I woke up that morning naked from head to toe, without morning wood, or even a piss boner for the first time in I didn’t know how long. Everything else was throbbing: my head, my feet, my back, even my glutes.
Ryder was awake before me, sitting up in bed on his phone. When he saw me stir, he wished me good morning. I grumbled a greeting, trying to come back to life. Ryder just plowed ahead and asked if I remembered the night before.
“Kinda,” I had said. “Kinda fuzzy in parts.”
I didn’t need to be fully awake to read his face. It fell, then he shook it. “No worries, man. Fuzzy for me too.”
He wasn’t naked when he got out of bed to pee. It was too late to explain that I was a little overwhelmed and very hungover. But also, parts of the club were missing, not the blow job. Like how I got to the VIP section, not what we did there.
I still hadn’t processed the blow job riding in the limo to the VIP pool party. Nor had I said anything to Ryder outside of small talk. My head was moving slower than normal, and every time I opened my mouth to say something to him, it came out as a comment on the upcoming activity. Ryder wasn’t engaging with me either.
I knew I had to talk to him. From what I remembered of the night before, he was apprehensive and told me I’d regret it. I wasn’t surewhatto think about it, but I needed him to know that it wasn’t regret.
The place was outdated. Tables under umbrellas cluttered the several levels. A gigantic, free-form-shaped bar dominated the center of the space. And the pool, large by backyard standards but small compared to our hotel’s, was off to the side against the wall of the neighboring building. Why we needed to pay money to sit by a shittier pool was beyond me.
Our VIP section did not inspire the same awe or value for money as the third floor of LIV. Instead of being high above the pulsing crowds with the massive moving screen that was its ceiling, it was two outdoor couches with a small table and an umbrella between them.
It took about three and a half seconds for Connor to take off his shirt, and five for Tyler to find a server and order shots of tequila. Swallowing it felt like poison, and then like I was going to throw it back up. Miles almost did, dry gagging twice before slouching into the couch like a zombie.
Tyler and Connor didn’t have that issue and jumped in the pool as soon as the liquor hit their blood. Jason looked at Miles, then at me, and said, “I’m gonna take a dip.”
Once he was gone, that left me alone with the brothers for the first time the whole trip. Even I understood the tension between the three of us. Miles and Ryder had their whole thing. Miles and I hadn’t connected the entire trip, when we were usually inseparable. And Ryder and I, well… yeah.
“This was a fucking mistake,” Miles grumbled, sounding more like himself than I’d heard since the airport.
“I agree with you on that.” Ryder sat back.
“I meant this place.”
“I know.” Ryder had a slight chuckle in his voice. “And I meant this stupid ass trip. Expensive, far,long. But baby brother gets what baby brother wants.”
Miles chuckled, causing him pain. “Fuckin’ A, man. Am I a pretentious douchebag?”
“I don’t think you’re a douchebag, more like an asshole, but otherwise, yeah.”
Miles turned to his brother, and I was sure he was about to curse him out. Instead, he said, “Fuck you, man,” and laughed as hard as his hangover would allow.
“I thought you two were about to get all bitchy again, and I’m too hungover for that shit,” I said.
“Nah, big brother is over his bitchy phase. Thank God,” Miles said.
Ryder said, “Alas, that will never be said about you. But here we all still are.”
They smiled at each other, as they always had, making me smile too. Ryder had to still be mad at Miles, but the urge to care for his little brother outweighed whatever animosity he felt for him, and always would.
Ryder was a good dude. Solid, dependable, the kind of guy you’d want in your corner. The first number you called when shit went wrong. But something shifted in my mind about him. Ryder was the biggest softie in the world. He could protect and nurture, fight and defend, take and dole out all the shit there was to give, but if he loved you, he’d be there for you until his last breath. Regardless of the cost, to his wallet, himself, or his well-being.
“You good, bro?” Miles asked me.
“Uh, yeah?”
“You look like you’re gonna puke. How fucking funny would that be if you puked, but I kept that shit down?”
“Nah, I’m good.” I shifted my body away from them. “Just feeling last night harder than I’d like.”
Thinking about Ryder like that, after what we did, had started to make me hard.
“Fucking A. Don’t let me follow Tyler down the road to oblivion ever again.” Miles laughed and coughed.
