Losing Traction: Westbeach #1

  I look down at the time seeing it’s morning, so I decide to freshen up in the shower and get ready for Nettie and my tour day. We’ve made a pact to do it every time we go to a new country on the first day.

  After our day of exploring, we settle into a cute little café under our hotel. I order all the croissants I can think of because I love pastries more than sweets. Seriously, a pie trumps a candy bar any day of the week.

  “My feet are dead. I might have an early night tonight,” Nettie says, picking up her glass.

  I push my sunglasses up my nose, nodding my head. “Me too. We got some good pictures, though!” I laugh at some of the photos we took while uploading them to Facebook. I check through my wall briefly while I’m at it and see Vicky has written something. Vicky is Blake’s wife. They have one child already, my beautiful niece Pipper, and they’re expecting twins as well. I love being an aunty, you love them the same, but you get to give them back to the parents.

  Vicky: I miss you. When are you going to be home? The circuit is looking good! Have you thought of a name yet?

  I laugh, shaking my head. Vicky and I have a close friendship, like with all of the old ladies. Old ladies is a term used within the MC community. It means more to the brothers than wife status. An Old Lady is someone, that one special someone who you choose to be beside you through it all. The fact that the brothers in the MC will also lay their lives down for an Old Lady tells you how important that woman would need to be to earn that status. There are only three in our chapter at the moment, and I don’t see any of the other boys settling down anytime soon.

  Me: I miss you too. How’s my babies cooking? I’m currently sitting in a cute little café eating all the pastries you can think of. I have…Speedy’s Way.

  I drop my phone back into my bag and look to Nettie who looks like a she’s just seen a ghost. “Nettie?” I say, waving my hand in front of her eyes.

  Rellik walks through the door with a smile, and I smile back. “Hey!” I say to him as he walks up to our table and pulls out a chair.

  “Hey, what are you two doing on this fine day?”

  “Oh not much, just about to eat. Wanna stay?”

  Nettie buts in, “He has other things to take care of, right?” she answers for him coldly.

  What the?

  Rellik’s smile falters for a second as he taps on the table. “Yeah, I do. Thanks for the invite, though, Phoebe. I’ll see you both later.” He winks at Nettie and her body convulses slightly. I raise my eyebrows to her, smirking around the rim of my glass of water.

  “Something going on there?” I could have cut the sexual tension with a pair of scissors.

  “No, ew, hell no.” She laughs, sitting back into her seat, attempting to laugh me off.

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Sure…sure.” There’s definitely something going on there, I can dig it out of her later. The rest of our meal goes normal. We eat and laugh about all the things in the world that make us laugh. We have a lot in common, yet we’re still complete polar opposites.

  After having lunch, we decide to head back to our room and climb into some comfortable pajamas. Mine consist of baggy gray sweat pants and a tight tank top, showing half of my mid-section. We’re laying down, ready to watch movies with popcorn in hand, when a chime comes from my phone, picking it up I see it’s a Facebook notification. Throwing my hair into a messy ponytail, noting that I need a trim because it now sits above my tailbone even when it’s in a high ponytail, I open the app and see…

  Ryker Oakley would like to add you as a friend on Facebook. Do you accept?

  I chuckle to myself. “No?” Then I roll my eyes, clicking, ‘Accept.’

  He better not harass me on my Facebook. Twenty minutes later, there’s a knock on our door so I get up off the sofa and make my way to answer it.

  “We need to talk.” Ryder stands there in destroyed jeans, a white T-shirt, his leather jacket over top and his white Adidas high-top shoes on. His hair sits messily on top of his head and his beard has been shaven down.

  I cross my arms in front of me. “Okay, talk?”

  “Walk with me?” He puts his hand out.

  I look down to what I’m wearing and laugh. “Really? In this?” I pick at my pants and he smiles.

  “You could wear a paper bag over your head and still be the most beautiful woman in the world. Come, walk with me, please?”

  Him and his mood swings. I think over what he’s just asked me. I’m interested to see what he wants, and as much as I’m a little angry at our two arguments, I still want to know what he wishes to tell me.

