Ryker (The Powers That Be Book 4) (2 page)

2—Takedown

The next morning I was kind of a mess. I’d gotten up at six and since my first class wasn’t until ten I showered and shaved my legs… twice (shaved not showered). I exfoliated my entire body and after drying off, slathered my face in a mask. While it dried, I plucked my eyebrows and checked to see if I’d developed a mustache between last night and this morning. Hey, I was Italian. It was entirely possible. I next checked my legs for any hair I’d missed. There were no stragglers, so I next peeled, rinsed, dried and curled, dressed and made myself up. Thank goodness I’d beaten Sharee in Rock-Paper-Scissors when we first moved in and won the master bedroom with the en suite so I hadn’t wakened her with my raucous regimen. I took one last look in the mirror and was ready to go.

I went to Sharee’s room and knocked lightly on her door. She was pre-law and didn’t have a class until tonight and even though I was risking her wrath at waking her up, I needed some assurance.

“Pssst,” I summoned when I opened her door.

“What,” she muttered into her pillow that she had her arms wrapped around as she lay on her stomach.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m leaving. Wish me luck.”

“Luck.” She shifted and pulled the pillow over her head. I chuckled because I knew that was my cue to leave since she was definitely not a morning person. As I closed the door, I heard her add, “Love you. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Sharee and I had been best friends since our sophomore year in high school. People often asked if we were sisters since we both had long brown hair and dark brown eyes, and of course we always said we were because we were goofy that way. But I’d grown up in Texas and when my dad had been transferred to Seattle with the oil company he worked for, she and I had become fast friends since we both played basketball and ran track. She was nearly six feet tall and had excelled at both sports and I hadn’t done too poorly either. But where she’d played post in basketball and ran hurdles in track, I’d been a forward and had run the hundred meters since I was shorter. We’d made All-State in both sports and had been offered scholarships to play basketball at Hallervan where we were both All-Americans our first year. It’d been awesome until I’d blown out my knee our sophomore year and she’d broken her ankle our junior year which had ended both our athletic careers. Afterward, our teammates referred to us as the Gimp Sisters which we couldn’t dispute.

I closed her door and blowing out a breath as I walked to the front door, decided to go find out if my dream future was to be.

~*~*~*~

“What would you do?” I asked Gladys (yes, Gladys), Sharee and my other best friend from high school who was now in New York attending the Fashion Institute of Technology. She’d been an amazing designer even in high school, having made my prom dress our senior year which had been fabulous, and after three years at Hallervan, she’d been accepted to the Institute and was now following her dream hoping to become famous someday. We missed her but we talked so often, it was almost like she was here anyway.

“I’d go for it, of course! Grow some fucking balls, Frankie!” she answered with a giggle. Where Sharee was the realist and I was the dreamer, Gladys had always been the crazy party girl up for anything and I’d known she’d say that.

“Easy for you to say, Glad. You’re a blond bombshell packing a killer bod and fuck me eyes.”

This made her giggle more. “Oh, Frankie. When will you realize how gorgeous you are? Sophia Loren’s got nothing on you, girl! This guy’d be a fool not to fall for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “So you think Sharee was right? I should do this? Just go up, ring his doorbell and ask him out?”

“Hell yeah! And like I said, if he doesn’t take you up on it, he’s a dumbass.”

“All right. If this doesn’t go well, Sharee’s buying at O’Leary’s tonight and when you come home for spring break, you’re taking me to Spinasse.”

“You’re on. And, listen, honey. It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t work out with this guy, yeah? You’re beautiful and deserve the best so you hold your head high.”

I’d just turned into Ryker’s neighborhood and felt my pulse start racing. “I don’t know, Glad. I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can! You’re just asking him to coffee. No big deal, right?”

“Right,” I whispered as I pulled up in front of his house and parked in the same spot I’d been the morning before. “Will you at least stay on the phone with me for a minute?”

“Of course. Deep breaths.” When I didn’t say anything, Gladys called, “Frank?”

“I’m here.”

“What’re you doing?”

“Breathing.”

She laughed. “That’s enough. Go!”

I closed my eyes and reached for the door handle. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said when I got out and faced the house.

“Wait!” she yelled scaring the bajeebus out of me.

“What?” I hissed, automatically hunching down trying to hide behind my car as if she was there and had seen something.

“What’re you wearing?”

I huffed out an annoyed laugh as I stood straight again. “God! Don’t fucking do that! You scared the shit outta me!” When my heart stopped trying to claw its way out of my chest, I answered, “I’m wearing black jeans…”

“Flares or leggings?”

“Skinny. And the burgundy blouse you made for me last year.”

“Nice! What jacket?”

“My army green pea coat.”

“Shoes?”

“Black ankle boots.”

“You go, girl! Go get your man!”

I shook my head before taking a breath and blowing it out, still holding the phone to my ear. “Here goes nothing.”

Walking up the drive toward the house on wobbly legs I wondered why I’d agreed to do this. But as I took in the cute little house in front of me, I knew why. It was for the preservation of my and my children’s future.

“Where are you?” Gladys whispered.

“I’m in the driveway. Almost at the walk to go to the front door. Between a blue pickup truck and a hot pink VW Beetle.”

“Okay.”

A few seconds passed.

“You there yet?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I think my feet are stuck.”

She chuckled. “I’m right here. Go!”

I took another step and that’s when the front door opened and I froze.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Fuck!” I now whisper-hissed, standing there like a statue hoping I wouldn’t be seen, you know, right out there in the open in broad daylight and all.

