The Hurricane (13 page)

“Cain likes money and power. I gave him both when I fought. But that shit doesn’t matter to me; that’s why I got out.”

“Is that why you moved away from Austin and to Corpus? To get away from it?”

“Yeah, I needed distance from Cain and the constant questions. Then I got the job on the docks and it just seemed like the thing to do.”

“Well I’m glad you did. I don’t want to think about not running into you on the beach that day,” I admitted and started to kiss his neck.

“Mmm . . . me neither,” he whispered as he threw his head back, his cock twitching under me. I rubbed against him, our bodies instantly craving one another.

Ryker grabbed the back of my hair, pulling me to his face and slamming his lips into me.

I had to agree with him . . . he was the only aphrodisiac I needed.

A New Reality

It had been a week since the trip to Austin. A week of avoiding my brother’s phone calls. I would answer when I was ready. I wasn’t even pissed at him anymore. The truth is I knew how Cain was. He craved power and money, and he never pretended it wasn’t his top priority. He didn’t let blood stand in the way of who he was or what he wanted. But that was no excuse to hit him. I shouldn’t have let my temper get away from me.

I could also give Natalie a whole lot of credit for calming my nerves and forgetting about the fight at Crave. She spent every night allowing me to explore her body and get lost in her.

But today was Saturday, and Natalie was at the beach with Brooklyn, who had got back home yesterday. I spent my morning at the gym, lifting weights and hitting the bag for a couple of hours. I never wanted to fight again, but the relief that hitting something gave me had never gone away. It was a stress reliever, and it calmed me. Luckily, I had traded faces for a punching bag. The vibration of my phone buzzing in my pocket pulled me from my thoughts. Cain’s name flashed across the screen and I immediately got tense again. Fuck.

“Yep,” I said as I slid my finger across the screen.

“About fucking time you decided to pick up,” Cain said without emotion. I already regretted my decision to answer.

“What do you want?” I said sharply.

“Just checking on my brother,” he lied.

“You fucking set me up, Cain,” I said, much louder than I intended.

“I did it for your own good,” he said, not even bothering to lie about what he did.

“Fuck that, dude. You did it for you. It’s always for you, man. You’re just looking to make money.”

“Ryker,” he said, and then paused for a few seconds. “Look, the money would be good, I won’t deny that. But I don’t need it; I’m doing just fine financially,” he said, and I could feel his smirk over the phone. Fucker.

“Whatever, bro,” I said as I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment.

“He’s running your fucking name into the ground, Ryker,” he growled, “I’m sick of his mouth; he’s talking shit all over town.”

“That’s the difference between us, bro. I don’t give a fuck what people think. I never have,” I said, grabbing my gym bag and hopping out of my truck, sweat immediately gathering on my forehead. Fucking south Texas summers were no joke.

“Just one fight, man, that’s the only thing that will shut him up,” he said.

“Not interested.” How many fucking times did I have to tell him?

“Dude, I’ll even give you my cut. That’s another 10k,” he said, and that statement completely shocked me.

“What?” I asked, unable to hide the chuckle.

“You heard me, Ryker. One fight.”

“Nope. Later, bro,” I said, and ended the call before he had a chance to say another word. I opened my front door and exhaled as I felt the cool air inside my apartment rush over me. A few seconds later, my phone started to buzz again. I wasn’t even going to look at it, I wasn’t arguing with his ass anymore about it. But I glanced at the screen before I threw it on the bar and saw Natalie’s face. It was a picture I snapped of her in Austin, laying on our bed, fresh out of the shower and looking sexy as hell.

“Hey, sexy,” I said into the receiver. I heard a high pitched giggle on the other end. Shit.

“Ryker, this isn’t mommy, this is Brooklyn.” she said through her giggles.

“I’m sorry, I meant hey there, kindergartener,” I said, hoping that would take her mind off of what I just said.

“Not yet, Ryker, I still have two weeks before school starts. Momma says it’s sixteen more days. That feels like forever,” she said, very dramatically.

“It will go by pretty fast.” I tried to reassure her.

“We’re getting ready to go to the beach. Are you coming?” she asked.

“Maybe you and your mom should spend some time alone, I know she missed you a whole lot while you were gone.”

“I know, but I missed you too, silly,” she said, sounding every bit the adult.

“Where is your mom?” I asked, wanting to clear it with Nat before I interrupted their day.

“She’s in the bathroom, getting dressed.”

