Page 81 of Hungry Hearts

Maia’s cheeks turn pink. “We’ll find time, Flynn. Promise.”

He kisses her forehead, lingering longer than appropriate for afriend, and finally releases her. Like a fucking douchebag, keeping one hand wrapped around her waist, he holds the other out to me.

“Good seeing you again, Ryder. Or is it Ry-Ry, like my little girl likes to call you?” His smile is as sweet as a snake’s.

My little girl. I’d be jealous if Ruby ever mentioned her uncle Flynn. He didn’t play with her once at her birthday party. Not that I minded, but he’d been like fucking Saran Wrap on Maia or eyeing her the entire party.

I don’t give a rat’s ass if he grew up with Maia and has been in her life for more than fifteen years. I don’t like the man. How she doesn’t see his true intentions is beyond me. She’s too trusting. Too naïve.

She’s been blinded by grief for five years, trusted those around her without giving it a second thought. For her sake, I don’t tear his limbs off and shove them down his throat. I stay back in the kitchen as she walks him to the door.

“I love you, M. Thanks for this morning. It means the world to me.” Fuckface Flynn kisses her cheek again and eyes me with a fucking smirk.

When he’s gone, she walks into my arms and rests her head against my chest. This is where she belongs, but I fucking hate that she smells like him.

“I felt bad about ditching him tonight. We always go out for his birthday, and he’s feeling so alone without Adam.”

“Didn’t you say he was seeing someone? He should be with her, not you.”

“Ryder, he’s my best friend and he’s hurting. It’s hard for him to see me moving on. He’s quite protective of Adam. Give him some time to come around, okay?”

I make no promises to ever give him time. “Have you had a shower yet, Angel?”

“Why? Do I smell?” She tips her chin up at me and smiles.

“A little bit.”

She smacks my ass. “That’s not very nice.”

In one swift move, I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder, returning the favor with a slap to her ass. “You need a thorough scrubbing, and I’m just the man for the job.”

“You’re seriously late because of a booty call?” Nolan tosses a balled up dirty napkin at me as I enter Drake’s office.

The guys have already started our weekly meeting, which is fine by me. We appease Doc by showing up each week, but really, Nolan is the only one who semi-listens. Doc’s a fucking genius. Whatever proposal he has us look over, we always agree to.

In my opinion, the only reason he asked us to be business partners with Four Aces is because, for the first time in his life, he had close friends. He was a loner for all his life and when he found us, he finally felt like he belonged.

He’s the best of us, for sure.

“Not sure why you assume that, Sealy.” I missed out on the breakfast I brought, opting for the sweet treat between Maia’s legs instead, and reach for one of the two leftover donuts from the bakery box in the middle of the table.

“True. He always looks freshly fucked,” Trey adds.

“Fucked from the night before but usually not in the past hour.”

Gotta admit, I’m impressed with my best friend’s astuteness. “When you’ve got a magical dick like mine, it’s hard to keep the ladies at bay.”

“Ladies or lady?” Doc asks.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” I lie. Because for years, it brought me great joy to talk about the size and shape of a woman’s tits or how she left claw marks in my ass. With Maia, though, I keep our private life private. Even from the guys. That in itself is a tell of how much she means to me.

“Fucking bullshit.” Trey kicks at my chair.

“So glad I rushed over here so we could gossip like ladies.” I take a bite of the glazed donut.

“Who the fuck is this guy?” Sealy points his thumb at me.

“Guy who’s got his balls twisted in knots.” Trey reaches for what’s probably his third donut of the morning.

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