Double Coverage (23 page)

Ryker: I hope you know that if you were mine, I’d make sure you were never alone, at least not for days on end.

Hannah exhaled. She wanted to believe Ryker, but she couldn’t believe many men these days. Todd was always telling her that he would see her soon, but he never did. Instead, she had the pleasure of spending her nights alone pining for a man who would never put her first.

Hannah: Well, I’m going to go. I’ll talk to you later.

Hannah put her phone down and drank the rest of her wine, while she rested her head against the back of the sofa. She let her eyes drift shut and thought about the wedding, family, and husband she would never have.

Hannah started to go into a dreamlike state where she was half conscious and half not. She was running down a very long aisle, wearing a bright orange wedding dress. There was no end in sight to the aisle, so she just kept running. On the sides, she passed all her friends growing up who were holding their husband’s hands and pushing their kids in strollers. When she reached the end of the aisle, there was no groom waiting for her; instead, there was a coffin. She went over to it and was just about to look inside when her front door burst open, startling her awake and scaring the hell out of her.

She grabbed her chest with her hand and breathed heavily. Todd stood in the front doorway holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

“Todd, you scared me half to death. What are you doing here?”

He gave her a quizzical look. “I’m home, of course.”

She sat up and looked him in the eyes. “Is this really your home Todd? Because a home is supposed to be a place where someone resides; you don’t reside here…ever. You’re here maybe a couple of times a month, I wouldn’t call that a home; it’s more of a hotel.”

He shut her door and sat down next to her on the couch. “I know I’ve been MIA lately, but that doesn’t mean you can be a bitch when I finally get back. I’m here…you should be happy.”

“Don’t call me that word. I’m not being a…B. I just wish I was able to see my boyfriend more often than I see our mailman. I love you Todd and I miss you like crazy; this long distance relationship is killing me.”

“It’s not long distance.”

“It feels like long distance. I never see you. I get you for a day and then you’re off again. I want more and I’m not afraid to say it anymore.”

“What if I can’t give you that?”

Hannah was not expecting him to say that. She thought that maybe he would throw himself at her and tell her how sorry he was and how he wished he could be with her more. She was completely thrown off and didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t want to lose him; she loved him and wanted to be with him, but she also didn’t want to be dragged around anymore. She wanted to start her life, so she decided to give him an ultimatum that she hoped worked out in her favor.

She was just about to deliver her sentence when her phone chimed. They both looked down at her phone. It was from Ryker.

Ryker: I’m coming over. I need to see you.

Todd snatched her phone up before she could and looked through her text messages. She didn’t even bother to grab it out of his hand. She had nothing to hide. She’d done nothing wrong, or at least that’s what she thought until Todd turned his angry eyes on her.

“Who the fuck is Ryker?”

“He’s a friend.”

“Doesn’t seem like a friend. Seems like this prick wants to marry you and give you exactly what you want. Is that what you’ve been doing when I’ve been gone, looking for my replacement?”

Hannah slapped him across the face and stood up.

“How dare you accuse me of such a thing? I’ve been nothing but loyal to you. I would never stray from the love we have or go looking elsewhere. You should know that about me and, frankly, I’m insulted that you would think otherwise.”

Todd ran his hand through his slicked-back hair, making it stand up slightly.

“Then who is this Ryker guy and why is he convinced that he is going to marry you?”

“I don’t know why he thinks that, but I don’t encourage him.”

“Doesn’t seem like that. Seems like you’re complaining about me and how lonely you are. That is a green light for any guy. Do you want him Hannah?”

“NO!” she shouted. “I want you….you…you moron!”

Hannah stormed off to her bedroom and slammed her door shut. She threw herself on her bed and buried her head in her pillow. She let out the tears she had been holding back. Why did the guy she want so badly not want to make a commitment, but the man she barely knew would take her to a chapel this very instant and make her his wife?

Hannah heard the front door slam shut, leading her to believe that, once again, Todd had left. That was what Todd did best; he left. Hannah didn’t even bother changing out of her clothes into pajamas; instead, she pulled the covers over her body and drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t until she was being nudged awake that she realized she wasn’t alone.

She looked up and saw Todd leaning over her. She blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“Todd?”

“Hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“Asking for your forgiveness.”

“Oh?”

“Listen, I’m sorry for never being around. It’s not that I don’t want to. I want nothing more than to be with you all day every day, but if I want us to have a secure life in the future, I have to put in the time now. I know it’s hard, but I’m just asking for you to give me some more time. I promise you I will make it up to you and I promise I will make more of an attempt to be here longer.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He pulled her into his grasp and hugged her tightly. She took in the scent of his expensive cologne and wrapped her arms around his waist, that’s when her handed collided with something hard in his pocket. She looked up at him, confused.

He smiled at her and said, “I don’t want you being around other men or other men thinking they can be with you. You are off limits.” He pulled out a small box and smiled at her. “This isn’t an engagement ring, but it is a promise. A promise that, one day, I will be waiting for you at the end of an aisle, ready to make you my wife.” He opened the box and, sitting inside was a tiny diamond ring, almost like it belonged on a baby’s finger strung by a thin silver necklace. He pulled it out and put it around her neck.

“When the time comes, I will replace this with a proper ring, and then I will add a forever ring to that. I promise you.”

Hannah held the little ring in her fingers and cried…happy tears. She gripped his face and kissed him until she thought her lips might be bruised.

“Thank you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Hannah. Promise me I’m yours and yours alone.”

“I promise. It has always been you.”

“And one day you will be my wife?”

