Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Nine

Watching Madison walk out of the casino was a hell of a lot harder than Ryder thought it would be, and he’d had to consciously stop himself from begging her not to leave. But he needed time along with his brothers.

He grabbed his beer and leaned against the bar. The jingle of slot machines filled the air. Every now and then, some lucky gambler would shout with excitement about a win. He took a pull of his beer, contemplating whether he should try his luck at the slots while he waited for his brothers to show up. He’d tried to call them earlier to find out why they were here almost three days early, but neither of them answered.

Seven p.m. sharp my ass.

He should’ve known they’d be late. Hell, he should’ve been late. It would’ve given him a little more time with Madison. His chest clenched painfully. She’d left with her cousin twenty minutes ago, and it had been the longest fucking twenty minutes of his life.

Seconds later, Tanner strode toward him. “Miss me?”

Ryder shook his head, unable to hide his smile, and gave his brother a hug. “What the fuck are you doing here so early? Thought you weren’t getting here until Friday?”

Tanner shrugged. “Jules encouraged me to take a few extra days, and I can’t ever say no to her.”

Ryder laughed. “Where’s Xander?”

“Right here, bitches.”

Ryder turned around to find Xander strolling toward them. He wore a white T-shirt with a large Christmas gift tag on the front. It read, To: Women From: God. Ryder laughed again. Leave it to Xander to wear something so tacky and arrogant.

“Nice shirt.” Ryder inclined his beer bottle at it.

Xander grinned. “Kylie bought it for me as a gag gift. Jokes on her, though, because I wear it all the time now, and she hates it.” He leaned in to give Ryder a hug. “I half expected you to ditch us.”

Ryder rolled his eyes. “So, what’s the plan tonight?”

“Beer and gambling.” Xander rubbed his hands together. “I reserved us a private table.”

After finding the table Xander had reserved and ordering an obscene amount of alcohol, Ryder braced himself for what he knew needed to be said. He drained his beer and then poured himself a shot of vodka. He downed it.

“I need to tell you two something, and I really need you to not to be dicks about it.” Ryder leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, nerves waging a war in his stomach.

“Did you just call us dicks?” Xander asked.

“He did.” Tanner nodded.

“Guys, I’m serious,” Ryder said.

Tanner shifted in his chair, all traces of humor leaving his face. “What’s going on?”

“I met someone, and she’s here with me,” he said, his voice a lot more level than he thought it would be. “We go to the same school, and she’s actually from here.” He glanced around. “In fact, this casino is her father’s.”

Xander’s eyes widened, and he nearly choked on a mouthful of beer. “You’re fucking shitting me?”

“No, I’m not shitting you, Xander.” Taking a deep breath, Ryder dove into the story of how he’d met Madison, how her cousin was getting married and she was the maid of honor. How she needed a ride home, the situation with her parents, and then the entire ordeal with the fake engagement. When he finished, Tanner and Xander were unnaturally silent, both of them looking at him with utter disbelief. Even Xander appeared to be speechless, and that wasn’t an easy thing to do.

“Is that a joke?” Tanner asked, his tone bordering on concerned.

Ryder slowly shook his head. “No joke.”

“So you expect us to believe that you, our never-does-anything-wrong, straightlaced, responsible brother gave some chick an engagement ring so he could pretend to be her fiancé for the weekend?” Tanner asked, a single brow raised in judgment.

“Fuck that.” Xander shook his head and smacked Tanner’s arm. “He’s clearly just fucking with us.”

“No, I’m not,” Ryder said, his tone hard.

After another tense moment, Tanner leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Why would you do this?”

“Because I like her. A lot.” He rubbed his hands over his face.

Xander narrowed his eyes and leaned around the table so far he invaded Ryder’s personal space. “Like her my ass. You’re in love with her,” he said, the accusation hanging in the air between them.

Ryder couldn’t even deny it. He hung his head. He should’ve known telling his brothers wouldn’t be easy, and that they’d see right through him.

“Is Xander right?” Tanner asked.

All Ryder could do was nod. He was too afraid to look at his brothers, of what he’d see in their expressions. When Tanner first got together with Jules, Ryder and Xander had almost ruined it for Tanner because they’d pushed Jules too hard, tried to make sure she was worthy of their brother. He supposed it was payback time.

Straightening his shoulders, Ryder forced himself to lift his head and face his brothers. “Yes. I’m in love with her, but I haven’t told her yet.”

