Chapter 3
Ryder
I’m sitting on the hood of my truck in front of Kidd’s house. The band usually meets here because Kidd has a huge garage where we used to practice when we were just getting started. His house has become our home ground. Kidd, Jet, and Sax walk out the front, greeting me with a handshake and a tap on my shoulder.
Jet is my baby cousin. My dad’s brother Finn cheated on his wife, Elena, with a stripper who ended up getting pregnant. Because of this, Jet isn’t always well received by our family. Aunt Elena won’t even look at him. F*ck, the way I see it, it’s not Jet’s fault Uncle Finn couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Jet has the Crawford family gray eyes and thick head of dark hair. At twenty-one, he is the youngest in the band.
“Hey, Ry,” Jet greets, leaning his wiry body against my truck.
“Hey, cuz,” I say, mussing his hair playfully. I love Jet. The kid hasn’t always had it easy.
“Did we get it?” Sax asks, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm. Saxon Tate is about two inches shorter than my 6’2, but a little more muscular. His brown hair is spiked up with product; f*ck knows how long that takes him every day. His eyebrow ring suits him, and the women flock to him like crazy, although for some reason he rejects pretty much all of them. He has a noticeable scar on his other eyebrow that looks like a small knife cut.
“Yeah, we did!” I tell them, and then laugh at their cheers and coos.
Kidd grins. He looks nothing like his younger brother Sax, with his blonde hair and leaner build. Kidd is twenty eight, four years older than Sax.
“F*ck, can’t believe we got it,” Sax says, chuckling.
“What? No faith in Morning Alliance?” I tease. We all know we have put our heart and soul into this band.
“I have faith, bro, but come on. Us, an opening act? That’s huge!”
It is. We’re finally going places. Not that I don’t love playing our weekly gigs at various pubs and clubs around Perth, but this is taking a huge step up. Jet starts talking about some chick he hooked up with, and my mind wanders to Lexi. What is it about her? I want a taste of her. Anything I can get.
I’m losing my mind.
“What’s wrong?” Jet asks, his brow furrowing.
“Tee’s back, and she moved her and her friend in with me,” I tell him, laughing when he cringes.
“Is her friend hot?” Jet asks, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
My grin is answer enough.
“Really?” Sax asks, interested. I’ve seen Sax hook up a few times, but Kidd told me he’s still in love with his ex, AJ.
“Yep,” I tell him.
“Are you gonna hit that?” Jet asks, giving me a crooked grin.
“I sure as hell hope so,” is my honest answer.
*****
“Ryder, this really isn’t necessary,” Sasha says, adding more purple lipstick to her pouted mouth.
“Really? Because I think otherwise,” I say as I put my feet up on her coffee table.
“I’m in my twenties now, Ry, you don’t need to baby me,” she says with a musical giggle. My cousin has been hurt before, and now she tends to date a lot. I come over every now and again to see how she’s doing or just to hang out. I love my cousins and I try to visit all of them whenever I get the chance.
“You will always be a baby to me, Sash,” I tell her. She shakes her head as she sits down next to me, her thick long black hair tumbling around her.
“How are you doing, Ryder? No special woman in your life?” she asks nosily. Our family is always in each other’s business, we’re all pretty much used to it by now. “You need to forget Nikki, Ry. She and Kade are solid,” she adds in a soft voice.
“You going to change out of that mini dress? Or continue to give me a heart attack every time you move?” I counter, ignoring her question. Nikki isn’t a subject I want to breach. I thought that one day when I was ready to settle down she would be mine, but I was wrong. End of story. Life goes on.
Sasha playfully rolls her eyes at me and tickles me under the chin.
“You need to relax, cuz,” she says with an encouraging nod.
“You need to wear more clothes, baby girl,” I say, once again glancing over her sparkly black dress and red high heels. She just grins and throws her arms around me. Doesn’t anyone take me seriously in this family?
“Come on, Ry, it’s just a first date,” she tells me, trying to put me at ease. The truth is, I’m worried about Sasha. Layla is taken care of and Tee can take care of herself, but there is something about Sasha. She’s fragile and needs nurturing. Her beauty is obvious, just like the other girls in my family, but Sasha’s heart is still wounded. There's something she’s not letting go.
Something or someone.
“When you going to drop by and see Tee?” I ask her.
“Tee said she will drop by tomorrow,” she assures me. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell any of us she was coming home!”
I can only imagine what Sasha and Tee will get up to together, and the thought makes me shudder.
“I spoke to Tee on the phone today, and I hear this Lexi girl is a total babe,” Sasha tells me, her purple lips curving. I clear my throat. “She is, isn’t she? Are you gonna ask her out? I’ve heard she’s a cool chick, Tee told me she has no family or anything. She and Tee have been inseparable since they met,” Sasha says thoughtfully.
Lexi has no family? The thought saddens me. It must be lonely, I don’t know how I would survive if I didn’t have my family at my back.
“There’s a family function coming up anyway, so we can all catch up then,” Sasha announces, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“What family function?” I ask, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Sasha puts her hands on her hips. “Jet’s birthday, remember?”
“Oh shit, yeah, I forgot. That’s gonna be a bucket load of fun,” I say sarcastically. Sasha huffs in agreement. There’s a knock on the door and I stand up, ready to hand out threats to the latest man that’s caught my baby cousin’s eye.
I don’t want to see her hurt again.
*****