Page 30

W ith Gem beside me on the bench, I wring my hands nervously.

The team hasn’t come out yet, but soon, they will.

I promised Gemma I would at least hear Ryder out, so here I sit, ready to listen even though my first urge is going to be to punch him in the face and then run away.

“Here they come,” Gemma whispers, and I probably gulp so loud that she can actually hear it.

Slowly, I lift my eyes to the team.

Gemma stands, and when Smith struts out, she rushes over and hugs him.

Awkwardly, I push myself to my feet and head their way before Ryder comes out and I have to deal with my shit.

“Good job, bro,” I say once he releases my best friend.

“I mean, you sort of all sucked, but”—I pat his arm—“you won, so yay!”

Staring at me with an amused look, his eyes narrow.

“Ryder brought down the whole team. And do you know why? Because he’s in love with you, but you won’t talk to him. Now, he fucking sucks and almost cost us a win.”

“Smith,” Gemma hisses in warning.

“Go easy on her, okay? You don’t even know what’s going on.”

His mouth hangs open at her.

“Wait, you do?” He looks genuinely hurt.

“That’s so not cool, Gem!”

Giving me a tight-lipped smile, Gemma pats his shoulder, and then her eyes dart behind him.

When I follow her gaze, I take in the sight of Ryder strutting toward us in his suit.

He doesn’t see us yet, which is good because it gives me a few seconds to recover and to wipe the drool from my mouth.

“Sorry, babe, but I’m sure your sister will fill you in later.” Gemma looks at me.

“Isn’t that right, Sails?”

“Yeah, okay,” I huff out.

“Just kill me now, would you?” I utter, realizing death sort of sounds better than telling my brother everything that’s happened lately.

From a sex tape to betrayals …

there is much to discuss.

As they walk off, Gemma looks over her shoulder and gives me an encouraging yet sympathetic smile and mouths, I love you .

I don’t mouth it back; I just roll my eyes at her for forcing me into the conversation I’m about to have.

When I swing my gaze back the other way, Ryder is staring at me.

His brow furrows, and even though I think he’s happy to see me, he also looks pissed.

“Here goes nothing,” I whisper to myself and swallow back my nerves before taking a few steps to meet him in the middle.

“Hi,” I say, tucking my hands into my jean pockets.

“Hey,” he mutters with a curt nod.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, Gemma made me come here and hear you out,” I answer truthfully.

“Though, I have to be honest, I’m not sure what you could say to fix anything.”

“Fix what?” he snaps before looking around.

When he takes in a few eyes on us, he turns away from me, jerking his head toward a hallway.

“Follow me. I’m not doing whatever the fuck this is out here, in front of everyone.”

I scowl, stamping my foot down.

“Well, if you’re going to be a dick about it, I’ll just leave!”

“Cut the shit, Brat,” he growls.

“Follow me, or I promise you, I’ll make a scene, and you won’t like it.”

Grunting in annoyance, I follow him down the hallway until he finds an empty conference room.

We walk inside, and he closes the door behind us, making a point to lock it.

Dropping his bag, he leans back against one of the tables.

“Go on,” he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Tell me what I did or didn’t do.”

His casual tone sends me into anger, and I grind my teeth.

“Well, let’s see, asshole. Ya watched a video of me having sex, not knowing I was being recorded, and then you hooked up with me and didn’t say a word about it.”

His face pales, and there’s no mistaking the panic in his eyes.

“I must have really impressed you in that video, huh? When did you see it anyway? Was it before or after that first time we had sex? I bet it was before, and then you wanted to have bragging rights to Rowan that you fucked the porn star too.”

His arms drop to his sides, and he takes a few steps toward me, prompting me to hold my hand out.

“No, do not touch me. Do not come near me,” I sneer through my teeth.

“Go on. Answer the question. Did you see that video before or after the first time we hooked up?”

“Say—”

“Answer the fucking question!” I scream like an absolute maniac.

All the feelings I’ve been pushing down and trying to avoid are bubbling up in full force now.

