Jaylyn Sloan

“You don’t get to have an opinion on this, Ryker.” I argued, even though I knew it would get me nowhere.

Abraham rested a firm hand at the base of my spine as I tightened the towel around my waist. Ryker had taken to pacing back and forth, fuming under his breath, yelling, and throwing glares full of daggers at Abraham. Abe seemed amused and that annoyed me even worse, but he said nothing and simply grabbed up his belongings.

“I’ll be in the truck.” He squeezed my side and kissed the top of my head.

I could not look away from the bomb in front of me that looked like he might explode at any point. I barely noticed the locker room door snapping closed, just as Ryker released whatever frustration he had been holding in.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Jaylyn?!” He snarled, blood boiling.

“I’m sorry.” I said sarcastically. “Last I checked, you are not my keeper.” My thoughts finally spilling over. “And I can fuck whomever I want.”

“Obviously.” His nostrils flared.

“Look, you don’t get to dictate who is in my life.” I grumbled, already done with this argument that barely had a chance to begin.

“You keep all these secrets, with no concern of how they are going to affect the people around you!” He yelled.

“Secrets?!” I threw my towel to the side and began to get dressed. “You want to talk about secrets? Then let’s fucking talk about the fact that you are Ryker Davis. Pampered prince of the Davis line, second family to the Black’s in the Company, who fucking knew who I was, but pretended otherwise.”

“Jaylyn.” He warned.

“Oh, no. I’m not done.” I yelled back at him. “I kept who I was to myself because I was fucking ordered to. By Dominik. I do not owe you a damn thing. No explanation. No sympathy. I’m doing my fucking job. The only part of my job that wasn’t required was for me to be here tonight. I did this, all of this…” I swung my arms open. “For your dumb ass. For you getting yourself into a mess like this. I fucking solved all of your problems in one fucking night.”

The look on his face didn’t change and it fueled the hate fire in my core.

“So, you don’t get to stand there and judge me.” I snarled. “You’re so fucking pissed because I fucked Abraham? At least he didn’t keep things from me. At least he didn’t lie to me. He has been one hundred percent with me since the day I met him. Is he an asshole? Absolutely. But an honest one. You haven’t even stopped seeing Emma, have you?” I raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“That’s none of your fucking business, Jay.” He rumbled.

“No, of course it isn’t.” I shot back. “Because you are so content with having a woman on the side, but keeping Emma appeased. I might have loose morals surrounding everything in my life, but I refuse to be your fucking worst kept secret. Now get the fuck out of my locker room.”

I turned sharply and yanked open the door.

He hesitated only for a second and then stalked forward, pausing in the doorway. “Now I see why Aiden was the way he was.”

The verbal attack hit my chest hard. “Get the fuck out before I do something that you’ll regret.”

The rawness of the argument stayed with me as I grabbed my duffle bag and began to shove my soiled clothes in with purpose, the sharp ache on my side fueling my movements until it was done. By the time I had finished getting ready to leave, most of the noise outside the door had dissipated into nothing but murmurs. It was hard to keep my mind and feelings in check in the growing silence, and I wasn’t honestly sure what I was supposed to be upset about in the first place. Ryker was pissed and felt weirdly betrayed, but shouldn’t that be how I felt?

Nothing made sense anymore. I wasn’t mad that he was here or that he had seen me and Abraham in a compromising position. It was more over the complete and utter invasion of my space and personal life, which Ryker had found himself just waltzing into. His complete lack of self-preservation and egotistical emotions were getting the better of him and in turn, getting the better of me. I knew I wasn’t in the wrong, per say, but then why did I feel somewhat shitty about all of it?

I threw my strap over the side that wasn’t screaming at me and headed for the door. I paused with my hand on the knob and took one last look around, my gaze lingering a little longer as it passed over the shower stall door, my free hand drawn up, fingertips brushing against swollen lips as the memory of Abraham’s breath echoed in my ear.

What the hell am I doing, Jaylyn?

My lip curled into a faint snarl as I dropped my hand and yanked open the door and froze.

“Ah, Miss Sloan, so nice to see that you are still in one piece after decompressing.” Lee stood on the other side of the hallway, his bodyguards lined up against the walls, Kindred flanking his side.

“Sir.” I nodded politely, careful and calculated.

“I want to say, I did not expect the outcome of tonight’s festivities, but am pleased to give you this at my faulty.” He reached out a sliver of paper and upon looking at it, I smiled.

