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Chapter 140: Weak Knees
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Boys of RDA Chapter 141: Aesthetically Correct
The wooden surface of Simone's desk in the Raven Digital Arts lobby glistens from the overhead lights. The team Finn paid to come and clean in preparation of tonight's long awaited charity event did their job. Even the floor shines so brightly it's blinding.Ryland pushes the box I'm grabbing dishes from out of his way and leans against Simone's large receptionist desk. "Everything looks great, Marissa. You did a good job on this event for Clare."Grabbing the box, I pull it back toward me and line up a stack of small paper plates on the last few inches of the desk. "You haven't gone past the lobby. How do you know?"He grabs a few napkins from the box and places them on top of the plates, forcing me to adjust them to the side where they belong. It's more aesthetically correct. "As your boyfriend, I'm required to compliment you on a job well done."I chuckle once and throw the now empty box under Simone's desk where no one can see it. "Well, yes, but you should wait to see the
Boys of RDA Chapter 142: Leave Clare Alone
"Clare?" I can't think of another red haired person who Simone could have attached herself to, but she doesn't seem Grant's type."If I knew her name I wouldn't ask you, Marissa." Grant takes another bite of his crab cake and he's lucky he stuffed his mouth before more attitude came out of it.I pop a hip. "Leave Clare alone. She's nice and I like her. She's not your type and if you sleep with her and don't call her the next day, she'll never hang out with us again.""That wasn't my plan at all, Marissa. Have a little faith."Really? It wasn't his plan at all. I bet. "What happened to Natasha?""Who?" he asks taking a bite like the clueless man he is."The girl you were texting the other night at Ryland's?" Why are men so stupid sometimes?He finishes chewing with a large swallow at the end. "Oh Tash... yeah it didn't work out."I knew it. Grant isn't a mean guy. He's not even what I'd call a player, but his ability to forget about women is legendary. Not a single girl
Boys of RDA Chapter 143: The View Makes it Worth It
"Have I told you how much I love the gold heels, Aspen?" I ask as we stand on the packed elevator together.She sticks her foot out and twist. "Thanks."Next time I get to dress up, I'm going with heels. Aspen's at least three inches taller with the gold ones. My closet is sparse when it comes to high shoes because Cody hated it when I stood over him. I bet with a pair of stilettos I'd barely pass Ryland's chin. There's a whole new world of fashion available to me.We step off the elevator and even at the late hour The View is full of people. Most stand around the large open windows, but a few mingle in the middle by the circular bar with leather chairs."Wow, we'll never find a place to sit, Aspen." Heels or not my feet are tired.She practically skips off the elevator. I guess the shoes aren't bothering her after all. "Don't worry, Finn had a table reserved.""Damn it." Ryland's curse is quiet, but he's close enough I hear it."What?" I ask leading him to the side away
Boys of RDA Chapter 144: Movie Confusion
Finn thinks for a moment and then nods, and Trey agrees."Wait. So now the seventh movie will be the first?" Simone can't let it go.Trey groans and throws his head back placing a hand at his hairline. "We need to stop talking about this."Simone and Trey start to argue back and forth over whether she's allowed at Star Wars day. I'm still confused on why she even wants to be there.I lean back into Ryland and whisper. "Are you going to this movie day?""Yeah, I haven't been able to go since college." He pauses in thought for a minute. "Do you think you'll be able to go that long without me?"I put on my best sad face. "It will be hard, but I'll manage...somehow," I answer sarcastically."Will you really move with me when I sign to a new team? Away from your friends? I'll practice every day during the week and then travel for games."Is he trying to talk me out of it? "Sure, and who knows. Maybe you'll get an offer from an American team."He laughs, but it's humorless.
