Ryder (2 page)

As for Demi’s dad Andy, well, he isn’t in the picture. You see Andy Mitchell is a trust fund baby, who likes to get his own way and will crush anyone who stands in his way. We met at a party and started dating not long after. He took me to meet his parents after just a few weeks of dating. His mom didn’t like me much but his dad was a very proud, man which is why when we found out I was pregnant a deal was made between us all.

Andy didn’t want the baby but his parents told him that he had made the baby with me and he should take some responsibility, which is why he sends me money each month for Demi. Which I use half of it for daily items she needs plus childcare but I also put some into a college account for her. He hasn’t even seen Demi in person but I’m sure he has seen photos since I sent them to the Mitchell family every few months. Last night’s heated discussion between me and Quinn was over Andy.

I received an email from him telling me that he is getting married in a few months and wants Demi in the wedding party. Can you believe that prick? He always cancels the plans he makes to finally meet Demi and I am left making her happy and try to forget her being let down. I will always be here to mend my daughter’s broken heart every time her dad or any other man lets her down. I will have to deal with the Andy issue tomorrow.

Quinn agrees to take Demi to the park after she gets off work which makes my darling jumps up and down like she has just been told she is going to Disney Land. She loves her Aunt Quinn, we have been friends for years and she loves Demi as if she is her own. She always says that there is no need for her to have kids of her own when she has Demi. She is her shining star, and not to toot my own horn or anything but Demi is a pretty awesome kid.

After dropping Demi off at day care I head to work. I work part time at a coffee shop called ‘The Hot Pot’, which is only a few blocks from my apartment. I see that today is going to be busy again with people getting back into their daily routine after the Christmas break; there are suits and college students littering the shop. I see a group of girls sitting in the window booth so I dump my bag and head over to see if they need a refill. I spot a very beautiful blond and she kind of reminds me of Ellie Goulding the huge UK chart topper, long blond hair with big blue eyes. To be honest every one of them are stunning.

“Hey girls, can I get you any refills or maybe a morning muffin?” I smile at them. They all smile back up at me.

“I could use a refill. Oh and what muffins do you have? Please tell me you have double chocolate, oh to hell with it, triple. The more chocolate the better.” I can’t help but laugh along with these girls.

“I will see what I can do for you. Anything else for the rest of you?” I ask the table. The blond speaks up.

“Can I have another English breakfast tea please?” I nod and tell them I will be right back with their order. I head behind the counter to get the girl's drinks together. I had just placed the double choc chip muffin on my tray when the bell above the door rings. I glance up and my breath catches when I am faced a shit ton of pure male hotness. There are three of them.  They head my way and all I can do is stare at them like a total moron.

The first guy who reaches the counter is freaking tall with a buzz cut. He has a full tattooed sleeve under a tight white V-neck tee with a biker emblem of the front. I manage to catch myself before I make an even bigger fool of myself. I smile at him.

“Good morning, welcome to The Hot Pot what can I get for you?” I offer.

“I will just have a coffee, black, and I will pay for the girls order as well, doll” he says pointing to the table of girls I just took an order from. I smile and nod. Totally sweet that he is paying for their order. “Nice ink by the way.” He points to my arm.

“Umm thanks. I will bring it over to you…Hey what can I get you?” I say to his friend. Freaking hell what the hell have they put in the water around here? This guy is just as tall as the last but has amazing shaggy, caramel colored hair.

“Morning, Sweetie, can I get a latte please and that guy there…”He points to the guy who just ordered. “Is paying for my drink” He winks at me and joins the girls. The last guy is watching the girls and he smiles at the blond. Oh, you lucky bitch.

Now this guy is freaking hot. Ink black hair short at the sides but longer at the top, beautiful green eye and his ears has small black studs in them. I see a tattoo of a star on his wrist, and I immediately wonder if he has more. He hasn’t noticed that it’s his turn to order bless him. I lean over the counter and tap his shoulder and smile at him when he turns to me. I have seen him and his band play a few times around town and at the New Year’s party we crashed thanks to a male friend of Quinn’s.

“Oh shit sorry. Ummm I will just have an English breakfast tea please. Has the table over there ordered yet?” He points to the girls again.

“Yeah, the girls have and the two guys. The dude with the buzz cut is paying, so shall I add yours to his bill?” I say smiling, he smiles and fucking hell he is beautiful. He nods and goes to walk away but stops and turns back to me.

“My brother is joining us in a bit so can you add his order to Zach’s bill, please?”