“Whenever you ask, I’m ready to say yes.”

He smiled brightly at her. “Perfect.” He brought her in for another kiss and this time, lowered her to their bed that they only shared on occasion, but it was their bed. She could do it, she could live like this for a year or two more; as long as she had that promise from Todd, she could do anything. Maybe she would take advantage of his offer and start having him pay her bills; that way, she could focus on her artwork. She would have to talk to him about it tomorrow; right now, she was going to enjoy being in the presence of the man she loved.

Chapter 12

Mason looked at himself in the mirror to make sure there was nothing hanging out of his nose or food stuck in his teeth; after close inspection, he didn’t see anything, so he checked his fly to make sure it was closed…all good there too. He fussed with his hair to make sure it was in place; he messed it up a little because that was the look he always went for. He noticed that he was wearing the same button up shirt he had worn the last time he was at the bar, shit! He didn’t want to look like he only owned one shirt. He sniffed it, just to make sure it was clean, which it was; he smelled amazing, thankfully. So what the hell was the problem? Why was Piper acting like he didn’t exist?

Ever since he arrived at the bar, he’d tried to talk to her, touch her and just flat-out get her attention, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Since it wasn’t his appearance, there was only one other reason why she was ignoring him and it had to be the boyfriend. Mason shook his head as he leaned against the counter. Why was she being such a stubborn woman? Did she not get the hint that they were made for each other the other day when they got tattoos?

It was so frustrating not being able to get what he wanted. He had women pawing at him every day, but the one woman he so desperately wanted didn’t even want to be in the same room as him right now. Something must have happened when she left him after the tattoo parlor. He wondered if lover boy threw a little hissy fit; that’s the only explanation Mason could think of.

Ryker came into the bathroom wearing a pink polo and navy blue man capris. Mason would never be caught dead in most of the outfits Ryker wore, but Mason had to admit, the man pulled them off.

“Are you going to spend the rest of the night crying in the stall of the men’s bathroom?”

“Fuck off,” Mason said, while still trying to fix his hair.

“If it didn’t look good when you left, it’s not going to look good now. Stop being a pussy and come out and do some shots with me. It’s our last night off before we have to report back to practice; let’s enjoy it.”

“Fine, but you’re paying.”

“Me?” Ryker said, while pointing to himself. “You’re the one who’s raking in the dough.”

“Keep it up with those outfits and you’ll be drawing all the attention soon.”

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” Ryker asked, while spinning in the middle of the bathroom, flipping up his collar and then strutting like Danny Zucco from Grease.

Mason pushed Ryker out of the way, sending him into the wall and walked out of the bathroom. Ryker came flying out the door, hopped on Mason’s back and started whacking his ass yelling, “Giddy up” and yipping like a cowboy drawing the attention of every patron in the bar.

Mason slammed his back against the wall, causing Ryker to drop off of Mason’s back instantly.

Sucking air, Ryker said, “Fuck man, lay off the Twinkies. What do you weigh, like three hundred pounds?”

“It’s called muscle dick stick, try growing some.”

Ryker flexed his pelvis at Mason and started humping his leg. “Don’t need muscle when I have Russell,” referring to his dick.

Mason swatted at Ryker’s crotch. “Get the hell away from me.” Mason couldn’t help but chuckle. They went to the bar and ordered two shots of whiskey, each. Hannah was very generous with her shots, so after five, they were feeling really good.

Hannah took off for the bathroom so that left Piper having to deal with their antics, which now included making their shot glasses French kiss, calling every patron in the bar Herbert, and trying to see who could spin the most times on his bar stool.

Ryker and Mason were acting out another scene from their shot glass soap opera when Piper came up and swiped the glasses away from them.

“What the hell?” Ryker whined. “Things were just getting good between Scotchy and Vooodka.”

Piper leaned over the bar and looked them both in the eyes. “You’re making every person in the bar uncomfortable with your shot glass sex-capades.”

“Don’t you mean Herbert? We’re making Herbert uncomfortable,” Ryker said, while throwing a hand full of peanuts in his mouth.

Piper cocked an eyebrow at them both and shook her head. She turned to grab some more liquor when Mason grabbed her hand and pulled her around the bar so she was standing between his legs. Piper struggled to release his grip, but he didn’t let her go.

“Mason, let go,” she said with a stern voice. If Mason wasn’t drunk, he would have been taken back by her tone, but since he was, it only made him laugh.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m trying to work.”

“Yeah, it seems like you have plenty of time to flirt with the old Herberts playing poker, but you can’t even say hi to me? What did I do Piper?”

“Mason, I told you; we are only friends.”

“Friends, yes, but right now you’re treating me like some piece of shit you got stuck under your Converse.”

Piper looked at him and blew out a heavy breath. “Mason, I can’t do this alright? We’re better off just being cordial to each other. I don’t want to hurt my boyfriend and being around you is hurting him.”

Mason released her. “I fucking knew it.” He slapped the bar counter and then went to grab the darts from the dart board. He needed to put harm into something and the only thing he could think of that wouldn’t get him in trouble was throwing darts at a dart board. Ryker followed him.

Mason turned toward the board and spoke to Ryker at the same time. “That stupid lover boy of hers is ruining my fucking life.”

“Dude, she’s not worth it. You could have any girl you want.”

Maybe Ryker was right, maybe she wasn’t worth it. He was spending too much time trying to get the un-gettable get, he should be focusing on slamming as many woman as he could. He was in his prime and he shouldn’t waste his time trying to attract one woman who wanted nothing to do with him.