“Before,” he says quickly.

“But I didn’t—”

“You stupid motherfucker,” I say, trying my best not to cry because he doesn’t deserve my tears.

“Rowan was right, I guess.”

“I didn’t watch the whole video!” he calls to my back when I turn around to leave.

“I didn’t even know it was you, and I only saw a few seconds of it before I looked away!”

Grabbing my arm, he tries to turn me to face him, but I yank it away.

“Do not touch me!” As I scream the words, I begin to break.

Tears fill my eyes, blurring my vision, and a stabbing sensation in my chest makes it hard to breathe.

“Saylor, would you just listen?” He wraps his arms around my body, pulling me closer to him.

“I just walked in at the wrong time, and Rowan was showing some of the team. I looked away when I realized what it was. And I had no idea it was you until the day after we had sex in my truck.” He squeezes me tighter.

“You have to believe me, baby. I would never have let him leave that locker room in one piece that day if I had known he was showing a video of you, I fucking promise.”

The emotion in his voice is palpable, and my heart melts just the smallest bit before I force myself to harden back up at his touch.

“Why should I believe you?” I croak out desperately with his cheek to mine as he holds me captive.

“Even if what you’re saying is true, you could have told me—so many times. And you didn’t.”

“I know,” he rasps.

“I should have. But, Christ, Saylor, you have to understand that after wanting you for so fucking long, I was scared that if I told you the truth—if you knew that I knew about that video—you’d ghost me.”

“I don’t understand why you’d even care,” I whimper.

“Why not just say it?”

“Because I’m fucking in love with you, Saylor.” His voice sounds defeated.

“And I didn’t want to do anything to fuck up my chances of finally being with you.”

His arms slowly release me, but instead of letting me go, he turns me to face him.

Putting a palm on my cheek, he gazes down at me.

“I should have told you, and I’m sorry. I can’t take it back, but I promise to never ever test your trust again.” His eyes fill with tears, and he doesn’t even try to wipe them away.

“If you give me one more chance, Saylor, you’ll never have to worry about something like this happening. I swear on my life that I will never hurt you.”

I stare up at him in utter and complete shock.

“You—you love me?”

“Yeah,” he whispers.

“I fucking love you, Saylor. The question is, are you going to let me?”

My vision blurs, and I blink a few times, continuing to stare up into his eyes.

“You promise you didn’t just hook up with me because you had seen the video?” I whimper.

“Or to one-up Rowan or something?”

The voice in my head repeats over and over that I’m not the type of girl men end up with, that I’m just someone they have fun with before they meet the one .

But before those thoughts send me into a downhill, self-sabotaging spiral, Ryder shuts them up.

“I promise,” he says instantly, his hand caressing my cheek.

“I hooked up with you because I’d dreamed about it for fucking years and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be close with the most beautiful and fascinating woman I’d ever met.” He swallows.

“I didn’t expect you to keep me around long enough to fall in love, but to be honest, I knew when I showed up in Charleston on Christmas Eve, I was a goner.”

I’ve tried my best to fight my feelings for this man.

The biggest reason was because I didn’t think he could ever be mine—not long-term anyway.

I assumed that because of my track record, I’d get a few measly hookups with him before he moved on.

So, I reversed the game.

I became the one calling the shots.

I’m scared to tell him how big my feelings for him are—to lay it all out there and give him a piece of myself after all the times I’ve been burned.

But out of all the men who have hurt me, none of them ever jumped on a plane and flew halfway across the country to spend Christmastime with me.

Or traveled to New York City to spend New Year’s Eve with me, just to have to fly back for work.

Ryder isn’t like every guy who has hurt me.

“I … I love you too,” I whisper, swallowing back a lump in my throat.

“I think I knew Christmas night, when you showed up with a horse-drawn sleigh. I guess I was just too scared to say it.” I grin sadly, looking down and shrugging my shoulders.

“My track record speaks for itself, and I really didn’t feel like getting hurt again.” I sigh.

“And I really, really was trying to avoid complicating Smith’s life. Again .”

