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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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.
“I think it might be the other way around,” I joke.
Ryder shakes his head. “Actually, we had fun.”
“Really?” Tee asks, eyes darting from Ryder to me and back again in suspicion.
“How was your date, Tee?” I ask her, changing the subject.
“What date? I don’t date!” she says with mock indignation, shooting Ryder an amused glance.
“That’s my girl,” he says approvingly, giving Tee a kiss on her temple. I love to watch them interact. I never really had any of this, a large loving family. It was only me and my mother, not that she wasn’t wonderful, because she was. It was just the two of us against the world. We didn’t have a huge support system like Tee does.
“Should we get ready and head off to look at the apartments?” I ask Tee.
She groans. “Yeah, let’s get this over with. I’m going to see Layla tonight and finally meet my future brother in law and my nephew. Are you coming with me?”
“You don’t think that will be weird?” I ask her.
“What? No. My sister is awesome! You'll love her,” Tee assures me. I nod reluctantly, still feeling like I’d be intruding.
“Wonderful!” Tee beams. “Okay, I’m gonna jump in the shower.”
Ryder and I both watch her saunter to the bathroom.
“Coffee?” he asks me when Tee is out of sight.
“Yes, please,” I say gratefully. I’d kill for some coffee right now.
“You gonna tell me why you call me the queen of hearts now?” I ask him after a few moments of comfortable silence.
“Nope,” he answers, popping the P.
“I’m just going to have to wait until I have something on you and blackmail you with it then,” I say smugly.
“Is that so? Well then, things just got interesting,” he says, looking amused.
“If I get Tee in on it, things will definitely get interesting,” I tease.
Ryder cringes. “Oh, come on, now, that’s playing dirty. Tee already knows more than enough to blackmail me with, but she’s family. She won’t do that to me,” he says confidently.
“True. But Tee thinks of me as her family, so what happens then?” I ask him.
“I’ll probably be free game then,” he says.
“Well then, you’re lucky I wouldn’t do that to you!” I tell him.
“I’m considering myself very lucky as of late,” Ryder flirts.
“Oh yeah? And why is that?” I ask innocently.
“Well, I happen to be living with the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. And not only that, but she's sweet as sugar, talented and all-round amazing. The only bad thing about her is her choice of music, but I’m willing to overlook that.”
“Are you always this forward?” I ask him bluntly.
“What the point in being any other way?”
I shrug. “Some people might prefer a little bit of subtlety.”
“Are you one of those people?” he counters.
“No, I’m not,” I say with a smile.
“Good. I tell you what, how about you give me a kiss and I’ll tell you why I call you the queen of hearts?” he asks, his gaze locked on my lips.
I frown. “I don’t think your girlfriend would like that very much.” Ryder frowns at my words, too. He opens his mouth to say something, but Tee interrupts him.
“Lexi, get your butt in the shower!”she says, slapping my ass as she walks by. I shake my head at her and head to the bathroom.
*****