Boys of RDA Chapter 145: I Need Until at least Noon
I fall off Ryland and roll to my back on the empty side of the bed in my apartment. My thick rose bedspread balls up in the center of my back making it uncomfortable, but I'm too exhausted to move. Ryland's found the guaranteed way to wake me up before ten on a Saturday.Ryland slides down the bed to rest his head on a pillow rather than the half seated way he had leaned against the headboard. His position matches mine as he settles and sprawls out. With what little energy I have left, I rub my hand down his naked chest feeling every muscle along the way."You get much lower and we're going to do it all over again." Ryland's words come in little puffs as he works to control his breathing.I snatch my hand away and groan with a large breath blowing a piece of hair off my face. "I need until at least..." I glance at the clock next to the bed and release another groan at the eight a.m. hour. "Noon."He laughs as if I'm kidding and rolls to his side pulling me up against him. We st
Boys of RDA Chapter 146: Fourth Ones a Charm
THE EGG in the center of my pan begins to sizzle more than it probably should, and I reach across the stove to decrease the heat. Of the three eggs I've cooked this morning, all three have broken yolks, but I'm hopeful this next one will make it. Ryland likes his whites cooked and his middles runny. It's an impossible combination to finagle when you possess no real cooking skills.It's been almost thirty minutes and he still isn't back like promised, but I refuse to freak out and walk over to his place to figure out why not. At least not until I cook one decent egg.Toast pops up from the toaster and I reach to a top cupboard to grab plates. The main door opens behind me and I turn almost dropping the short stack of china."What the hell, Ryland?"He stops at the entrance to the kitchen area with a grin taking up half his face. His expression isn't what freaked me out. It's the black tux he's wearing. The jacket is open revealing he's even gone as far as to put on the little bl
Boys of RDA Chapter 147: I Didn't Tell Aspen
I didn't call Aspen.The short train of my bright white wedding dress catches on a door hinge and I freeze, scared if I move I might rip it. I should have called Aspen. How can I get married without my friends and family?"Hang on, sweetie. I've got it for you." A sandy blonde haired woman with the sweetest southern accent and big dark blue eyes reaches down and repositions the dress until I'm free to move through the door.I walk through to the main dressing room where brides get ready in A Garden of Eden Wedding Chapel. The trip here turned out more difficult than Ryland and I thought, but we're minutes away from our wedding. Well, I'm here. Ryland better be on his way here."Thank you." I turn to her sticking a hand out and grin when it only shakes a little. "I'm Marissa.""Rhea Lynn." She reaches out shaking my hand and fixes a strap on her light green dress with large purple roses in the pattern. "Where you all from?"The bell over the door dings and I look around her
Boys of RDA Chapter 148: Upset is Not the Right Word
I miscalculated when I thought Aspen would be upset about my good news. Irate is a better word to describe the ire from my best friend."How could you do this to me, Marissa?" Aspen whines from my couch while Simone sends me sympathy looks from the chair.I pour more wine in her glass hoping another top off will calm her down. Ryland and I arrived home early this morning and caught a few hours of sleep until Aspen and Simone starting banging so loudly on my door it woke us up at Ryland's place. I started with wine. She started with hand flailing.Aspen came dressed in her typical work outfit—a pair of black pants and a yellow blouse once she took off the thick winter jacket she still wears around even in April. Simone gets away with a more laid back look now that she works at Raven Digital Arts, but she still makes an effort, even if I suspect it's for Trey's benefit more than a need to dress up every day. She's paired a dark wash jean with a baby blue button up shirt tucked in w
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Boys of RDA Chapter 246: Series Epilogue
Six months later"I thought you were painting this room silver?" Hudson asks dropping his half of the couch inside of our brand-new tiny living room. That's not fair. It's bigger than the apartment when I lived with Marissa. Living here will be like me having my own special mansion. Except this time the rent is higher.I put my end of the couch down and then promptly sit at the end of it. I've done my part of moving. This is why we hired movers. I don't know what it is about men wanting to lift heavy objects. Plus, it's not like there's much furniture to move. The old apartment came furnished. This stuff is new.I look at the wall, which shimmers in the bright light from our large open window in the new living room. "I did. It's Silver Fox.""This color is gray.""No, it's Silver Fox.""It looks gray to me."I shake my head in dismay. "Gray is darker."He nods slowly. "Uh-huh. Whatever you say."Hudson and I have been living together since he made the permanent move t
Boys of RDA Chapter 245: Finn Hooked You Up
A few weeks later"Wow, Finn hooked you up." My eyes blink a few times trying to adjust to the overpowering glare of so many television screens in one room.Hudson laughs as he steps behind me. "Ridge taught me you can never have too many cameras.""Well, you definitely put his words into practice." No less than thirty flat screen TVs line a wall in the room Finn and Hudson started calling the war room. I'm pretty sure Finn has a camera everywhere Aspen may go in San Francisco. There is even one in the comic shop. The transition has gone well for the most part. Finn and Aspen had a heated debate over her bodyguard situation.Once Hudson accepted the position, he didn't waste time. It's been less than three weeks and he has a war room set up and is spying on half the residents of the city. My man gets shit done."Are you happy?" I ask turning around so we are face to face.Hudson rolls his eyes and says something silently to the ceiling of the room. He's recently taken up pr
Boys of RDA Chapter 244: Full Marissa Style
