“Yep,” she said with a brief grin. “Ivory and I both suffered like you for a bit, but it all works out in the end.”
“For what it’s worth,” Don interrupted, stepping to the side of the island so he could look at me. “I am very sorry for my involvement in what I’m sure feels traumatic right now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I mumbled. I wanted to blame him, but I couldn’t when I suspected it wouldn’t have made a difference if he hadn’t been involved. From what I’d seen of Ryker, he would have done whatever it took to have me trapped under his thumb. Don’s involvement didn’t matter in the slightest, because if it hadn’t been him it just would have been someone else.
The only person to blame for trapping me in a pseudo-relationship I didn’t want was Ryker himself.
“Where is she?” another woman’s voice asked from the entryway, and then the tiniest woman I’d ever seen stormed into the room.
“Oh, she’s blond!” she yelled, stepping up and standing next to me on the stool. I knew I probably wasn’t much taller than her, but her muscular and petite form looked so small from where I sat. “You’re all like a complete set now! Brunette, redhead, blond.” Her honey eyes were upturned almonds, and those combined with her dusky skin made her high cheekbones and strong bone structure even more prominent.
“Hush you,” Samara swatted her away. “You’ll scare her off.”
“She’s sharing a bed with Ryker. If she can survive that man, then I’m a piece of cake.”
Ivory rolled her eyes as she cleaned off the counter. “That’s Sadie,” she said. “She’s a lot. If she annoys you, just slap her.”
“No, don’t do that. She’ll knock you on your ass and then Scar will get in trouble with Ryker,” Samara laughed.
“But then we could watch them spar. That’s always fun,” Sadie said with a teasing grin. “I don’t get to watch that nearly enough, if you know what I mean. Want to take one for the team?”
“Uh no?” I asked, and she pouted at me.
“I don’t know if I like you,” she whispered, but there was still a smile on her face when she took a seat. Ivory slid a mimosa in front of me, and I only stared at it for a moment before I looked back at her.
“Drink,” she ordered, and I didn’t need to be told twice.
I chugged it, wiping my hand across the back of my mouth when I finished. “I think she needs like six more of those,” Sadie said.
“No! I can’t get drunk.”
Samara looked over at me with a little smirk on her face. “Oh? Would that have anything to do with the meatball ass and the fact that you want to jump on and ride him until tomorrow?”
“I changed my mind,” Sadie chirped, sipping at her own mimosa delicately. “I think I do like you. I have to ask though, do your legs even wrap around him?”
I nearly spit out my first sip of my second mimosa. “I wouldn’t know. I’m usually trying to get him off me. And I do not want to ride him until tomorrow!” I whispered at Samara, glancing nervously at Scar where he stood in the corner and tried not to laugh. Finally snapping my attention to Ivory, I widened my eyes at her shoulder, wondering just how much champagne she’d put in my drink. “Is that a lizard?”
“This is Smaug. He’s everybody’s favorite, aside from Luna over there.” She gestured to the baby Don held, and he brought her over like he might drop her in my arms.
“Nope!” I squealed. “My biological clock is sensitive. I swear if I hold her, I’ll be pregnant in a week and that is not happening.”
Samara chuckled, but bit her tongue when I turned a glare at her. “These men don’t have the best reputation for waiting long before they get us pregnant,” Ivory said.
“Well, it takes two to tango, and I am not dancing.”
Sadie looked over to Ivory gleefully. “I give it a week.”
Ivory responded with, “two weeks.”
“I give it three days,” Samara said, and she shrank back from the glare I leveled her with.
“I am not having sex with Ryker,” I mumbled.
“You will, and you’ll love it. You’ll do it constantly. Next thing you know, you’ll be married, and then a month later you’ll be pregnant. I swear, all they have to do is look at us and we’re knocked up.” Ivory’s smile was warm as she dropped the lizard in my hand and went back to check the muffins. I looked down at the lizard who tilted his head and blinked at me as he settled in to sleep.
“Don’t fight i
t,” Samara whispered, suddenly seeming more serious than they’d been since I arrived. “It won’t matter either way, but Ryker will take good care of you and the kids. He might not be a good man, but he’ll be good to you. That’s all that matters,” she added.