Ryder - Caveman Insticts Book Three(13)

Lucy chuckled and linked her arm through mine. We’d clicked from the first time we’d met and Lucy had become a good friend. She even visited me on the base. We were both shoe crazy and Lucy was the best bargain clothes shopper I knew.

“I finish in an hour. Have you come to eat and take me shopping, or are you going to make me go by myself to spend money I really shouldn’t? You do realize I called you yesterday and you didn’t call me back. What’s up?”

Lucy guided me to a table in the corner and I sat down. I debated what to say to her. Did I tell her all about the Silvermans and Ryder or just about the Silvermans? Lucy was slowly becoming a very close friend. My stomach grumbled and I gazed over the buffet. “Let me eat and I promise, when you finish work I’ll tell you what has been going on.”

Lucy clapped her hands. “Ooohhh, gossip. I can’t wait.” She smirked. “Go stuff your face and I’ll see you in an hour.” I giggled as Lucy skipped off. I knew she was excited to hear something juicy.

I went over to the buffet, grabbed a plate, and piled it full. As I sat back down at my table, I felt lighter. I was looking forward to talking to Lucy. I needed to get everything out. I wanted a second opinion on what I should do. I had other friends, ones I’d been friends with longer, but Lucy was easy to talk to and she was a lot like me. I knew she wouldn’t sugar coat anything and would give me her true opinion. It was hard to find friends like Lucy. I was a military brat so I knew the struggle of moving and making friends and keeping those friends. Only a few friends had stayed with me throughout the years and move after move, as my father moved up the military ranks. I wasn’t moving from this town. I was done moving. I loved my job and the friends I had and was making. What I needed to know now was if I should give Ryder a chance when he came at me again. I hated to admit it, but I couldn’t get him and everything he said off my mind.

Shoveling the food in my mouth I tried not to think of Ryder as I ate. His image was burned into my brain and any time it came up my body came alive. One thing I hated was that I was so damn turned on when I thought of him. I’d even caught myself a time or two day dreaming and a moan or two had slipped. My work mates had been teasing me like crazy. And that had me thinking Ryder wasn’t insane.

No matter how many times I told myself Ryder was crazy and his family was pushy and I wasn’t a fan of their abuse of power. I couldn’t stop thinking of him. I’d even spent the weekend before meeting Ryder’s family at the school thinking about him too. I’d thought it strange since I’d only meet him briefly at the hospital and put it down to being curious, but after our talk at his house I couldn’t go more than a couple of hours without thinking of him. All I hoped was that he was worse off than I was.





Lucy sat with me as I savored the chocolate ice-cream. “Work is done. I’ve been hanging for gossip and you don’t bull shit. So it’s the best.” She raised her brow and sat forward on the seat. “Spill.”

In that moment, I loved Lucy. She always seemed to know just what to say. “I can’t stop thinking about a big, bulky, bossy, manly man.”

“What!” She got off her seat across from me, moved beside me, and leaned in closer. “You like meek men,” she whispered.

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. “Yeah, but you know why.”

Lucy’s head bounced up and down. “Yeah, your dad is…is, well he’s very male.”

I laughed at my friend’s assessment of my father. It was a nice way of saying my dad was over the top bossy and overbearing. “Yeah, that’s Dad. That’s why I don’t understand why I can’t get the guy off my mind. I don’t want a man like my father and this man is way too much like him.”

Lucy practically bounced on her seat. “Name. Who is this hunky man?”

“Ha, I never said he was hunky. How do you know he is?”

Lucy giggled. “Are you saying he isn’t?”

I knew I was probably bright red. Any time I thought of Ryder my body heated and it came alive, eager for him. I’d been dreaming of him and since I’d seen him, I couldn’t get him off my mind. I hated that he had so much control over me and I barely even knew him. He was everything I’d told myself I didn’t want in a man. I hated that he was so attractive. That not only was his body perfection, but his face was so handsome. On a groan, I nibbled on my lip as images of Ryder came to mind. “No. He is gorgeous. Beyond handsome. He has tattoos.”

She squealed. “Ooohhh, I can’t wait to meet him.”