The glass automatic door at the airport entrance slides open and I saunter in with a purpose. No woman has ever been as determined as I am to put a man in his place. Full Marissa style.And then maybe win him back. It depends on his response. I've been through tons of shit the last few weeks. I need someone who can handle me and won't chicken out.Aspen and Finn checked me out of the hospital and then took me back to my apartment making me promise I wouldn't leave when I asked to be alone. My mother even listened when I told her it was a great time to visit my brother in Washington. He'll love it.Besides my shattered heart, I'm medically fine. There's no reason for people to be stuck hovering around me. Hurt or not, I've still peopled too much these last few days, so it wasn't hard to press that I needed quiet time. I promised to head right into bed and sleep for a few more days.But I've broken many promises lately. And kept secrets. I am not the same girl I was last year. An
Boys of RDA Chapter 243: Horrible Timing
I hate to be a bad friend — who am I kidding, I'm always the bad friend — but Aspen could not have picked a worse time to make her visit. And I love her. She was here all day yesterday. Getting water, refilling water, fluffing my pillow and accidentally pulling on my IV before doing it again while apologizing for pulling on the IV. Hudson and I haven't had two minutes to ourselves. I tried to fake sleep yesterday afternoon, but then they stood around the bed looking and me and whispering."Do you need your pillow fluffed?" she asks for the thousandth time. It's become her filler question. What she asks me if she doesn't know what else to ask.I shake my head, giving Finn my best "calm her down" look, but he doesn't notice. He's so madly in love with Aspen he thinks everything she does is adorable. "I'm fine, Aspen. Relax."My best friend is definitely more put together than Hudson in the last two days, but not by much. Her hair is flat on one side, a little curly on the other, an
Boys of RDA Chapter 242: A Scene I Never Want to See Again
A STEADY STREAM of beeps wakes me up to a stream of light.A hospital. It's the place I've woken up the last two days. I can't complain. It's one hundred times better than a concrete floor in an abandoned factory in Oakland. Even still I fight the panic as my brain comes into consciousness. The hospital therapist says eventually there will come a day when I don't wake up ready to flee, but I'm not sure I believe her.My awake body is heavy and sluggish. Yesterday I spent most the day sleeping as my conscious mind worked around what happened after I was taken from the sidewalk in front of Cosmo's.Hudson was shot. I watched it with my own eyes. What I didn't know at the time was the bullet grazed the side of his body and most of his injury was due to the shock of being shot. Even though my mind didn't want to believe it at the time, he led the charge to rescue me. And yes, he absolutely shot Jimmy in the head — a scene I never ever want to see again, but one that plays on repeat e
Boys of RDA Chapter 241: Kidnapped
Breathe. I hit reality with a start. Tears form as I blink my eyes to open them. My shoulder hurts, a tingling stiff sensation like I slept on it wrong. At one point I must have broken out in a cold sweat and my skin is clammy, moist yet chilled. My knuckle scrapes the hard ground underneath my body as I sit up and the events of what happened flood back. It wasn't a bad dream. I've been taken right from the front of Cosmo's. Kidnapped.They shot Hudson.I have no idea how long I slept or where I am. No longer in the van, the room is dark around me and it takes longer than I want for my eyes to adjust. Of course, there's no positive to be found when they do. Sawdust and dirt smells permeate the air. On the ground there's not only cold hard concrete but sharp pieces of wood. I wipe a few from my pants legs only to have them stick to the skin of my fingers.As I try to stand, there's a clink of metal. I tug my foot to find it doesn't move. My leg is bolted to the ground with thick m
Boys of RDA Chapter 240: Forgive and Forget
"Are you sure you won't walk in there and start crying?" Hudson asks as we stop in front of Cosmo's Comics and Café.I take a deep breath and check myself before I answer because frankly he's probably right to be worried. It's been two days since we met with Drew at the restaurant in Oakland and I spent most of that night crying. I haven't talked to anyone since then. More than likely they think I've been taking this time to apologize to Hudson. He promises he's forgiven and forgotten and even understands why it took so long.Hudson spent the last few days consoling me as I came to terms with finally admitting what happened that night and saying goodbye to Drew if only in my own mind. He's been perfect. He didn't push or yell at me to do it faster or tell me I was being ridiculous. He listened and held me when I needed him. I couldn't ask for a better man.Hudson is everything I've ever wanted in a guy. Sensitive enough to figure out when I'm hurting, but strong enough to tell me
Boys of RDA Chapter 239: Final Answers
"That's your answer?" Hudson's eyebrows lift.I hit my knee against his. "Hudson."He sighs in agitation."Well, Drew, the way I look at it Amanda doesn't have much to tell. It sounds to me as if in her story you were a friend who was there to help her out. Who didn't want to get involved in a police investigation. But before I can trust her opinion that you're a nice guy, I need proof."Drew laughs even though it's inappropriate for the time. "I don't think I'm a nice guy, but thanks, Amanda.""Um, you're welcome?""I started working construction jobs part time when Clare and I were in foster care." He stops talking right as the story gets good."But you don't do construction work now, do you?" Hudson asks the exact question I've been thinking.It's like pulling teeth to get facts out of Drew, but what he doesn't understand is Hudson will have no qualms telling Ben if he's not satisfied with his answers."Yes and no. From time to time my boss asks me for extra favors
Boys of RDA Chapter 238: Truthful Memories
"Sorry, Dean, I've got to get home. Lots of Christmas prep to do."There's no time to chase another raid with so much work to do for Aspen's Christmas celebration. They overdo it for most holidays, but the big ones are the worst.He nods, accepting the answer. I rarely take him up on offers for more raiding or the hundred times he's asked me out for coffee. "Okay, see you next time." He waves, following a large group of people making their way to cars and bikes before heading toward the wharf.I step onto the sidewalk outside the baseball stadium to look for a cab. The road is eerily quiet since there isn't baseball in December and the people from the raid snatched up the cabs. Even though Grant, Clare's boyfriend would kill me, I scroll through my phone and find the Uber app. If I have to call for a ride anyway, I should at least make it a cheap one. He'd be pissed over how close I am to his neighborhood without someone here with me, but it's too late to worry about that now.