“Will do.” I nod but feel my nerves build up, not sure which brother is going to come through the door. Anyone can tell that the three boys of Inside Noise are brothers, very hot brothers. He turns to join the table of utterly gorgeous people, surely it can't be legal to have that many totally stunning people at one table; I know we are in California but still. I get busy making the guys drinks, which doesn’t take long I am used to these machines now and it helps calm my nerves.

The first few days of working here I was a total hot mess, screwing up orders, dropping drinks. I had no idea how to make half the orders that I was given. I even had a huge blow out with a rich bitch because she kept changing her order on purpose and then when I finally made her coffee she made a big stink about it being the wrong order. She asked to see the manager and she told Ruth that she should fire me before I drive the customers away. Bitch.

I place the last drink on my tray when the bell dings again. One day I’m seriously going to throw that thing through the front window, not sure that Ruth will be happy though. I almost drop the latte when my eyes meet the green eyes of the one person I didn’t think I would see again. Freaking Quinn, for making me go to that New Year’s party. I suck in a breath when he sees me, he knows who I am.

Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

I square my shoulders and watch him slowly walk towards the counter; it’s as if he is seducing me without even touching me or talking to me. I plaster a smile on my face and greet him.

“Good morning and welcome to The Hot Pot, what can I get you this morning?” I manage not to trip over my tongue or stutter my words, good girl Letty Shaw. I smile at him.

He smirks at me and answers my question. “You”

Chapter 3

Ryder

Fuck she is even more beautiful than I remembered. After she kissed me at the Phoenix Records New Year’s Eve party I actually looked for her, can you believe that? Me Ryder Phoenix tried hunting down a girl. Now that has never happened before. Her hair is shorter now, just touching her shoulders but still the same chocolate brown but she has added a blond chuck at the front, it suits her.

She blushes with my answer “You” Fuck do I want her, that isn’t even a question.

She smiles a sweet but seductive smile at me and replies back. “Oh I’m sorry, Stud, but I’m not on the menu.” She smirks at me and adds another mug to the tray loaded up with other coffee mugs. “Do you want to order or are you going to stand there and look pretty all day?” She adds two muffins to the tray and waits for my order.

“Since I can’t order you … yet, I suppose I could order a cappuccino, please. But can I order your phone number while we are at it?” I wink at her and she blushes. Yeah baby, I will get your digits by the time I leave. She catches herself and leans over the counter, crooking her fingers asking me to come closer. I don’t keep the lady waiting; I’m a gentleman like that.

“I will make you a cappuccino, but sorry no digits for you, Stud.” She flicks the tip of my noise and turns to make my drink. Fucker, no-one has turned me down before.

“Challenge accepted, Sunshine.” She turns and laughs at me. That sound goes straight to my dick, a sound that should be bottled and sold for millions. I shake my head laughing and head over the guys who are sitting with their girls. As the norm these days, Lucy is sitting on Rafe’s lap, the same with Maisey on Gunner's lap. Zach has Kenzie neatly tucked into his side. They are all talking about some shit at school but I see Lucy watching me approach the table.

“Did she turn you down, Ry? Never thought I would see the day that Ryder Phoenix couldn’t get a girl to date him.” Gunner taunts. Asshole.

Lucy flicks his ear and we all burst out laughing. “Leave my Ry Ry alone, Gun. It isn’t his fault he is losing the ‘Phoenix Effect’” Again everyone bursts out laughing.

“Damn, Snowflake, I thought you had my back. That’s it no more Ry Ry cuddles for you” I fake pout and wink at Lucy. Everyone goes all quiet when Sunshine arrives at the table with a tray full of drinks. I see Zach going to move to help her but I give him a warning look and the bastard smirks at me. I stand and take the tray from her. She smiles and my breath catches again. Fuck what is she doing to me?

After she unloads the tray I’m holding for her, she takes the tray from me. “The two extra muffins are for you girls, on the house. Enjoy.” She turns to walk away but I get a hold of her elbow and stop her.

“Have a drink with me tonight I can pick you up about seven…” She tenses and I see her gripping the tray a little tighter. “Or not, I can meet you someplace very public so I can’t put my sexy moves on you.” I wink at her, and I hear the guys laugh. I keep my eyes locked with hers and wait for an answer. She is just staring at me like she is trying to look deep in my soul to see if I’m an ok guy. Well baby I’m more than ok, I think to myself. I can see the cogs in her head working away, trying to find an excuse not to go out with me. This is so not working for me. I don’t ever work hard to get a girl to go on a date with me. Fuck this.

