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“Ry, baby! I heard you were in town. I was hoping to run into you.” Ryker stands and gives the woman a hug.
“Hey, Ray,” he replies in an annoyed voice. She beams at him, either not noticing the undertone of his voice or not caring.
“I’ve tried calling you. Why haven’t you returned my calls?” Her whiney voice makes fingernails on a chalkboard sound like music.
He glances down at Bryn and genuinely smiles. “I’ve been busy.”
She looks at Bryn. Her top lip pulls up and she huffs. It seems she is more than a crazy fan, she’s a crazy booty call. I’d rather it be a crazy fan. Bryn’s wearing denim shorts and a gray T-shirt that says Happiness is when debits equal credits. I still laugh when I read it. It’s definitely Bryn. Her hair is in a messy bun, and she doesn’t have any makeup on but she’s naturally gorgeous. She might not be as thin as Barbie, but if I were a man, I’d take Bryn and her curves over that cheap looking booty call any day.
“Really?” the crazy girl says, her voice condescending. I angle my head. Who the hell does this girl think she is?
Bryn rolls her eyes and stands up. “I’ll be back,” she says. She glances at Ryker then with a slight shake to her head, she turns and walks away. Ryker’s jaw clenches as he watches her leave. I stand up and toss my napkin on the table.
“I don’t know who you are, but you don’t get to come here and interrupt our lunch and be a bitch to my friends.” Aiden’s hand grabs hold of my back pocket. Her eyes meet mine, and I cross my arms. She narrows her eyes and moves her gaze down my body. They land on Aiden’s arm holding me back then follows the path to the man the arm belongs to. Her sour expression changes to excitement as soon as her eyes meet Aiden’s.
“Aiden!” Her eyes widen in recognition. I feel a slight sting in my stomach. My arms drop to my sides as I look from Aiden to Psycho Barbie. “It’s been a long time,” she purrs. My eyebrows shoot up, and I look at Aiden. The grip he has on my shorts tightens before he stands up. The apologetic smile he gives me doesn’t help how I’m feeling right now. A flash of heat runs through my body.
“Rach,” he says, with a nod.
“It’s Raquel now,” she replies with the wave of a hand. The more she talks, the more I dislike her. “You’re still looking good.” This girl can’t be serious. I’m standing right here.
Aiden’s hand releases my back pocket, but he wraps his arm around my waist—tight. “Rach, this is Addison, my fiancée.”
She flashes me catty smile. “Fiancée? Hmph. I figured you would have eventually ended up with that Jessica girl,” she says, lifting her brow. Her intentions hit their mark. Dead center. My body tenses, my pulse quickening. She knows it, too, so she continues and her claws come out. “That girl would have done anything for you. Even wait for you to finish having your fun.” She winks at Aiden. My stomach churns at the insinuation of that comment. The fact that she seems to know both Ryker and Aiden very well leads me to believe she’s been with both. My mind takes me back to when Aiden told me they’ve shared women at the same time.
Bitch, I have claws, too.
I manage to fake a smile. “I feel sorry for you.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “I mean it must suck to find out that men only want to fuck you. And it must not even be that great since they don’t keep you.” She gasps, but the words roll off my tongue and I keep going. “I’m not a gambling person, but I would bet everything that you saw a tweet just a little while ago that Ryker was down here so you got all dolled up to come find him only to be rejected. I’m not sure what’s more humiliating, that you keep trying and he clearly doesn’t want you or that he just rejected you in front of everyone just now. It must be lonely in your world.”
Her face turns beet red. She tugs her purse strap on her shoulder and glares at me. I wait for a comeback, but instead she huffs, whips around, and stomps off. The adrenaline from my anger has me shaking. I open and close my hands and shake them out. I look down at my half-eaten hamburger and sigh.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” I say, grabbing my purse and walking away. I don’t bother waiting for anyone to speak. I just leave. Aiden grumbles something, and then I hear his heavy footsteps behind me.
“Wheels up in two hours,” Max says from behind. I throw up a peace sign, acknowledging him.
While I’m waiting for the elevator, Aiden stands behind me. He’s not touching me, but he’s close enough I can feel the tension between us. “I don’t want to know anything about her. I read between the lines, loud and clear.” He stays quiet but exhales heavily.
When we get to the room, I pace around, checking to make sure everything is packed. I already know it is, but it gives me something to do. Aiden sits on the bed with his hands together, leaning on his knees, just watching me. I glance at him a couple times and our eyes catch, but I look away quickly. I can tell he wants to explain himself, but I don’t want to hear it.
Finally, I break the awkward silence. “Aiden, I know you have a past. It’s not your fault that happened. I’m not mad at you, per se…” he lifts a brow, “…I’m more mad that you didn’t have better standards back then.”
He chuckles and nods softly. “She didn’t mean anything to me.”
I lean my hip against the desk. “I know.”
“She and Ryker have messed around since—”
I hold my hand up. “I really don’t want to know.” Because I already know how this story ends. The image of the three of them together is burned in my mind, so I don’t need confirmation. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never met Psycho Barbie.”
He flashes a lopsided grin and stands up. “She didn’t used to be so—”
“W-h-y,” I say, extending the word, “must you keep talking about her?”
He grunts and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t know, I feel I need to defend myself.”
“No.” I shake my head. “No, you don’t. I’m sure I’ve been with guys that would make you wonder ‘what the hell was she thinking?’ too.”
A growl erupts from the back of his throat as he takes two long strides to reach me. My breath catches in surprise as he grabs me and walks me back to the bed. I can’t do anything but grab hold of his arms. When the back of my legs hit the mattress, he lays me down on the made bed. His thigh presses down in between my legs as he gets close to my face.
