Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 100441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“It was adorable and cute.”
“Wrong. It was charismatic and manly.”
“Especially with the sequined ears.”
I grin. “Exactly.”
My phone pings, and it’s a message from Alex.
“All set. I can stay.”
Ryder’s gaze turns heated, and I swear he puts his foot on the accelerator a tiny bit heavier. “If we can transfer Kaylee to bed when we get home without her waking up, I’ll be able to make it up to you for being asleep last night.”
“Challenge accepted.”
It’s a team effort, but we manage to get a very tired little girl into bed, only waking her enough to go to the bathroom before she falls asleep again as soon as her head hits the pillow.
“Silent high five,” I whisper, and we lift our hands without actually touching.
On the way out of her room, Ryder intertwines his fingers with mine and shoots me a smile.
He takes me into the fancy part of the house he hardly uses and tells me to take a seat on a stool at the fancy marble kitchen counter. “Wine?”
“Ooh, this is, like, a real date.”
“Yep. I’m going to ply you with alcohol so my cooking tastes edible.”
Ryder pours each of us a glass of red wine and then goes to get ingredients from the other kitchen.
I sip the expensive wine while sitting in a mansion and watching the guy I’m sleeping with move around the kitchen like he’s a chef and wasn’t one-fifth of the most famous boy band ever. It’s surreal.
“When did you learn how to cook? I figured you’d have people to do that kind of thing for you.”
He smiles. “My momma taught me before I moved to LA to make it big.”
“Your mom. In Texas.”
His smile dims a little. “Yep.”
“Do you ever see your parents?”
“Not since Maggie and I caused big neighborhood drama by deciding to have a child out of wedlock because, in Maggie’s words, she’s not in love with me, and my words, I’m gay as fuck.”
Red wine shoots out of my nose.
Ryder laughs and passes me a napkin. “Turns out I have no trouble with labels when used to make a statement.”
“I bet that was the statement to end all statements.”
“Yeah. That was basically the end of everything with us.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. I don’t want their toxic views anywhere near Kaylee.”
I spin the wineglass stem between my fingers. “Has Kaylee ever met them?”
“Once. When she was a baby.” Ryder doesn’t stop prepping our dinner as he keeps talking. “As a favor to Maggie. She told me if I was going to do this parenting thing on my own, I’d need a good support system. We didn’t even make it through a meal.”
“So you did it all on your own?”
He scoffs. “Not really. I had a support system. They just happened to be on my payroll.”
“You did the last two years on your own.”
“Yep, and look how long I lasted before I needed help.”
“Ryder …” I slip off my stool and walk around the island.
He’s chopping vegetables, so I press myself against his back. He puts the knife down and leans into me.
“Even the best parents need help every now and then. Kids are hard. And Kaylee—”
“I know, I know. I spoil her, and she’s entitled, and—”
“Not what I was going to say at all. She’s smart and precocious and amazing. She’s artistic and talented, and she might look like her mother, but her creative side is all you. You, of all people, know how difficult it is to keep creative people focused. She’s a handful, but she’s perfect.”
Ryder’s hand reaches up and cups the back of my neck. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Reassure me that I’m not fucking up her entire life.”
My lips ghost along his neck. “Far from it.”
He rolls his hips, rubbing his ass against my hardening cock, and moans. “Do you always do this to your dates?”
“What’s that?”
“Distract them with your body before you’ve eaten dinner?”
I laugh, my hot breath landing on his skin, and he shudders.
I step back. “Sorry. I’ll let you get back to it.”
Ryder picks up the knife and points it at me. “After dinner, your body is mine.”
I go back to my seat and take a sip of my wine. “All yours.”
In more ways than one.
Now’s not the time to freak him out with that, though. I have to give him at least a month to get used to the idea of having something serious with me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ryder
It takes weeks of waking up next to Lyric as many times as possible, wrapped around him and practically smothering him, to realize I really am a cuddler.
I can’t get enough of him, and when he’s gone, his side of the bed is too cold and empty.
Right now, his golden hair is splayed over his pillow, and he’s smiling even while he’s sleeping.
He’s been staying over more often than going to his own place, and I think half my wardrobe is now sitting on the floor of his brother’s pool house.