Page 82 of Hungry Hearts

“My balls are very well intact, and getting much use, thank you very much.”

“Okay. Enough about Ryder getting led around by his balls for the first time in his life. Have you had a chance to read the report I emailed last night? I’m guessing no, since you all care more about your dicks than your brains.”

“Doc must be grumpy because Nora’s too pregnant to put out.” I snicker.

“If you must know, the opposite is true. This pregnancy has made her insatiable. I’m fucking tired and want to sleep but she says it’s the only exercise she’s getting lately so—”

“We’re good, D.” Trey holds up his hand, ending the TMI that’s unusual for Drake to spill.

The next few hours drone on as we listen to Drake go over numbers and we review more potential candidates for taking over Trey’s role at The Club.

“I noticed you’re down to five, sometimes four nights a week at Red. I take it Janice is working out well?” Drake flips through the files in front of him.

He’s not a micromanager of the restaurants and shops in the casino, but he likes to know what’s going on, how each business is being run, and if employees and customers are happy. Because if they’re not, it gives Four Aces a bad rep.

“Four nights?” Nolan rests his elbows on the conference table and eyes me speculatively. “I see a pattern here, Doc.”

“What’s that?”

“When you fell for Nora, you stopped working seven fifteen-hour days. Eventually making your job more nine-to-five as much as possible so you’d have more time with your woman. I followed suit, even though the late nights are inevitable when we have big tourneys, T-dog is walking away from the nightclub to be a domestic husband, and now we’ve got our Ryder Hard playboy stud here taking nights off, when he’s a total control freak at his restaurant, so he can...get laid?”

“Seems he was getting laid plenty while working six or seven nights,” Trey adds with a smirk.

Drake drops the files in front of him and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “This is a healthier schedule, Ryder. We were all on the edge of burnout. Falling in love has helped us find more balance in our lives. Glad you’re finding balance too.”

“Sure. I’m finding balance. I didn’t say anything about love,” I say defensively.

My morning didn’t go as planned and I’m agitated at the insecurity I feel in my relationship with Maia. She gave her body freely and eagerly in the shower this morning, but there was tension in the air when we parted ways.

She asked me to go easy on Flynn and reminded me that he was herfriend. A friend who said he loved her. A friend who looks at her like she’s his next meal, and I’ll be fucking damned if I let that happen.

My possessiveness in the bedroom, she likes. My possessiveness with the fucker, she doesn’t. I’m worried about my parting words to her this morning.

I don’t like you being alone with him.

Ryder, I’ve been alone with him more times over the years than I’ve been with you.

That one stung, even if she didn’t mean it to.I don’t trust him.

Do you trust me?

I hesitated too long on my response. Yeah, I trust her intentions, but I don’t trust that she’ll be able to push him away if and when he makes a move on her. She’s too concerned about hurting his feelings.

Yeah.

I took too long to respond.The hurt in her eyes was evident. Hurt I tried to take away by kissing her softly, followed by telling her about all the places I wanted to lick hot fudge off her body.

I may have put a divide between us, but I’ll make it up tonight after Ruby goes to bed. I’ve been fantasizing about making her body the centerpiece for my sundae since I first met her.

I head to my apartment after our meeting and pack an overnight bag. It’s wishful thinking on my part, but if I promise to set an alarm for before Ruby wakes up, I’m hopeful Maia will let me stay.

Even though I’m used to late nights, keeping Maia up until well past midnight is taking its toll on her. Rubes is up at the crack of dawn, then Maia spends the day on her feet. If I stay the night, we can be tucked in her bed, satiated from sex by ten, lights out, and she can sleep in her orgasm coma until Rubes gets up.

At least, that’s the pitch I’m going to give her tonight. I’m stopped at the store to get the ingredients I need when she sends me a text.

MAIA:Car issues. I’m going to be late. Can we move dinner to 6:30?

ME:Where are you? I can come pick you up.

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