“That wasn’t the point of tonight, Sir. Just want be sure that the debt has been cleared.” I tried to refuse as politely as I was able.

“I insist, Miss Sloan. I am not sure what the final amount is as they are still totaling the winnings together, but I can tell you that the debt has been repaid several times over. I wished to offer this to you in exchange for your commitment to our deal. You did not disappoint.” He smirked and gestured it out again, offering me the seal to this arrangement.

My polite smile faltered as I reached out and took it slowly, looking down at a personal check addressed to me. My eyebrows raised as I looked at the total amount, he insisted on paying me.

“Sir, there must be a mistake.” I stammered, awkwardly standing in the doorway.

“Do not insult my intelligence, Miss Sloan. No mistake has been made on my part.” His tone was clipped.

“No, truly, Sir. I meant no offense.” I recovered quickly. “I’ve never been paid this much for a night.”

“Well, if you ever get fed up with working under Dominik, you know where to find me.” He bowed forward. “Miss Sloan.”

I returned it. “Mr. Lee.”

He and his entourage emptied the hallway quickly, leaving me standing in his wake more confused than ever. I looked back down at the check he had written me and then closed my eyes, only to open them again to make sure I had read it right.

“What am I supposed to do with six point four million dollars?” I huffed under my breath, trying not to panic while slipping it into the side pocket of my bag.

I stood silently, counting as I took in deep breaths to calm myself before walking out of the maze of hallways in the building's infrastructure. Kindred stood, posted at the entrance again, watching and greeting the guests as they left. I ignored the stares pointed in my direction and stepped out onto the gravel, giving a small wave in his direction before going into the lot where Abraham waited for me.

Ryker’s car was absent.

I sighed as I opened the truck door and heaved myself and my belongings with me, grimacing as the door clipped my hip as it shut, and caused pain to radiate down the front of me. I said nothing to Abraham, and he sat quietly next to me before he reached over and opened his glove box, his hand disappearing into the dark depth and bringing forth a small bottle which he tossed into my lap.

“For the pain.” He explained.

I still said nothing as I opened the bottle without question and popped two of whatever he had given me, hoping it would alleviate some of my discomfort; physically and emotionally.

Abraham started the truck and took off without saying anything else, and for the first time I appreciated the attempt he was trying to make for my benefit.

“We can talk about it.” I murmured.

“Or we don’t have to.” He countered softly.

“Or we can.” I sighed.

His knuckles tensed on the wheel. “It’s none of my business, Jay. You do you. I do not want to see you waste away, but I have no right or desire to tell you how to live your life. I am here for you, and that is the end of it. Dominik or Ryker be damned.”

“I really dislike you.” I grumbled.

“I’m not a major fan of yours either.” He smirked and it caused my lips to upturn at the edges.

The darkest parts of me purred to life and swirled in the darkness. As much as I wanted to hate Abraham, I could not find one thing to really hate about him. He was off putting in his morals and mannerisms. But he was honest and blunt, and I had a lot of respect for that.

“This was a one-time thing.” I didn’t know whether I said it to convince him or myself, but I was trying for the latter. “It’s never going to happen again. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“Alright.” His knuckles were turning a bright shade of white under the streetlights on the highway, each one shining light on his growing anxiety of our proximity in his cab.

“Is this the part where you say, ‘It’s not you, it’s me’?” His voice was strained.

“Oh no, it’s definitely you.” I smirked.

The air in the truck started to lighten as his deep chuckle rumbled through the air but stopped short as we exited the highway and came to the stoplight outside of the campus.

“Do you need help with damage control?” He asked before he made the turn.

“No, I don’t think so.” I grimaced. “Not sure if there really is any damage to control. Ryker doesn’t have a leg to stand on right now, regardless of how he feels.”

Then why did my stomach feel like it was twisting in knots?

“Well.” He said as he pulled into the parking lot. “I’ll at least walk you to the door.”

“You don’t have to.” I smiled. “I’m not helpless.”

“Believe me, I know.” His eyes crinkled with amusement as he hopped out and came around the back, opening my door and helping me to the ground. “Here, I’ll carry that.” He slung my duffle over his shoulders before I could protest.

We walked slowly, more because I couldn’t handle a faster pace than anything else. I looked up from our quiet steps and noticed Ryker standing at the curb waiting and I sighed.

“Here we go.” Abraham murmured.

“Just don’t antagonize him, okay?” I asked.

“No promises.”

We approached him, both of us clearly on edge.