Moving his hand downward, he tilts my chin up with his thumb.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Saylor. If you walk away from me, that’s your choice. But if this is you finally giving me a chance, I promise, I’m not going to fuck it up.” Leaning down, he presses his forehead to mine.

“Trust me, okay?”

Looking into his eyes, I nod subtly.

“Okay,” I whisper. “I do.”

A grin stretches across his face before he presses his lips to mine and kisses me.

We’ve kissed before, but this feels different somehow.

Deeper.

When he kisses me deeper, I feel something hard poking my stomach, and I moan into his mouth, knowing that he’s turned on just from kissing me.

“Fuck, I missed this mouth,” he growls, pulling back and cupping my nape.

“Saylor, I want you so fucking bad right now that I can’t think straight.”

I bring my mouth closer to his, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips.

“Then take me, Pretty Boy.”

His eyes darken, and his dick jolts against me once more as a low groan escapes his lips.

My nipples harden under my sweatshirt because I know from the look in his eyes that he’s going to take me right here in this conference room.

And I can’t fucking wait.

My cock strains against my dress pants zipper as I loop my arm around Saylor’s back and guide her to take a few steps back before lifting her and setting her down on the conference room table.

The blinds are drawn, and I locked the door when we first came in—not wanting anyone to walk in on us having an argument because, truthfully, I didn’t know how this conversation was going to go.

I’ve known for a while that I was in love with this woman, but she kept me at arm’s length for so long that I knew better than to tell her how I felt, for fear of scaring her away.

I could feel that she loved me, too, but I needed her to realize it all on her own.

Reaching down, I tug at the zipper on her Sharks sweatshirt, pulling it until it’s undone.

She lifts one arm up at a time, allowing me to yank it off, leaving her in her blue tank top and jeans.

“Your hair looks nice,” I say, reaching for the button of her jeans.

I undo it before slowly peeling them, along with her thong, from her body and exposing her sexy legs.

She cringes slightly.

“Thanks. I went a little crazy, I guess.”

Just from her tone, it’s obvious she regrets her decision.

She’s gorgeous right now, and the brown hair, with the way it’s styled, makes her look a little edgier than normal.

She’s hot for sure. Then again, she could shave it and still be the most beautiful woman I know.

But it’s not her, and I’m sure that’s why she doesn’t love it.

Once her jeans and thong are on the floor, I lean forward, pressing a kiss to her lips, which quickly turns into us making out.

My tongue slips into her mouth, and she drags it deeper, sucking on it just like she would my aching cock.

I kiss her jawline and then her neck and keep moving downward until I get to her tits.

When I unclasp the front of her bra, it falls open, and her nipples perk up instantly, begging me to lick them.

I suck on one before moving to the next.

A popping sound erupts when I release her left nipple, and I eat up her moans, simply from having her tits played with.

I keep moving, and as I kiss her stomach, I slip my hands down further, loving the way her body reacts to my touch.

She lies on her back as I begin dragging my tongue along her stomach.

Kneeling down, I slip two fingers into her heat, not surprised when my fingers are suddenly soaked because she’s so fucking drenched.

I finger-fuck her roughly before I move downward and pull my hand back.

Dragging my chin up her thigh, I plant my face right between her legs.

The second my tongue touches her heat, she lets out a sharp hiss and thrusts her pussy hard against my mouth.

“Fuck, I love your mouth,” she growls, grabbing hold of my hair and pulling it.

She tastes so fucking good on my tongue, and the sounds slipping from deep in her throat make my cock jump.

I pull my mouth from her just enough to gaze up into her eyes.

“Play with those big, beautiful tits while I eat your pussy, baby,” I command her.

When she drags her hands upward until she’s cupping her large breasts, I swear I could fucking blow my load right now.

She teases herself, playing with her nipples and making my head spin.

“Don’t stop,” she hisses, tilting her chin up greedily.

Bringing my mouth back to her heat, I loop my arms around her legs, spreading her wider and working her back and forth on my tongue.