“Well, let me ask her first if it’s ok.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” She grunted, and I could picture her putting her shoes on.

“Let’s make sure first; have her call me in a few min . . .” I was cut off by a banging sound.

“Hey, sexy, Ryker is on the phone!” I heard her yell then followed by a muffled giggle.

“What did you just say?” I heard Nat faintly in the background.

I heard Brooklyn’s high pitched giggle, she was laughing hysterically.

“Here, momma.” Brooklyn was still in a fit of laughter, and then I heard shuffling.

“Did you call him?” I heard Nat whisper.

“Hello,” Natalie said quietly in my ear.

“Sorry, I didn’t know it was her that called.” I chuckled. Natalie was silent for a second, and then she must have caught on because her giggles followed.

“How was the gym?” she asked, changing the subject.

“It was good. I figured you two would be at the beach already.”

“Ask him to come, momma.” I heard Brooklyn begging in the background.

“My child is obviously determined that you come to the beach with us today, but if you have plans, don’t feel obligated.”

“Nat,”

“Yeah?”

“I want to be wherever you are,” I admitted.

“Yeah?” she repeated sweetly.

“And Brookie, too.” Another admission.

“You’re too sweet, you know that?” she said quietly.

“That might be the first time anyone has ever called me sweet.”

“Well you are,” she reassured me.

I had been called a lot of things in my lifetime; sweet was never one of them.

Because I never was. These two were changing me.

Attached

The rational part of me was screaming that we were moving too fast. I shouldn’t let Brooklyn around a man I’ve only been with for such a short time. No matter how easy it was, how comfortable it was, when we were all together. But I hadn’t even introduced them on purpose. I knew I should keep my relationship with Ryker away from Brooklyn. But she was determined to be around him. She was so strong-willed. I knew she inherited that from Kyle. He was strong and full of determination. It showed in his dedication to his career. I felt so weak sometimes, so I knew Brookie didn’t get it from me. But I also knew that Brooklyn craved that male presence in her life. I just didn’t want this whole thing to backfire on me.

“Please tell me I’m doing the right thing. Please tell me this isn’t wrong,” I mumbled to myself, to God, to Kyle, I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to be sure.

After the words came out of my mouth, I heard the rumble of a motorcycle in the distance. Brooklyn must have heard it too, because she jumped to her feet, dropping the bucket of sand to the ground.

“Momma, it’s Ryker!” she said excitedly, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. I couldn’t help but smile. She really liked him. My guilt fell away temporarily as my excitement took over. I followed suit and jumped to my feet, excluding the clapping and jumping part. That was only on the inside. Brooklyn ran over to me and slid her feet into her flip flops, grabbing my hand at the same time.

“Let’s go see him,” she said as she started to pull me behind her. I glanced in his direction just as he was parking his motorcycle. The grin that spread across his face when he spotted us almost melted my heart.

He hopped off his bike, shoving the key in his pocket then running his fingers through his hair quickly. His dirty blonde locks still perfectly in place. I don’t know how he managed that. When I rode on the bike with him, it took me twenty minutes to get the tangles out, and that was with a helmet. Just another perfect quality about him, to add to all the rest.

“Ryker!” Brookie squealed, loosening her hand from mine and charging for him once we were a few feet away. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. Ryker scooped her up, even though she was soaking wet and gave her a hug. Brooklyn wrapped her little arms around his neck and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. My legs almost gave out from under me. Brooklyn wasn’t affectionate with anyone but me. My parents had to ask for hugs and kisses before they got them. Not to mention that he has a beard and was covered in tattoos. Brooklyn had never been around anyone that looked like Ryker. I had seen the way other people looked at him. Sometimes they seemed nervous. Other times you could just feel their judgment radiating off of them. But not my Brookie; she saw how kind and loving Ryker was from the first moment, no matter how intimidating he looked to everyone else.

“Your beard is scratchy.” She giggled as Ryker put her back down on the ground.

“It’s itchy to me sometimes, too,” he said as he raised back up and looked in my direction. I wanted to run to him, wrap my arms around him and kiss his lips. But I was trying to control my urges, around Brooklyn anyway.

“Momma, aren’t you happy to see Ryker?” she asked, genuinely confused.

“Of course I am, sweetie,” I said as I ruffled the wet mop of hair on her head.

“Then why didn’t you hug him? I know you missed him momma!” she said as she grabbed me by the hand, and pulled me closer to Ryker.