Page 21 of Ryder
He drank his crappy cup of coffee.
“Okay. I’m done. You’re gonna stay here tonight. Eat something. Rest. Tomorrow, doc is gonna take his samples and check you out. Ice will hopefully have more for us by then. Yougot your phone back now, so you call me if you need out. I’m putting two prospects on your door. Try not to be an asshole to them. This ain’t a duty any of them want. This is for your own protection, brother.”
I slumped back into my chair. “I get it, Pres. Thanks. I appreciate you not putting my head through the nearest wall for this shit.”
He shrugged, getting up and heading for the door.
“I still might, if you don’t clean up that mess you made. This is our fucking home, yeah?”
I nodded, watching him leave, hearing him muttering to some guys outside. Fucking prospects guarding my door. Keeping me inside. Why was I being punished for what she did? I needed to find her. I just had no clue how.
I glanced at my phone, which I’d lost track of again, but it was on my table in front of me. Did Reacher return it?
I could call Torch to hang with me. Tell him to bring dinner, and bring fucking alcohol, but then he’d gone running to Reacher. He was freaked out about the way I behaved out there. I stared at my phone. Did I want any other brother of mine to hang out with? Not really. None of them knew, at least as far as I was aware.
Another thought occurred to me. What if I could get one of the club girls up here? Fuck my troubles away? I sent out a text to Chrissy, the one I usually looked for when I wanted to get laid. She always made me feel good.
She didn’t take long to respond.
Chrissy:You know I can never say no to you…
Chrissy:But… Reacher was clear. None of us are allowed.
Fucker. He’d even warned the girls off. It was only when I set the phone down that I realised why. It wasn’t about me being on edge. It was about impending tests for STDs. Even though I always suit up, we don’t put the girls at risk, not knowingly.
Me:Don’t worry. Next time.
Chrissy:I could do phone sex… no rule against that.
She included some raunchy emojis after that one, but no. As it turned out, sex wasn’t really what I wanted anyway.
Me:Nah. I prefer my fucking with actual fucking. Later babe.
Chrissy:I’m sorry, Ryder.
I tossed the phone aside. What now? In the end I picked the phone back up, and rang Torch.
“You ringing to kill me over the phone?” He answered warily, and it made me grin. He sounded just like he always did.
“Nah, I wanted to entice you to my room, so I can kill you here.”
He barked out a laugh. “What do you need, brother?”
“Something to eat. Alcohol. Company.”
He cursed. “Food I can do. Alcohol, yeah, I can sort that. I know you’re not allowed out of that room, and I can’t bring any of the bitches up. He’s warned them all off.”
“Nah, I want your company.”
He was silent for a moment.
“I’m not fucking ya.”
I laughed somehow. “Bring a lot of alcohol. I’ll get you really drunk first.”
He ended the call, but I caught a laugh as he did. Ten minutes later he was letting himself into my room, and he was carrying an armload of bags, so I got up and helped him. I’d wiped up the spilled, or more accurately splashed, coffee, and tossed the broken mug. The place still stank of bitter coffee, but whatever food he’d brought was already starting to fill the room with new smells.
“Hotdogs? You went to the guy down the road, yeah?” I grabbed one, and started eating before he even answered, because suddenly I was starved.