I keep my eyes on her fingertips as she continues to play with her tits, crying out louder as she gazes down at my face.

“Give it to me right now,” I rasp.

“Come on, Brat. Give this slutty pussy what it wants. Come for me.”

Her back arches, pushing off the table, and her hands drop from her tits to try to grasp anything she can latch on to.

She screams out as her pussy squeezes around my tongue, pulsating against my mouth.

One more moan, and I’m going to be a fucking goner.

She cries out once more, and that’s it.

I groan against her heat while my dick explodes inside my briefs, bouncing as cum shoots from my cock while I get to watch, hear, taste, and feel her come into my mouth.

She practically put all of my fucking senses to use, and because of that, I came without even having my dick touched.

When her pussy stops throbbing and her moans turn to erratic breaths, slowly, I release her legs and slide back before standing.

“Best meal I’ve had in weeks, Brat.” I wink.

“Thanks for keeping me well fed.”

Her chest rises and falls sharply as she looks at me, trying to catch her breath.

“I came so hard,” she squeaks.

“Me too,” I say, smirking when a look of shock crosses her face.

“Wait, you did? From—”

“Eating your pussy?” I stop her.

“Sure did. My cock exploded when you started playing with your tits and moaned loudly.” I shrug.

“What can I say? I really love to eat.”

I hold out my hand and help her sit up, pressing my lips to her cheek.

“We should probably sneak out of here soon. I’m pretty sure I heard the door to the room beside us close a few minutes ago.”

Backing away, I look around the room for paper towels.

“But first, I need to clean myself up.”

I walk toward a set of cupboards in the corner and find a roll.

Undoing my pants, I slip them and my soaked briefs off.

I don’t even try to salvage my briefs; instead, I toss them in the garbage and grab the paper towels.

Just as I wipe myself clean, a set of hands slides around my waist, and I feel Saylor’s tits against my back.

“I saw you lock the door, big guy. So, I’d say we’re safe,” she says in a seductive tone.

“You came in your pants, but I really wanted you to come inside of me. Inside what’s yours .” She plants a kiss on my flesh.

“You know, now that you have declared your love for me and all, just seems like the right way to end the evening.”

I stare down at my cock as it quickly hardens, bouncing from her saying that her pussy is mine.

She skates her hands lower, barely hovering over my dick, before slowly turning me around to face her.

“You didn’t let me clean you up,” she breathes out.

“That wasn’t very nice of you.”

Pushing her hair back, she sinks to her knees, never taking her eyes off me.

“At least let me get your cock nice and wet because you’re going to fuck me, Ryder. I don’t care if someone walks in. I’m not leaving here until you give me what we both need.”

As she opens her mouth and leans toward my cock, I press my ass back against the small countertop and watch the show as she sucks on my dick.

Grabbing my hand, she positions it on the back of her head, and I fist her hair in my fingertips, pulling back roughly because that’s what she wants.

When it comes to Saylor, it doesn’t matter that I came minutes ago.

My cock is already begging for another release.

She slides her mouth from my dick and licks down to my balls, dragging her tongue over them.

But when she sees a bit of pre-cum spilling from my cock, she licks her way back up my length, running her tongue over it.

I yank harder on her hair, forcing her upward and against me.

“You keep sucking my dick like that, and I’m never going to have the chance to come inside that tight pussy,” I growl against her mouth.

“You said you don’t care if anyone walks in, Brat?” I drop my hand from her hair and move it to her neck.

“So then, you’ll let me fuck you right against that picture window that looks out into the hallway, right?” I nod toward the window.

I expect to see at least a hint of nervousness in her eyes, but instead, she just looks at me and nods, just like I knew she would.

“Let them look. I don’t care.”

I walk her backward until we’re at the window.

Spinning her around, I push her tits against the glass—thankful as fuck that no one can see because I don’t want any motherfucker to look at what’s mine.

I nudge the tip against her entrance, and rapidly, it pulls me inside.

Wrapping a hand around her neck, I thrust my hips, pushing my cock deeper.

