Ryder (Resisting Love #2.5)(4)

“Really? Because I think otherwise,” I say as I put my feet up on her coffee table.

“I’m in my twenties now, Ry, you don’t need to baby me,” she says with a musical giggle. My cousin has been hurt before, and now she tends to date a lot. I come over every now and again to see how she’s doing or just to hang out. I love my cousins and I try to visit all of them whenever I get the chance.

“You will always be a baby to me, Sash,” I tell her. She shakes her head as she sits down next to me, her thick long black hair tumbling around her.

“How are you doing, Ryder? No special woman in your life?” she asks nosily. Our family is always in each other’s business, we’re all pretty much used to it by now. “You need to forget Nikki, Ry. She and Kade are solid,” she adds in a soft voice.

“You going to change out of that mini dress? Or continue to give me a heart attack every time you move?” I counter, ignoring her question. Nikki isn’t a subject I want to breach. I thought that one day when I was ready to settle down she would be mine, but I was wrong. End of story. Life goes on.

Sasha playfully rolls her eyes at me and tickles me under the chin.

“You need to relax, cuz,” she says with an encouraging nod.

“You need to wear more clothes, baby girl,” I say, once again glancing over her sparkly black dress and red high heels. She just grins and throws her arms around me. Doesn’t anyone take me seriously in this family?

“Come on, Ry, it’s just a first date,” she tells me, trying to put me at ease. The truth is, I’m worried about Sasha. Layla is taken care of and Tee can take care of herself, but there is something about Sasha. She’s fragile and needs nurturing. Her beauty is obvious, just like the other girls in my family, but Sasha’s heart is still wounded. There's something she’s not letting go.

Something or someone.

“When you going to drop by and see Tee?” I ask her.

“Tee said she will drop by tomorrow,” she assures me. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell any of us she was coming home!”

I can only imagine what Sasha and Tee will get up to together, and the thought makes me shudder.

“I spoke to Tee on the phone today, and I hear this Lexi girl is a total babe,” Sasha tells me, her purple lips curving. I clear my throat. “She is, isn’t she? Are you gonna ask her out? I’ve heard she’s a cool chick, Tee told me she has no family or anything. She and Tee have been inseparable since they met,” Sasha says thoughtfully.

Lexi has no family? The thought saddens me. It must be lonely, I don’t know how I would survive if I didn’t have my family at my back.

“There’s a family function coming up anyway, so we can all catch up then,” Sasha announces, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What family function?” I ask, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Sasha puts her hands on her hips. “Jet’s birthday, remember?”

“Oh shit, yeah, I forgot. That’s gonna be a bucket load of fun,” I say sarcastically. Sasha huffs in agreement. There’s a knock on the door and I stand up, ready to hand out threats to the latest man that’s caught my baby cousin’s eye.

I don’t want to see her hurt again.

*****





Chapter 4


Lexi

Tee and I are playing band hero and laughing our asses off when Ryder finally gets home, his hands full of bags of food. I’m on guitar, and Tee is banging away on the drums. Tee presses pause when the food arrives.

“Yay! What did you bring us, Ry?” she asks, walking over to him.

“Pizza and some groceries. Mostly drinks and snacks for you guys,” he says, placing everything down on the kitchen table. That’s really nice of him. Tee pulls out two plates and loads them with pizza, bringing one over to me.

“Thanks,” I say, feeling a little awkward. Here we are, gate crashing his house, and he’s buying us food and treating us like guests. The pizza smells delicious; pepperoni with cheese dripping off the sides. My stomach growls loudly before I take a huge bite.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Ryder asks us as he picks up his own slice.

“I’m going out,” Tee announces.

“Where?” Ryder asks, standing straighter.

“Just out,” Tee replies, her dark brown eyes narrowing.

“Where?” Ryder repeats harshly.

“A guy I met asked me out to dinner,” Tee tells him, picking at her pizza.

“You just got here yesterday. When the hell did you have the time to pick up a guy?” Ryder asks.

Tee just shrugs. I laugh at the look on Ryder’s face. He looks like he wants to strangle her. I see him exhaling deeply. Then he pins those mysterious gray eyes on me.

“Looks like it’s just me and you tonight then,” He grins, like he’s pleased about that.

I gulp.

*****

Tee gets dolled up and leaves the house, but not before asking me a million times if I wanted her to stay home. I tell her it’s fine, I’m just going to have an early night anyway. Tomorrow we’re spending the day looking for apartments. Fun, I know. Tee kisses me on the cheek, and before heading out I hear her call out to Ryder to keep an eye on me. I laugh out loud when I hear Ryder complaining about her outfit, or lack thereof. He’s so protective of his family, it's adorable. I have a quick shower and change into my pajamas. About ten minutes later, Ryder taps on my door and walks into my room, taking a seat on my bed.