“Ryker, what is this?” I motioned outwards, pleading with my eyes.

“We need to talk.”

“We can do this inside.”

“No, we can do this right here, right now.” He was firm in his resolution.

“Have you been drinking?” I asked, inspecting his movements and the way his face changed as he spoke.

He had a slight wobble to attest to the oncoming of a subtle buzz.

“Like you have room to judge.” He snarled.

“Ryker, how much have you drank in the past hour?” Concerned laced my voice.

“I don’t know, Jaylyn. I don’t keep track by having a spare bottle under my bed.” The verbal assault continued, and I could feel Abraham growing angered next to me. It didn’t stop the stabbing I felt in my chest at his words.

“Fuck this.” Abraham sighed and shifted on his feet. “Jay, you don’t need to stand there and take his shit, come on. He’ll figure it out.” His fingertips brushed my elbow as he began to turn.

Ryker lunged forward, shoving Abraham by his shoulders causing him to have to catch himself from falling over. He turned, the dark glint back in his eyes and I tried to insert myself between them.

“Don’t put your fucking hands on her again, Abe.” Ryker hissed.

“Would you two fucking stop?” I growled loudly.

Abraham took a step back at my request and smirked. “Last I checked, Ryker, Jay is an adult that can make her own fucking decisions. You don’t need to act like you’re her family.”

“You’re only fucking playing with her to get at me.” Ryker said, his tone a pitch lower.

“Who says? You?” Abraham’s eyes glinted again with growing anger, even though his face remained eerily calm. “The guy who has a fucking fiancé back home, but chose to fuck someone else anyways?”

Ryker stopped short, a bit taken back.

“What?” Abraham crossed his arms after adjusting my duffle. “You think we all couldn’t figure it out with the way you pine over her? The way you constantly want to know where she is, or if she is with anyone? You would follow her around every day if given half the chance. That goes beyond just caring for your roommate's well-being. My advice to you would be what it always has been, back the fuck off.”

I had to defuse this situation before it got any worse. But how was I supposed to do that if neither of them was willing to walk away? I couldn’t just beat both of their asses to get them in line.

“Abraham, enough.” I said, placing my hand against his chest.

I could reason with sober. I looked up at him, silently hoping he would understand that this was not a fight worth making. Before I could blink, Ryker’s fist barely missed my head as he punched Abraham square in the nose, causing Abe to back up slightly.

“You son of a bitch!” Ryker snarled.

Abraham pushed forward and I hurriedly shoved myself between the pair of them, pushing them a safe distance from each other. “Ryker, stop!” I yelled.

“You’ll pay for that one day, Davis.” Abraham spit blood to the side.

“No. No.” I glared at Ryker before grabbing Abraham’s arm and yanking him towards the direction of his truck. “I’m getting really tired of all the fighting.”

“Pfft.” Abraham made a noise from his throat. “Says you.”

“Yes. Says me.” I tried to calm the annoyed expression I knew was creating a crease in between my eyebrows.

“I have no idea what you fucking see in that kid.” Abraham dropped the tailgate of his truck and set my bag down on it, then heaved himself onto it.

I crossed my arms as he took off his shirt and kept my eyes respectfully upwards as he began to mop up the blood on his face.

“That’s not going to help.” I sighed as I opened my duffle and reached for my first aid kit. I grabbed out some gauze and began to blot out the blood around his mouth and nose, stepping further and further in between his legs to reach.

“Not going to happen again, huh?” He smirked.

I poked his nose a little harder and he yelped, glaring at me with mock betrayal. “You deserved that.”

I inspected his nose and confirmed it was not broken, turning when I felt eyes on my back, hoping Ryker hadn’t come back to continue what he had started.

Elsie stood with a worried expression on her face as Nick held her firmly tucked into his side. “Are you two alright?”

“Yeah, Els.” I tried to smile. “We’re good. Stop worrying.”

“What the hell was that?” She asked, looking back at where Ryker had been.

“We call that friendly competition.” Abraham chuckled.

“It’s not funny, ass.” I punched his stomach lightly. “Elsie, you mind if I stay with you tonight?”

“Well, no. Of course not. I’m not sure I would want you to go home tonight anyways.” She scoffed. “Ryker would be in trouble.”

I smiled with real amusement.

“He’ll be fine when he wakes up in the morning with a killer hangover. I’ll try to talk to him then.”

“Maybe I should.” Nick offered.

“Maybe you’re right.” I sighed.