“Fuck, I missed this tight pussy,” I choke out.

“Feels so good to be back inside of you.”

“Ah,” she moans.

“Yes…”

“Greedy girl, just couldn’t help but have a taste of my cock, could you?” I growl into her ear.

“You love being on your knees and worshipping my dick, don’t you, Saylor?”

“Y—yes,” she stammers as I fuck her harder, my body smashing into her beautiful ass.

“Looks like we have company,” I utter against her neck, keeping my eyes on the three people as they pass by.

No one gives our room so much as a glance, but I don’t stop fucking her because when she realizes we might be seen, her pussy only gets wetter, helping me to slide in and out with ease.

“Fuck me, you take my dick so good, baby.” I move my hands to the glass and thrust harder and faster.

No matter how rough I’m being, her hips move with me, taking every inch so perfectly.

Her head drops forward, touching the glass.

“Ry—Ryder,” she moans.

“Please … come with me,” she croaks out.

“I’m ready.”

“I’m right there with you.” I keep my mouth against her neck, sucking in breaths like my life depends on it.

“Come on my dick, baby. It’s all yours. Only yours.” My groin tingles, and when I’m seconds away from blowing myself inside of her, I bite her neck.

“Coming inside what’s mine, Saylor. Claiming you with my cum.”

“Yes,” she cries, bucking her ass against me as her orgasm hits and she clamps down around me.

I push harder on the glass as my hips rock while my body quivers.

The sounds of her moans and my grunts fill the room as her pussy bleeds me dry, demanding every ounce of my cum.

Sucking in a breath once my body stops convulsing, I kiss her temple.

“I love you so fucking much,” I utter, still coming down from the high she just gave me.

When my hands drop down around her, her hands grip my forearms, and she leans her head back against mine.

“I love you,” she whispers before she cranes her neck and grins at me.

“We’d better get out of here, huh?”

“Unless you want my monster cock and your big ol’ titties all over the media, yeah, Brat, we’d better get the hell out of here.” I grin, pressing one more kiss against her forehead before I step back, letting my dick slide from her body and grabbing my pants.

“Gotta say, I came in here, expecting you to punch me in the face.” I shrug, fixing my shirt before pulling my pants up.

“Instead, you fed me dessert, sucked my dick, and let me fuck you against a window.” I wink.

“Damn good day, if you ask me.”

She rolls her eyes at me but giggles, quickly grabbing her own clothes.

She looks happy. Happier than I’ve seen her in a really long time.

She might not see herself the way I see her, but she will one day—I’ll make sure of it.

Because the smile on her face?

I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it there.

Maybe I’m high on life right now or drunk on Saylor Sawyer’s pussy.

Either way, everything feels like it’s going to be fine now.

Once we’re both dressed, I pull her against me and gaze down.

“Next time you’re pissed, you gotta talk to me, okay? No running away.” I kiss the tip of her nose—it’s corny as hell, but I don’t care.

“Promise me.”

Shame flashes in her eyes, and she cringes slightly before giving me the slightest nod.

“I promise. No more running. I’m going to be an adult now.” She scrunches her nose up.

“Or I’ll try my best anyway.”

This time, I kiss her lips, looping my arms around her body.

“You’d better. I’m too fucking in love with your stubborn ass now. My heart can’t handle you just ghosting me and shit.”

Even though she giggles, tears well in her eyes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“I just automatically thought the worse, and that’s not fair.”

It’s one of those times again where she’s not hiding from me.

She’s showing me everything, fear and all.

I know she’s scared I’ll hurt her, and truth be told, I don’t blame her.

“I understand why you did it. I know trusting isn’t easy for you, and I know you’ve been fucked over too many times to count.” I press another kiss to her lips.

“I’ll prove to you, Saylor Sawyer, that this right here”—I drop one hand from her body, motioning between us—“it’s the real deal, baby.”

Even through her tears, a grin spreads across her face, and she hugs me tighter.

“I know it is,” she whispers. “I just … know it.”