“How long have you known her?” Tanner asked. He swiped his beer from the table and took a long pull, almost as if this conversation was more painful for him than it was for Ryder.

“A little less than a month.”

“Jesus, Ry.” Xander slammed his bottle on the table. “A month?”

Anger burned in Ryder’s chest. “And how long did it take you to fall in love with Ky?” he snapped, then jerked his attention to Tanner. “How long before you knew you were in love with Jules?” When neither of them answered, he said, “Exactly.”

“Then I guess there’s just one question left.” Xander grinned. “Does she give a shit?”

“Not in the slightest,” Ryder said as some of the nervous tension disappeared from his back and shoulders.

“How do you know?” Tanner asked.

“Because she literally walked away from all of this.” He waved his arms around to indicate the casino and everything in it. “Someone who cared about money wouldn’t do that.”

“So, when do we get to meet her?” Xander asked.

“She’ll be at dinner on Sunday,” he said before he could think about what he was doing. He only hoped to hell her offer to go with him was still good.

“That’s why you wouldn’t let me set you up with Celeste.” Xander laughed.

“Who the hell is Celeste?” Ryder relaxed in his seat and reached for a fresh beer.

“Ky’s friend. Shit. I’ll have to tell Ky not to bring her now.” Xander started to reach for his cell phone, then stopped. “I could ask Finn to come instead. He’d be down for a night in Vegas.”

“Or I could have Jules call Devon,” Tanner offered.

And just like that, they fell back into an easy banter. Maybe now that his brothers knew the situation they wouldn’t be hard on Madison. Though, if they were, he was confident she’d give it right back to them. He smiled at the thought.

****

Madison tapped her foot impatiently and looked around. Heather was, as per her usual, running late. Madison was starting to regret her decision to lie to Ryder about Heather being in the parking lot. But there was no way in hell she was going to be the reason he didn’t go meet his brothers, and that’s exactly what would’ve happened if she told him Heather hadn’t arrived yet. Ryder would’ve insisted on waiting with her.

She reached into her pocket to grab her cell phone. Her fingers grazed the key card Ryder had given her, and she smiled at the thought of coming back here tonight. To him. Instinctively, she held out her left hand and admired the ring he’d given her. The sight of it took her breath away, no matter how many times she saw it.

Even though this entire thing was fake, she allowed herself, just for a few moments, to pretend it was real. That Ryder had chosen this ring and slipped it on her finger because he truly loved her and wanted to marry her. That this trip was so he could meet her parents because he wanted to, because that was the type of guy Ryder was.

Everything about him was incredible, and the mere thought of him had her stomach dipping and her heart fluttering. The last thing she needed was the complication of a relationship. Although, if she were being honest, it was a little too late for that. Like it or not, she and Ryder had something going on. What, she wasn’t exactly sure, but whatever it was, it was damn good. Better than she ever thought possible, and she’d been kicking herself in the ass for telling him they were “friends with benefits.” This thing they had was more than that, and she had a feeling he knew that just as well as she did.

A cherry red Mustang screeched to a stop near the curb, Taylor Swift blaring from the speakers. “Madison!” Heather squealed as she jumped out of the car and ran straight at Madison.

Laughing, Madison hugged her cousin.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here.” Heather stepped back and absently shoved errant strands of her dark hair away from her face. “C’mon. Mom’s excited to see you, and we have the guest room all set up for… Wait. Where’s your stuff?” Heather glanced around near Madison, correctly noting the lack of luggage.

“Yeah, about that… There’s something I have to tell you,” Madison said.

Heather crossed her arms. “Do not tell me you’re leaving already.”

“What? No.” Madison shook her head. “I’m staying for the weekend like promised, but I’m staying here. At Dad’s casino.”

“Why?” Heather asked slowly, drawing out the word.

Madison drew in a shaky breath. Now was the time to test her story. But doing so while standing on the strip surrounding by hundreds of strangers wasn’t the way to do it. “Let’s go to your place so I can say hi to Aunt Maggie, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Okay.” But Heather’s voice was full of skepticism.

Madison got into the passenger seat and hooked her seat belt. Heather climbed in behind the steering wheel and turned down the music. Then she pulled out in traffic, earning her several angry honks from drivers she’d cut off.

“Nice car, by the way,” Madison said, taking a moment to admire the interior. It wasn’t as nice—or as clean—as Ryder’s car, but the Mustang was a major upgrade from the Kia Heather used to drive.