  I take his hand. “All right then.” As soon as my skin touches his, my heart jolts in my chest and my thighs clench.

  Jesus, all the man has to do is touch me.

  Pulling my hand away from his grasp quickly, I fold my arms in front of myself as we make our way down the hallway. “So, what did you want to talk about?” I ask as we keep our slow walking pace.

  “I don’t want any bad blood between us,” he says, pushing his hands into his pockets. I glance to him, fighting the urge to pull him into me and kiss him all over. I’m a total twat when he’s around, he tests my self-control in all aspects. To say I’m a little disappointed in my reaction to him would be an understatement.

  “That’s fine, Ryder. I understand it. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why I was angry.”

  He laughs, shaking his head. “I would be. I’ve never had a problem tossing girls out before, but I let what happened between me and you cloud my judgment and throw me off course. It fucked with my head, but I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I can’t have you thinking that those two weeks meant nothing to me because they did.” I’m not sure what to say. I guess I always knew deep down that there had to be a little feeling that came from him.

  Me and Ryder not together? Complicated.

  Me and Ryder together? Easy.

  I raise my eyebrows, shaking my head. “Shouldn’t you be at the stadium?”

  He looks down at his watch. “Yeah.”

  I shrug. “Okay, well truce?” I place my hand out to him and he laughs.

  “Yeah, all right, truce.” He puts his hand on mine and my body ignites, my pulse picks up and my breathing becomes heavy. I keep my eyes locked with his. His smile slowly drops, his eyes turning dark.

  Oh no. I know that look. I know what that means and I know we’re stepping into dangerous territory, but I can’t break away.

  “Phoebe?” he says casually.

  “Mmm?” I chime, still in awe of this man standing in front of me.

  “You need to leave right now before I bend you over that seat and spank you until your come is dripping from my hand.”

  The shock from what he’s just said snaps my eyes out of the trance, but my clit swells in need. I need it. I need him. I remember all too well what he feels like inside of me. How just having his cock in me felt right. How every time he’d thrust into me my whole world would crack slightly until eventually my orgasm would break through and blow up my entire existence. I still haven’t moved, lost in my own dirty thoughts and my blush giving that away.

  “Now, Phoebe,” he growls with raised eyebrows. I swallow past my desire, brushing past him.

  “Bye, Ryder,” I whisper out hoarsely. I don’t look back. I can’t. Because I know if I look back and he’s still looking at me, I’d turn my ass around and accidently fall on top of his dick.

  Oops, what just happened? I have eight inches filling me up right now.

  That would be me, not going to lie. So I carry on walking.

  My ass hurts, and not in the way I want it to hurt either. I have the worst case of popped ears I’ve ever felt and my head is pounding to its own tune. We’ve just landed in Sydney Australia and finally—it’s hot. I love this country. If this is the weather here, I want to pack my shit and move. The air is thick with heat and the sun is sliding over my skin nicely, it’s not a direct heat, it’s a humid heat.

  “One last show before the bi
g one,” Belinda says beside me.

  I smile, clutching my handbag. “Madison Square…should be epic.”

  She nods her head in approval. “It will be.”

  We have three shows in Australia. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. This whole experience has been good, especially now that Ryder and I have put our shit behind us. But I can’t guarantee I’ll be hopping onto another plane in a hurry once I’m home.

  We pull into our hotel and it’s just as lovely as all the rest of the hotels we’ve stayed in. Only this one overlooks the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It’s stunning.

  Nettie and I make our way into the lobby. Nettie’s been more quiet than usual. She looks almost depressed, but every time I ask her what’s wrong, she smiles a fake smile and says that she’s fine. I don’t buy it. I know the real Nettie, and the real Nettie doesn’t frown often. Hooking my elbow around hers, I pull her into me.

  “Shall we hit the beach?” I ask her with a smile. “I hear Bondi is amazing.”

  She smiles happily and I actually think that she’s going to say yes, but then her smile drops.

  “Actually, I’m a little tired.”

  We get to the elevator and I push the button, waiting for it to come down. Ryker, Leo, and Tommy come up behind us as Ryder and Alyx walk behind them, with Alyx trying to walk as close as possible to Ryder. I almost vomit in my mouth. They go to the elevator behind us where the rest of the boys stand next to Nettie and me.