“Listen, don’t worry your pretty little head over it, I can find someone else to feast on tonight. Thanks for the coffees.” I say dismissing her. My stomach is in knots but I can’t stop my mouth from spouting shit. I feel something hit my leg and I turn to see Lucy scowling at me after she kicked my leg. What the hell? I turn back to the girl whose name I still don’t know; fuck I’m losing my touch. 

I shrug and take a seat next to Gunner and Maisey who is also shooting daggers at me through her eyes. She stares at me for a few more seconds before she catches herself. “Well, thank you for giving me an out; it was going to be so hard breaking your heart by telling you I had plans tonight. But now I don’t feel so bad since you have a bevy of sluts to keep you company. Enjoy your coffees.” She spins and heads back into the back room without even a backward glance. My stomach tightens even more because I know I have hurt her feelings and for what reason… because I am a fucking asshole that’s what I am and all because I couldn’t handle her rejection. Never have been able to.

My mom always said it one of the things that held me back when I was younger. I wouldn’t try things or ask for something for fear of rejection or failing even though we were never brought up like that.

“What an asshole. Jesus Ryder, give the girl a break would ya?” This comes from Kenzie, sitting on Zach’s lap.

“Yeah, yeah I know I’m a fucking dick but she was taking too long to answer me, man. Fuck that shit, I don’t work for a dates, the dates come to me. The way I see it is, if she really wanted to go on a date with me then she would have said yes, not stood there thinking about it, simple. I don’t have all day to stand around and wait for some chick to over think if I’m worth having a drink with or not.” I take a deep breath and look at the door she just walked through. “Fuck it, I’m out. Catch you later” I kiss Lucy on the cheek and lean over to kiss Maisey and Kenzi on the head. I pull back to see Gunner puckering his lips for a kiss, everyone laughs so I do what I do best and fuck around. I quickly place one hand behind his head and the other over his mouth and pretend to kiss the shit out of him.

Everyone is laughing the asses off while I fake kiss Gun. Maisey has tears streaming from her face when I pull back from Gunner. “Damn, best kiss I ever had…” I turn to see Sunshine come back through the door, her eyes looking a little puffy and red like she has been crying. I know she hears me because she stops on her tracks “Except for the kiss I had at Mom’s New Year’s party. Now that was fucking hot. Later” I turn and head towards her.

She squares her shoulders and by fuck that does something to me. I love a girl who can take my shit. Someone who isn’t afraid to call me on things I say and do. I can tell that if we become friends or more she isn’t gonna take shit from me.

“Hi, listen I’m sorry for being a dick to you, you didn’t deserve it so I’m sorry. I would like to take you out but I guess that isn’t on the table right after what I just did and that’s fair enough, Sunshine. Thanks for the drinks.” I smile and tap the counter twice before turning to walk away but she stops me with her small soft hand on my arm.

“I may want to go out for one, maybe two drinks with you, since that apology was pretty good and yes you were a dick. But I guess that comes with the whole rock star image, right? I can’t tonight as I have to make sure that my…” She stops herself from finishing her sentence and her eyes go wide as if she can’t believe she almost said what she was going to say.

“Ok ummm… pass me your phone, I will add my number and you can text me when you can come and have a drink with me, if that's ok with you?” I hold my hand out for her phone but she shakes her head.

“Pass me your phone and I will add my name and number in for you. You can call me and I will save the number.” I shrug and pull my phone out of my back pocket and hand it over to her. She smiles down at the lock screen photo which is a picture of Rafe, Reeve and me at Phoenix Records. She types in her name and number and hands it back over to me. I quickly hit the camera app and smile at her.

“Smile for me” She fiddles with her hair a little and gives me one hell of a beautiful smile, the kind of smile that can make grown men weak at the knees. I take a photo and show it to her and she laughs.

“God, I look like shit.” She buries her face in her hands. I pull her hands away and tell her.

“You look beautiful” I smile at her and hit the call button. One Republic rings from her back pocket and she reaches around for her cell phone. She smiles at me and I cancel the call. She deftly runs her fingers over the keypad adding my contact.

“So what name should I put you under?” She smirks at me.

“Well maybe ‘Rock God’ or ‘Mr. Hottie’” She laughs even louder and my dick is getting awfully restricted in my jeans. “Ok, ok how about just plain Ryder? Does that work for you, Sunshine?”

