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I nod, grateful for the help. “I should be able to tell you two apart.”
“It’s been a while.” He shrugs, as if my time away was no big deal.
“Fuck off!” I hear Ryder call back.
“Bro, you’re going to want to come and deal with this.” Maverick turns back to me and winks.
I feel myself relax a little.
“I’m not interested!” Ryder calls back.
“You sure? You might regret it. I plan to take her back to my place and make her mine.”
“What the fuck are you going on about?” Ryder steps up behind him and peers around Maverick. Shock is written all over his face. “Jordyn? Baby, are you all right? What are you doing here? What happened? Are you hurt?” He rattles off questions as he runs his calloused hands down my arms, his eyes raking over every inch of me.
“I’m fine.” I smile up at him. “I found a way to come see you. I’m free until Sunday afternoon, but if you have plans—” I point over my shoulder, and he immediately shakes his head and pulls me into his arms. He exhales loudly when I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my weight against him.
“Let’s get you inside.” His voice is low and gravelly as he keeps an arm around my waist and leads me into the house.
“Whoa.” Merrick stops in his tracks. “Long time no see.” He smiles.
“Hi, Merrick.”
“So, we’re gonna go,” Merrick says.
“No. Please don’t go on my account. Ryder didn’t know I was coming. I can go to a hotel or something.”
“That’s not happening, sweets. Guys, you can stay, but so is she.”
“Enjoy your time together. I’ll let the group chat know you’re not available until Sunday afternoon.” Maverick wags his eyebrows.
“No. I don’t want to take you from your family.”
“You’re not,” Ryder assures me, pressing his lips to my temple.
“We were just keeping our big bro busy, since he was missing you,” Maverick tells me.
My heart skips a beat as his words register. Not only that, but Maverick seems to accept that I’m back in Ryder’s life. Just as he said his entire family would.
“It’s good to see you,” the twins say at the same time.
“You, too.” I wave awkwardly as they turn and head for the door. I hate that they’re leaving. Guilt sets in. I should have told Ryder I was stopping by.
“Stop. I can hear you thinking, and you don’t need to worry. I see my brothers every day. I haven’t seen you in far too long.”
“I missed you.” I relax into his embrace, feeling not only loved but safe and content.
“I missed you, too, sweets.” He kisses me, and just like always, it feels like coming home.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ryder
I can’t believe she’s here. I should be used to us being apart, but it feels worse knowing she’s just an hour's drive from me, and I can’t go to her anytime that I want.
“Not that I’m complaining, but how are you here?”
She tries to move off my lap, but I hold her tightly. I’m not willing to let her go, not yet.
Not ever.
“Gianna’s going to Birmingham for the weekend to see her grandma. She invited me to go along with her and her cousin Talia. Instead, they took my phone with them. That way, when my mother tracks me, like we know she will, that’s where I’ll be.”
“What if she calls to check up on you?”
“She won’t. She thinks tracking me is enough. She might text, but if she does, Gianna is going to send me a screenshot from her phone to the burner so I can tell her how to reply.”
“Wow. That’s actually genius.”
“Right? I owe Gianna so much for doing this for me.”
“For us. Tell me what I can do for her.”
“She just wants to see me happy.”
“Me, too,” I say, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “So, how long do I get you for? Until Sunday, right?”
“Yeah, Mother is expecting me back home later in the day, on Sunday. I’ll have to meet Gianna and Talia at the mall again to swap out the rentals. Talia and her boyfriend helped with that too. I parked my car at Gianna’s. She drove her car, and I have the rental, which is in Gianna’s name.”
“Damn, sweets, that’s some spy, shit.” I laugh.
“Hey, a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.” She kisses me quickly, and it takes everything in me to stop from tossing her over my shoulder and stalking off toward my room. I have half a mind to keep her naked in my bed all weekend, but I know we can’t do that. This is more than just good sex for me.
“So, nothing from the private investigator yet,” I tell her.
She nods, a solemn look crossing her face. “I don’t expect for him to find anything. My mother is not only vindictive, she’s smart.”
