Page 81 of Broken Butterfly
“I love you.”
Ryder takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “I love you too.” He places our joined hands on his thigh, his left hand still firmly grasping the steering wheel as he drives.
“Jayson and I just talked. As friends. Nothing more. My head is still trying to wrap around why someone would post that filth about all of us. It’s not just me they hurt with those pictures, but you guys as well. I’m angry. I’m not shutting you out, Ryder. I just needed some time to process.”
I see his chest move out then in as he takes a deep breath. “Thank you,” he simply states.
“For what?”
“For talking to me.”
He pulls into the lot for the junkyard. There are already about a dozen cars parked and people milling about. As soon as he turns off the engine, I unbuckle myself and crawl over to his lap, straddling him the best I can in our close confines.
His gorgeous light brown eyes dilate as I press in to kiss the tender spot at his ear. “I should be thanking you,” I voice gently beside his ear. “Thank you for not keeping things from me. Thank you for telling me what was going on. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I promised no more hiding things from you, and I meant it.”
“I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you.” Thoughts of spending the rest of my life with him dance around my mind. What would it be like? What would our children look like? All I know for sure is, I am looking forward to my future. One filled with him and our life together.
I trail light kisses across his cheek as he chases my lips, trying to capture them. One of his large hands slides up to cradle the swell of my breast. Neither of us give thought to the fact that we’re in a parking lot where anyone could see us. The driver’s side window starts to fog up as our kisses get more heated, our groping becoming more frenetic. A loud knock on the window causes both of us to jump.
“Didn’t I say no front seat porno unless I was invited?” Fallon’s wide-grinning face laughs at us through the glass.
Ryder holds up his left hand and gives Fallon the middle finger. With his right hand, he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me in for one last heart-pounding kiss.
“Aw, come on, man!” Fallon protests.
“Did you just growl?” I giggle against Ryder’s mouth, feeling his low vocal vibrations against my smiling lips.
“Yes.”
“My sweet alpha man,” I tease, kissing him on the brow. Ryder opens the car door, bending over to get out so I don’t hit my head. He carries me along with him and I tuck my chin in his shoulder, still giggling. “Hey, Fallon.”
“I swear to God, the two of you are like horny rabbits.”
“Have you seen Meredith or Trevor yet?” I ask him.
“Nope. Just got here.”
I look around. The place looks straight out ofNightmare on Elm Street. Sheet metal walls surround piles of compacted cars, busted cars with no windows, various pieces of scrap metal scattered all over the place. Several spotlights mounted on telephone poles light up the place. A small, dilapidated shack that serves as the main office sits adjacent to the dirt and gravel parking lot.
As soon as I spot Jayson’s truck parked across the lot, I hear his voice. “Liz!”
Jayson walks up to our group. “You made it.”
“I told you I would. This place is creepy.”
Jayson gives Ryder a guy half-hug and ignores Fallon. Fallon couldn’t care less. “The guy who owns it is letting us fight here tonight. Come on. I’ll introduce you to some of the others.”
“You’re friends with the guys you fight with?”
Jayson grabs my wrist and pulls me away from Ryder and Fallon. “Everyone knows it’s not personal. See that guy over there? I broke his nose and a few ribs last year. He and I go out and shoot pool every once in a while. No hard feelings. That’s part of the sport.”
“Jayson, I’m not sure about this. It sounds like you can get seriously hurt.”
“It almost sounds like you care about me.”
I look at him aghast. “Of course I care about you.”