“Thanks. It was an early wedding present from Will,” Heather said, making a right turn off the strip. She jerked her head toward Madison, eyes wide. “This isn’t going to be weird, is it? I mean, I know the history you two have, but he’s going to be my husband and I don’t want—”

“Heather. Stop.” Madison laughed. “It’s not weird. I promise.” She adjusted in her seat. “Okay, maybe it’s a little weird hearing you talk about him like this, but once I get used to it, it will be fine.”

“You sure?” Heather chewed on her bottom lip.

“Yes. I’m glad you’re both happy. But I am curious how this happened.” Madison hoped her question didn’t come across the wrong way.

“We both ended up at the same party one night. It sucked big time, so we snuck away and spent the entire night talking.” She sighed, a smile curving her lips. “Then he kept finding reasons to “run into me” and I don’t know.” She shrugged. “We started spending more and more time together.”

Madison smiled, remembering how she and Will used to do the same thing—sneak away from the boring, stuffy adult parties to go hang out and talk.

“I wanted to call and tell you so many times, but I was afraid how you’d react, and I honestly didn’t think Will and I would ever get to this point.” She laughed.

“Well, I’m happy for both of you.”

Heather sliced another look at Madison. “Really?”

Madison nodded. “Really. Besides, I have a fiancé of my own now.”

Abruptly, Heather pulled off the side road she’d been speeding down and slammed the car into park. She flicked on the interior light. “You’re engaged?” She nearly shrieked the question.

“Yeah.” Madison laughed and stuck her hand out.

Heather snatched Madison’s hand and inspected the engagement ring. “Oh, my God. Madison!” She lunged across the console and gave Madison an awkward hug. “This is amazing. You have to tell me everything. Wait! Is this the “friend” you caught a ride with?”

Her cousin’s excitement was contagious, and Madison couldn’t stop laughing and smiling. “Yes, and that’s why I’m staying at the casino. He got a room there, and I’m going to stay with him. It’s okay that he comes to the wedding, right?”

“Duh. Of course it is. I need to meet him.” Heather shook her head.

“Okay. Your turn.” Madison held out her palm and wiggled her fingers. “Let me see the rock Will put on you.”

Heather wasted no time thrusting her hand into Madison’s, whose eyes widened. Heather’s ring had to be at least 20 carats. The thing was huge! And exactly what Madison would’ve expected from Will—he liked flashy. Seeing this made Madison appreciated Ryder’s more subtle taste even more.

“Whoa,” Madison said.

“I know, right?” Heather giggled. “It’s a little bigger than I would’ve picked out for myself, but I love it.”

Releasing Heather’s hand, Madison fingered her own ring, wishing that it was truly hers, that she wouldn’t have to return it to Ryder when the weekend was over. Ugh. What is wrong with me? She barely knew Ryder; it was way too soon to be entertaining fantasies of marriage with him.

Heather shut off the interior light and eased back onto the road. “Tell me everything. How did you meet? How long have you two been together? How did he propose?”

Shit. Madison sat frozen in her seat. She and Ryder hadn’t discussed any of that. What was she supposed to tell Heather? Maybe if she infused some truth into her story and then deflected, she could buy herself time to go over all this with Ryder.

“We met at school. I work part time at the bookstore. He came in to get books, and I was stocking shelves. I accidentally dropped a book on his head.” She smiled fondly at the memory. “I was mortified, but he was totally cool about it.”

That very first encounter with him had been the day her world started to shift. He’d consumed every thought, taking up every inch of brain space she had—and even some she didn’t. He made her smile and laugh, and he drove her crazy at times, too, but she loved that about him. She loved how easygoing he was, how kind and generous, how patient and understanding.

She was in love with Ryder.

That revelation slammed into her with the force of a derailed freight train. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, and she momentarily closed her eyes against the sudden onslaught of emotions.

Heather’s giggle snapped Madison from her thoughts. “I can’t believe you dropped a book on his head.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“So, did he ask you out right then?” Heather bounced in her seat as if dancing to music only she could hear.

“No. I ran into him later that night, though, and he asked for my number.” Madison adjusted her seat belt, then angled her body so she could see Heather easier.

“What’s his name?” Heather asked.

“Ryder.”

“Ohh, that’s sexy.”

“Wait till you see him.” Madison laughed. “But enough about me. This weekend is all about you. You’re getting married!”

Heather let out an ear piercing shriek of pure joy. She proceeded to talk nonstop about the wedding until they arrived at her house twenty minutes later. As Madison had suspected, it was going to be a massive affair—how could it not be when two members of the largest casino families in Vegas were getting married?