“Yeah? What does it do?” I’m so screwed, literally and figuratively.
“You’re seriously trying to kill me, aren’t you?” I try to redirect.
“Maybe. We’ll come back to that later.” As soon as he says that, there’s a knock on my door.
“Hold on, Ryder, I’m going to grab my food from the delivery guy.” I’m at the front door within a few steps, giving the teenage boy a tip, grabbing my food, and returning to where I placed my phone on the counter.
“Okay, I’m back.” I set the food out on the counter, diving into it.
“Remind me not to get in the way of your food.” He’s definitely making fun of me, but I don’t care at all.
“I haven’t eaten since lunch, and your niece wasn’t wrong when she said the school lunch was garbage. It really is. If I hadn’t slept through my alarm this morning, I would have packed my own lunch.” The ruffling of noise can surely be heard, not to mention me slurping down my shake and shoving a fry in my mouth.
“Go eat, sugar. I’ll text you tomorrow and let you know what time I take my break.” I guess I probably should have gotten off the phone with him before I started eating, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I was starving.
“Let me know. I don’t have any plans. Well, except maybe a FaceTime call with my cousins, but we do that whenever all of our schedules mesh.” I take another bite of a fry, my eyes roaming over to my cheeseburger every few seconds.
“Later, sugar. Enjoy your food, and we’ll chat soon.”
“Oh, I will, don’t you worry about that.” This time, it’s me who lets out a moan, and he mutters, “Christ, I can’t wait for that to be me in your mouth or my hands on you while you make that noise.”
“Bye, Ryder.” I have a smile on my face because I know exactly how he feels. I know B.O.B. will be getting a lot of use tonight.
I hear the click of the line, hit end, and devour my food before I make the phone call to my girl gang.EightRyderTalking to Berkley last night was something else. Not only did she make me laugh, but I know I’ve met my match in every way possible. The innuendo she had no problem throwing back was fucking perfect. I wasn’t thrilled that my own mouth stopped me from going over to her house last night, but something was pulling me back. Probably the fact that I knew once I had her in my arms, I wouldn’t fucking leave until I had Berkley’s body beneath mine.
“Hey,” my sister says as I walk into the kitchen. Sometimes, she’ll sit back here and do the paperwork for a change of pace. Apparently, that’s what she’s doing today.
“Back at cha. We weren’t able to talk yesterday afternoon because, you know, little ears. But were you able to reach out to your attorney?”
“Yeah, she filed a motion to revoke his rights. We’re not sure if it’ll stick, and I’d lose child support. Not like I get it anyway, so I’m not too worried about that. When that was done, I went and got a pedicure and manicure. It was much needed. Thank you for taking over. I know you hate dealing with the other stuff here, but I appreciate it.” I go towards her, giving her a half hug because of the way she’s sitting.
“You don’t need Joseph’s shit. If you need help, you know I’m here. I’m glad you had the afternoon off. It wasn’t too bad here. Nancy covered everything. You should probably give her a raise and take more time off. I’m thinking about handing over the reins more myself.”
“True enough, and yeah, I think Sienna needs more time together without her staying here after school or on the weekends. I’m sure your plan has something to do with a certain schoolteacher?” She’s much more relaxed in her statement than she was yesterday, or hell, this past week. Apparently, an afternoon to herself really helps. It’s something I’ll have to make sure happens more often.
“Could be. Speaking of, she’ll be here when I take my dinner break. Berkley said she’ll come up. You okay with that?” It may sound like it’s a question, but she knows by the quirk in my eyebrow that it’s going to happen.
“As if I have any say in this. Just don’t screw things up. I think I heard more about Miss Jennings last night while getting her ready for bed than ever, and you know Si—she loves anything school related, even this was a lot for her. I know I was a raging bitch yesterday. There’s no excuse, and if you and Si like her, then without a doubt you know I will too.” I nod, glad to know she’s on my side.