  “Nettie what’s wrong? We’ve been talking about sipping margaritas on the beach since Madrid!”

  She smiles lightly. “Sorry, I’m just feeling a little under the weather.”

  Ryker hooks his arm around my neck and Tommy hooks his arm around the other side of my neck. “So…” Ryker smirks down to me, “…what beach we hitt’n?”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “Bondi. You guys wanna come?” I ask all of them and they nod.

  “We are down. Ryder?” Ryker turns his head around to Ryder and Alyx with a mischievous smirk on his annoyingly handsome face. “You coming?” The elevator pings open and we all step in. Ryder looks to Alyx as Ryker holds the elevator doors so they stay open. He nudges his head, hurrying him up and Ryder shrugs. “Yeah, for sure,” he replies stepping into the elevator with us.

  I should laugh at Alyx standing there now on her own, but I feel sorry for her. I look down to Nettie. “Are you sure you can’t come?” She looks away, folding her arms in front of her. “I’m sure, Phoebe. I’m sorry,” she whispers.

  “Don’t apologize, just get better. I miss my friend.”

  I’ve put on my yellow two-piece bikini. It shows everything and is a little on the skimpy side, so it’s a good thing it’s so hot. The top is yellow and strapless. It’s so tight that it holds my boobs together. My rack isn’t great, it’s average. My ass is where the party is at. The bottoms are black, I like breaking the color with my bikinis. Throwing over a short white sundress, I gather up my handbag making sure I have water and coconut oil inside. Nettie’s in the bathroom so I knock on the door.

  “I’m out, babe. You going to be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Have fun,” she murmurs through the door.

  I pause for a second, banging my forehead against the door. I miss my fucking friend. Slipping my glasses over my eyes, I leave the room. I’m closing the door when the boys are walking down with swimming board shorts on. I smile at them while having a sneaky perve.

  H.O.T.

  “The paparazzi are going to eat you guys alive out there.”

  Ryker picks me up and cradles me like a child.

  Hooking my hands around his neck, I laugh. “Put me down!” I moan into his tattooed neck.

  Ryder is looking at us, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched.

  My tone becomes urgent. “Seriously, put me down,” I whisper into Ryker’s ear and look pointedly to Ryder.

  Ryker looks to him and laughs. “Oh, I see.” He places me back down, continuing his laughing. “I probably shouldn’t tell him that we’ve said the ‘L-word’ to each other then?” he asks loudly into my ear.

  Ryder rolls his eyes, laughing him off, unfazed. “Oh, don’t mistake that love for lust, Ryker. I’d much rather have both.” I shake my head at the both of them as I pick up my pace and walk beside Tommy and Leo, they’re much safer to be around.

  “Hey, have you heard from Meadow?” I ask Tommy.

  He shakes his head. “Nah, not for a few months. Why’s that? She good?”

  I nod my head, pulling my sunglasses down over my eyes. “She’s fine. I was just wondering if you’d seen her.” We push through the doors where Rellik is waiting outside with the limo. There’s a huge crowd of paparazzi outside, snapping us as we walk down.

  “Who’s the girl, Tommy?” one of them yells.

  I ignore them, placing my hand over my face and picking up my pace. Salluos opens the back door and I slide in first, sitting on the opposite side up against the driver.

  “Jesus, I don’t think I could ever get used to that,” I mumble to myself as everyone gets in. Once we’re all seated and the car takes off, Leo pulls out a bag with a white substance in it.

  Figures.

  Ryder goes to snatch it off him but misses when Leo pulls his hands away, ninja style. “Not fucking today, Leo.” Leo laughs, pulling out a magazine from beside him. “Unless you want that shit all over the ground, I’d put it…a-fucking-way…now,” Ryder warns again.

  Leo pauses what he’s doing, leaning into his chair, and propping his arm on the headrest, his long hair cupping around his thick neck. “When did you lose your rock star, Ryder?”

  Ryder laughs, showing his straight white teeth. His face turns serious, as he rubs his chin with one hand. “When I found out that shit killed Becca. She wouldn’t want you doing that shit.”