“What?” she asked even louder.

Oh, my God.

Ryker had come out onto the front porch in jeans and was shirtless but that wasn’t the “Oh, my God” part.

“What’s going on?” Gladys whispered.

But I couldn’t answer as I stood there, almost half hidden by the blue truck watching as Ryker made out with a platinum blond woman who was built like a fucking stripper, meaning she was hot. And when I say “made out,” I mean, practically screwing her right there on the porch, grabbing her ass and grinding himself all up on her.

Fuck!

Fuck!

“Frankie!”

“Hang on!” I snapped into my phone.

And that’s when Ryker heard me and pried his lips off the chick and looked my way.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“Can I help you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me, watching me as if I was exactly the Peeping Tom I was.

I immediately dropped my phone into my jacket pocket and decided to go with the first thing that popped into my head. “Uh, I, uh saw this Beetle and, uh, I love the color, so I was, um, trying to get a better look at it.”

Shit.

Shit!

“That’s mine!” the blonde answered with a giggle, then tiptoeing up and giving Ryker one last kiss she turned and walked toward me on heels that would’ve broken my ankles, calling back to him over her shoulder, “Call me, baby.” When she got to me, she said, “My dad got this for me because he knows it’s my favorite color. Oh! I’m Lindsey!”

“Hi. Uh, Frankie.”

She giggled, cocking her head to her shoulder. “No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

“Awesome! Well, I need to go but I live over on Elm across from the university. You’re more than welcome to look me up and I’ll let you drive it sometime!”

God. And she was nice too. Ergh.

“Thanks. I’ll, um, definitely look you up.”

“’Kay! See ya!” She opened her car door, blew Ryker a kiss over the top of it, got in and started it while I stood watching it all. She waved to me as she backed down the drive and once in the street drove off.

“I know you,” I heard from right behind me which made me jump a foot in the air.

I turned around quickly to face the freaking Greek god that stood there, seeing that his hair, cut in what my mom would call a curtain cut undercut (she was a hairdresser), was all messy but looking sexy as hell. Shaved sides and longer on top and let me tell you, Ryker worked that hair well. Then there was his amazing tattooed chest and cut abs that were on display for my viewing pleasure. And, dear God, that damned V just below his waist that was so prominent and disappeared inside the jeans that hung low on his hips literally had my mouth drooling.

“Uh, no, I don’t think you do,” I mumbled not able to control my eyes as they roamed over his hard body. God!

“I think I do.”

My eyes shot up and locked with his light brown ones that I just noticed had gold flecks and were lined in dark, sooty lashes. Dammit. Why’d he have to look so good?

“No, I don’t think so,” I muttered again, starting to back away from him because I needed to get the hell out of there now since it’d just dawned on me that he and hot pink Beetle owner Lindsey had spent the night together and that wasn’t cool.

His eyes were intense practically boring a hole right through me watching as I took another step back which only led to his taking a barefooted one forward.

“Yeah. I do,” he repeated, his eyes full of recognition now.

Shit!

“Sorry, I don’t think you do,” I repeated and turned to go.

The next thing I knew, he moved fast and had me backed against the truck, his hands on either side of me on the truck bed, keeping me there as I looked up at him with big eyes. Damn.

“You were here Saturday,” he informed me of something I already knew.

I licked my lips nervously wondering how the hell I could get free, contemplating whether he could sue me if I stomped on his foot with my boot before making a run for it. I made a note to ask Sharee about it. But no way was I going to stand there and relive something that had meant nothing to him just to be humiliated all over again.

Leaning in close he said, “I fucked you,” all low and sexy and hot, his gorgeous eyes still piercing mine. “You were the hungry one who couldn’t get enough of my dick. Practically starved.”

Now wait just a damned minute here. “Wh-what?” I asked indignantly, shocked that he’d talk that way to me. And
about
me!

“Yeah, babe. Tightest, wettest pussy I’ve had. Possibly best piece of ass I think I’ve ever had.”

My mouth fell open. “Did you really just say that?” I glared up at him.

“I think you heard me.” Now I saw amusement in those captivating eyes of his and that really pissed me off.

Oh. My. God.

Oh, my God!

I pushed at his chest and ducked out under his arm spinning to face him, my hands going to my hips. “You’re unbelievable!” I spat, glowering at him.

“If I recall right, that’s what you were moaning the other night.” He gave me a half smirk and it was all I could do to keep from smacking the shit out of him.

“You’ve
got
to be kidding me.” I gave him my best repulsed look. “To think I’ve wanted you for two years. And now I find out you’re just some…” I threw my hand out at him as I frowned in disgust, “some crude asshole who’ll fuck any
piece of ass
you can find! God! How stupid am I?” I turned and stomped down the driveway to my car.

“Not just
any
piece of ass, baby!” he hollered after me. “Only the hottest pieces for me!” I heard him chuckling as I jerked open my car door and got inside slamming my door.

I turned the key to start the engine and took off as fast as my poor little Camry would let me, giving him one last glare only to see him still smirking at me, his arms now across his magnificent chest.

“Frankie!” I heard coming from my coat pocket.

Shit! I hadn’t hung up when I’d dropped my phone into it.

I dug it out of my pocket and brought it to my ear, too pissed to care that I was risking being pulled over. “Did you hear that?” I screeched at Gladys.

“I did! Oh, my God! Frankie! He sounds so hot!” she squealed.

What?

“Are you kidding me right now? Did you not just hear what he said about me?”

“Yes! That’s what was hot!”