wanna play?” he asks, gesturing at my guitar. His eyes light up animatedly.

“Okay, but only if you sing,” I tell him.

“You drive a hard bargain, queen of hearts,” he says, chuckling, as he picks my guitar up.

“Queen of hearts?”

“Your new nickname,” he says proudly.

“How the hell did I get that nickname?” I ask, confused.

“It’s a secret,” Ryder mock whispers, passing me the guitar.

“Can you play any Three Doors Down?” Ryder asks.

“Yeah, how about ‘Here Without You?’” I offer. It’s one of my favourites.

“Perfect!” he beams.

I start strumming my guitar, and almost melt when he sings the first few lines. His voice is perfection; deep and soulful, husky. It gives me goose bumps. After we finish the song, Ryder looks at me, his brows drawn.

“You are fucking amazing on that thing!” he finally says.

“Thanks,” I say, blushing. “But I’m not so great compared to you.”

He smiles, dropping his gaze. “What kind of music do you like?” he asks, directing the subject away from his talent.

“A bit of everything really, but mainly R&B,” I tell him honestly. He actually cringes, causing me to laugh.

“R&B, really? I think I need to educate you a little while you're staying here.” I roll my eyes. “One more song?” he asks. I nod, starting to play the intro of a Mario song.

“Not an R&B song though,” he clarifies quickly. I laugh.

“Okay how about Incubus 'Love hurts'?” I ask. Ryder looks impressed.

“Good choice, that one I can do,” he says, his lip curling up.

And that’s how I spent my evening. Talking, playing music, and letting Ryder’s beautiful voice take over me. Around eleven I yawn.

“Tired?” Ryder asks gently.

“Just a little,” I say, yawning again.

“Come on, let’s get you in bed,” he says. I squeal in surprise when he lifts me up into his arms like a baby and carries me onto the bed.

“This is unnecessary,” I say dryly, though my body reacts to being so close to his. I’m sure my pulse is racing.

“I had fun tonight, Lexi.”

“I did, too” I say honestly.

“You’re seriously talented, you know that, right?” he tells me in a soft voice, his eyes locked with mine.

“Coming from you, that’s a huge compliment,” I respond, looking away from his intense stare.

“A humble musician, never thought I'd see the day,” Ryder muses out loud. I scrunch my nose up and give him a little smile.

“And you’re seriously fucking cute,” he adds. I don’t know what to say to that, so I don’t respond. He pulls the blanket up and over me, tucking me in. When he brushes away a lock of hair that has fallen on my face, I hold my breath. He runs his finger slowly along my jaw, before we wish each other good night and he turns to leave my room. I notice him hesitating at the door for just a second, before finally walking out.

 

*****

 

“Walk of shame, Tee, really?” I hear Ryder’s deep voice the next morning.

Tee sighs. “Ry, I love you, I really do. But I’m twenty four, you know. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I know that, trust me, but can you at least pretend while you’re here? I live in an alternate universe where none of my baby cousins have sex, and my universe is fucking amazing. Ignorance is bliss and all that,” Ryder says in a dry tone.

Tee laughs. “Okay, for you, I can definitely do that. But just to ease your mind, I didn’t have sex last night. What did you get up to? You didn’t scare Lexi off, did you?”

I choose that moment to walk out of the room in my pajamas, silk black pants and a black tank top with pink skulls all over it.

Other books

The Taste of Innocence by Stephanie Laurens
Letters to a Young Gymnast by Nadia Comaneci
A Moment to Remember by Dee Williams
1636 The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, Paula Goodlett
Lights Out by Stopforth, W.J.
Boaz Brown by Stimpson, Michelle
Murder on the Down Low by Young, Pamela Samuels
Digging Out by Katherine Leiner


readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024