  Leo’s face turns to stone and his body tightens. “Don’t fucking speak for her, Ryder.”

  Ryder shakes his head, and I want to interfere and ask who Becca is, but when I glance at Ryker, he’s already watching for my reaction. He shakes his head with a smooth look on his face. He must have known I was thinking of asking.

  Ryder pulls out a few bottles of wine from the cooler beside him as we pull into the beach parking lot. Once we get there, we see there is an excessive amount of paparazzi here so Ryder calls one of their bodyguards to bring a crew down. We all sit and wait in the limo in silence after the big blow up.

  I huff, lean over, and attempt to take one of the bottles off Ryder. After a few seconds, he lets it go and I pop it open in silence before taking a huge drink out of it with them all watching me closely.

  “If I need to get through today with you all, I need this. The whole bottle too, probably. And Leo? You might want to hide that stash. I may test my own boundaries too,” I joke with a scoff. There’s no way I’d ever touch A-class drugs. I barely touched weed in my younger days. I hated it to be honest. I didn’t like the feeling of not being in control of my own body.

  “Like fuck,” Ryder and Ryker both say together. I glance out the window and see two big trucks pull in where four huge bodyguards step out.

  “I thought you just had Rufus?” I ask them all.

  Ryder nods. “We do, but he needed to bring in re-enforcements.”

  “Shit,” I whisper, eyes wide.

  Tommy and Leo get out of the car first followed by Ryker, Ryder, and then me. The paparazzi begin their same routine, snapping photos and screaming out questions. This time I’m in between Ryder and Ryker, so they’re probably guessing I’m one of Ryker’s whores.

  Great.

  We begin walking down to the beach as they all follow behind two of the bodyguards screaming more questions.

  “Where did you pick up this one, Ryker?”

  “Is she Australian?”

  “Run that, Ryker Oakley with an Australian girl.”

  I roll my eyes at their pitiful attempts at creating stories. Fucking media. Looking up to Ryder, he’s clenching his jaw together so tightly I think
it may crack. The anger seeping from him is so potent it sends shivers down my arms.

  “How was she in the sack, Ryker? Come on, give us something?” one of the old men yells out.

  Oh dear.

  As if it plays out in slow motion, Ryder’s arm slips around my waist possessively, pulling me into his rock hard body with a small smirk on his lips. He brings himself down, kissing my forehead and…I think I may have just died.

  The whole crowd of paparazzi and fans behind us erupt into a scream fest. Ryker looks back at us, shaking his head.

  “Oh well,” Ryder says, putting on his aviator sunglasses, “who believes the media anyway?” He smirks at me keeping his grip tight on my waist.

  I can’t believe he did that. I smile to myself, leaning into him a little more. He notices and squeezes me tighter. It feels good to be under his arm again.

  “You know,” I say to him while we’re all walking along the shoreline, “I heard this rumor, where you have never been seen with a woman…ever?” He laughs, smiling a big carefree smile at me that could melt the panties off a nun.

  “I guess I don’t give a fuck where you’re concerned.”

  We carry on along the beach, it’s late afternoon so the sun isn’t at its highest peak, but it’s still hot and humid.

  Tommy answers a phone call and yells to us, “Yo, I have a chick that said we can use her house. She has beach access right on her doorstep. Keen?”

  We all shrug and follow him, anything to get the fuck away from the paparazzi.

  “So you love my brother, huh?” Ryder questions as we begin slowing our walk to hang behind the rest of them.

  Narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously, I laugh. “Yeah, what can I say? He grows on you.”

  He chuckles. “That I’m sure of. Although, I had no choice in the matter. I had to love him.”

  “He’s pretty loveable,” I reply without hesitation.

  Ryder’s eyes calm with a hint of surprise. “You’re probably the only person to ever say something like that about Ryker.” That thought pulls at me something deep. I don’t like the thought of anyone thinking any less of Ryker or Ryder for that matter. But, Ryder is on a whole different level. I’m not ready to tap into those feelings just yet, but I’m completely aware that they are back. If they ever really left in the first place.