She smiles again “There is nothing plain about a name like Ryder. It’s an awesome name.” The bell above the door chimes and she looks at the new customer. I touch her hand and wink at her.

“Cya very soon, Letty”

A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

After leaving the coffee place I head over to see Brax, to talk to him about the upcoming gigs we have booked. I know that we are ready for Tru’s party. We are singing some of our own songs but also a few covers that she loves, thanks to Lucy and Jax. I love doing covers because it adds the fun to gigs. We like to mix it up a bit. I park my car in Brax’s driveway and head for the door; it’s unlocked like always. I open the door and yell for him. “Yo, Brax.” Nothing. I walk into his kitchen and take a bottle of water out and go searching for my uncle.

He lives in a one story condo, which he hasn’t long finished decorating. I head for his office because that where he is most of the time, I hear a deep manly moan and stifle the laugh fighting so hard to escape; I so have to bust his balls for this. I open the door quietly and come head to head with Brax half sitting on his desk with a girl on her knees sucking him off. Brax’s head is thrown back in a pleasurable bliss. He lift’s his head up with open eyes that land on me; he smirks at me and I cross my arms across my chest and smile back but doesn’t stop the girl.

“Hey, you enjoying the show, Ry?” He asks as he places his hands on the back of the girls head making her take him deeper. She squeals and jumps to her feet. She blushes and turns to Brax and slaps his chest. “Oh, darling, where you going?” He shouts after her as she flees from his house. We break down in fits of laughter.

What an uncle...

Chapter 4

Letty

Not long after Ryder leaves the Hot Pot, with my body tingling in his wake, his brother and friends take off too. They all smile at me as they leave giving me’ thanks’ and ‘cya laters’ How can this group be so damn good looking? God, I would never fit in with these people. They look like super models and I still have my after baby, mom fat...not that I'm fat per se, but the teen body years are definitely behind me. I text Quinn to see if they are back from the park and if they have eaten yet.

Me: Yo, bitch you and my girl eaten or should I make something?

Quinn: We are just heading home now. Demi had a fruit pack but nothing heavy, she said she is ‘hungry’ ;) Make us food hoe!!!

Me: Ok, I will do some mac and cheese by the time you get here. Cya in a bit

She doesn’t reply back and I head home to make food for my two favorite girls. I walk the few blocks between work and my apartment, passing the dance studio that Demi and I both take dancing classes at once a week. I loved dancing all through high school and only stopped when I was pregnant with Demi. Quinn and Carolyn convinced me to pick it back up again when my baby was just a year old, and by God it felt good. Not only does it keep me fit and in good shape, it helps clear my head as well.

I make it to my apartment, throwing my bag and apron on the kitchen table and start cooking the mac and cheese. Once that is started, I drop my apron into the laundry basket and head for my bedroom to change into something more comfortable. I put on my comfy shorts and a floral cami. Leaving my shoes off, I walk back to the kitchen just in time for my baby girl to come bursting through the door.

“Mama, Mama, Mama where are you? Auntie Quinn bought me a big ass ice cream” She stops dead in her tracks and puts her hand over her mouth. Quinn looks at me with humor in her eyes and I fight to keep the smile off my face. I have warned Quinn about cursing in front of her; she is at the age now where she is picking everything up, just soaking it into her tiny, impressionable brain.

“Oops sorry Mama, Auntie Quinn told me not to tell you about the ice cream” She corrects herself for the ice cream slip up but not the cursing. Freaking Quinn. I kneel down so I am face to face with my daughter.

“Baby, I will deal with Auntie Quinn about the ice cream before dinner but there was something else you did wrong. Do you know what you said that you shouldn’t have?” I ask her. Her eyes look between me and Quinn and her eyes go wide. She knows, bless her heart.

“I’m sorry, Mama it just came out I promise not to say it again” She looks down at the floor, my heart breaks just a little for her. I lift her chin to look at me.

“Baby, I’m not upset with you for cursing ok, you know you said a bad word but you didn’t mean to say it. Now what do we always say to Auntie Quinn about cursing?” I smile at her and a huge amazingly beautiful smile crosses her face. She turns to Quinn, who is now sitting at the kitchen table.

“No cursing bad words, Auntie Quinn. Mama and me will wash your mouth out with soap. That’s what Mrs. Dawson says to all the boys at the park.” I kiss her head and laugh at Quinn’s face while heading back to check on our food.

“Demi, go wash up for dinner please” She bounces off to wash up and I turn to Quinn. “Dude, really? Watch what you say around her, you know what she is like these days”