Page 122 of Desperate Pucker
A soft smile pulls at Ryker’s face. “Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. You won her over with your cooking and baking abilities. And the fact that you took me shopping.”
After a second, his smile fades. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Your mom mentioned working as a line cook when she was pregnant with you to support herself. Did your dad not offer to help her out? She was carrying his baby.”
My shoulders fall when I sigh. “He wasn’t happy when my mom found out she was pregnant with me. He refused to help her until she took a paternity test and proved that I was biologically his.”
Anger flashes in Ryker’s rich brown eyes. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I shake my head. “He wasn’t even willing to be in the delivery room when I was born.” A lump lodges in my throat. “She got a paternity test shortly after that. That’s when he started getting more involved. Visiting me, paying child support, all that.”
“What an asshole,” he mutters. A second later, he closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Sorry, I know he’s your dad, but he’s garbage for doing that.”
“No, you’re right. He was a jerk. I’ll never forgive him for making my mom go through her pregnancy and delivery alone.”
Ryker grabs my hand and laces his fingers in mine. “I’m sorry, Maddy. And I’m sorry for your mom, too. Neither of you deserved to be treated like that.”
“He’s tried to make up for that in his own way. I never had to worry about money the way that a lot of people did. I’m grateful for that.”
“Maddy, he’s your dad. A dad should take care of his kids financially, no matter what. Just because he gave you a lot of money doesn’t make up for what a jerk he was to you and your mom.”
Emotion swells in my chest at the way Ryker comforts me, at the way he’s defending me and my mom.
I lean forward and kiss him softly. He kisses back with urgency, his tongue tangling with mine.
“Wanna go to my bed?” I ask against his mouth.
“Yeah,” he murmurs.
A second later, he slides Bruce off his lap, then hauls me over his shoulder. I squeal, those tingles from earlier flashing all over my body the whole way there.
“Damn, we look hot,” Bella says.
I laugh while touching up my lipstick in the mirror. I look up at her. “Do we?”
She nods. “Oh, definitely.”
“We’re not even in our dresses yet,” Ingrid chuckles.
“That’s how great we all look. We don’t even need clothes,” Bella says. We all laugh.
Bella invited me, Ingrid, Maya, Sophie, Dakota, and Abby to get ready for Casino Night in her hotel suite. For the past coupleof hours, we’ve been helping each other do our hair and makeup in the massive bathroom.
Ingrid checks the time. “Okay, ladies. We should put our dresses on now so we’re not late.”
Everyone slips into their gowns. We help each other zip up, then slip on our heels.
“I like how we all went for jewel tones,” Maya says.
She’s wearing a ruby-red gown with a single off-the-shoulder strap. Ingrid, who’s wearing a cobalt-blue hi-low-style dress, walks up to Maya and smooths a flyaway hair from her face.
When everyone’s dressed, Ingrid holds up her phone. “Selfie time!”
We huddle around Ingrid, and she holds up her phone with her long arms, snapping a bunch of photos.
