Appeal to You (A Beyond the Cove Novel Book 3) Read online

  “I’ll be here,” Avery replied, waving goodbye to everyone as he walked out the door.

  He lived less than five minutes away, unless he hit beach traffic, so it wasn’t long before he was pulling into the underground parking garage of his building. Family law wasn’t as lucrative as his father and brother’s chosen path of commercial law. Avery lived alone, though. He had no family who depended on him. It afforded him a decent-sized, two-bedroom condo facing the Brighton Pier boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean.

  As he entered the door, Avery closed and locked it behind him and put his keys on the hook on the wall. He always loved coming in and seeing the view of the beach and ocean. It brought a sense of calm over him as soon as he opened the balcony doors and breathed in the ocean breeze. It was so different from where he’d grown up, an hour away in northern New Jersey.

  Rolling Hills was a stuffy town, so of course, his parents and brother still lived there. His parents weren’t bad people—Avery couldn’t say the same for his brother, Chase—but his relationship with them was definitely strained after his decision to turn down a spot in Hamilton Commercial Law. His mother didn’t agree with his dad and brother’s way of thinking, but she also never voiced it in defense of him. In Avery’s book, that was almost as bad; although, she tried in regards to keeping a relationship with him. But hell, Avery had never been interested in mergers and acquisitions, and he had even less interest in moving from where he was right now so he could dismantle corporations in Manhattan.

  Kevin, Maggie, and the boys had been his family for so long. Now, that family had changed, but somehow, it didn’t feel any less important. Actually, it had grown considerably, aside from their painful loss last September.

  Avery poured himself some cabernet before going out to his balcony. Stretching out on the long, navy blue and white striped lounge chair, he sighed, closing his eyes as he listened to the waves. He just wanted a few moments of quiet before he had to get his things ready for work tomorrow. Pick out my monkey suit. Avery snorted, thinking about what Ryder always called his work attire.

  Avery couldn’t be more different from Jake and his friends. He was a blank canvas next to their colorfully expressive tattoos. Why Ryder was so interested was beyond him. He had his chance.

  They were complete opposites, in every sense of the word. Ryder was tattoos, bleached hair, black frames, and piercings—in interesting places, if memory serves—while Avery was as clean-cut as you could get. Outside of the bedroom? Ryder appeared hardcore and Avery looked…well…anything but.

  They didn’t make sense together.

  He knew, though, without an ounce of doubt, they would ignite the damn mattress if they ever allowed the spark between them to take over. Hell, Avery could take that man to the highest high, edging Ryder until he begged for release. As long as there’s no alcohol involved.

  But although those sinful lips and that perfectly lean, tattooed body was incredibly tempting, Avery wanted something more than Ryder Pearce would ever want to give.

  “So, when are Zach and Drew checkin’ in to Hotel Taylor?” Ryder asked around a mouthful of Italian sub. He picked up a crumpled napkin off the counter and wiped his mouth before taking another huge bite. Inkubus had been busy all morning, but finally, it was quiet enough for him to eat the sub he’d ordered hours ago. He was used to eating in between clients, grabbing a bite when he could. It was one of the reasons he rarely ordered anything hot. It could take him hours to do one tattoo.

  “Hotel Taylor?” Eli asked, picking his head up from the sketch he’d been working on of a pin-up girl. The client had asked for his girlfriend’s face to be on the woman, but luckily for the guy, Eli wasn’t some artist who didn’t give a shit. Hell, the guy had only been seeing her a few months. Who wants their ex’s face on them for the rest of their life? Good luck explaining that one to whoever came next.

  “Do you leave mints on the pillows, a fruit basket on the counter, and complimentary shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom? ‘Cause I’ll have to remember that when I’m down to nothing and don’t feel like shopping.” Ryder picked up his bottle of Coke and drank some down before taking another bite of his sandwich.

  “Which is like…every other week,” Eli mocked. “They’re getting here Friday afternoon and leaving Monday morning. Zach can’t be away from the bar for too long.” Eli stared back down at his drawing, but the absent look in his eyes said his mind was on what had happened a couple of months ago. They hadn’t been able to come for Nick’s birthday last week, so they were coming down this weekend to make up for it. Ryder wouldn’t be surprised if Drew also needed to get away for a bit, after what had happened.

  “How’s he doing?” Ryder set his sandwich down and brushed the crumbs off his jeans.

  “Zach or Drew?”

  “Both, I guess.”

  Eli shrugged a shoulder. “As good as can be expected. Drew’s been going to therapy, and Zach…he’s mellowed out some. I think it’s gonna take some time for them to stop looking over their shoulders.” Eli paused for a minute, like he was debating telling Ryder the next part. “Zach said Drew still has nightmares. Can’t fucking blame him. I hear Drew’s brother isn’t doing so great, though. He’s really taking this hard.”

  Damn, Ryder had never known anyone to have that kind of thing happen to them in real life. “I bet. That’s some scary shit. It’s crazy to think someone could be that unhinged.”

  Eli shook his head and huffed. “Seriously. Anyway, they’ll be here Friday afternoon. Just, uh…try not to bring up the whole stalking thing while they’re here. I think they really just need this weekend to get away and forget for a while, you know?”

  “Yeah, no problem.” Ryder wrapped the rest of his sub back up and tossed his used napkins in the garbage next to the stool he was sitting on. “So…you seen Avery lately?”

  Eli snorted, grinning like a damn fool. “Shit, he’s got you so fucking wrapped, and the guy won’t give you the time of day.”

  “Pfft,” Ryder breathed out. “Who says I’m wrapped?”

  “Uh…everyone,” Eli deadpanned. “Every. Fucking. One.” He cracked a smile and looked back down at his sketch.

  “You’re all a bunch of gossips now, huh?” Ryder shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

  “Hey, don’t blame us. We sure as hell didn’t think you’d still be after the guy a year later. What gives, man?”

  Hell if I know…

  “Do you know…?” Ryder trailed off, wondering why he even felt the need to ask if Avery had ever told Eli and Novak what the bug up his ass was.

  “I know a lot of things.” Eli laughed. “Do I know what?” When Ryder didn’t answer, Eli picked his head back up, shooting him a get-to-the-point look.

  Ryder looked down at the counter and ran his finger over the smooth glass. “Nah, it’s stupid.” He could still feel Eli looking at him, forcing Ryder to feign immense interest in the clear glass of the jewelry counter. Obviously, Avery got a kick out of keeping Ryder in the dark. And hell, maybe if Avery told Ryder the reason, it would take all the fun out of the shit they gave each other.

  When the door to the shop opened, Ryder sighed, seeing one of his clients walk in. Time to get back to it. No more thinking about that kind of shit today…or, at least, for right now. He had a job to do, and this piece was going to take up the rest of his day.

  Ryder finally walked out of the shop after seven that night, stretching out his muscles as he went down the sidewalk toward his building. He loved living in Brighton Pier, and in the warmer weather, he never drove to the shop. The building he lived in wasn’t glamorous. It sure as hell wasn’t as nice as where Novak and Eli both still owned their old condos. He’d take the smaller two-story complex, though, if it meant he could be this close to the boardwalk. It wasn’t rundown, per se; just in desperate need of updating. Not that it really mattered to him either way. Anything was nicer than the fleabag motels and shithole rentals his parents had moved him around to when he was younger
. That was, of course, when the Division of Youth and Family Services hadn’t stepped in.

  Ryder passed the pizza shop, his stomach growling as the smell of pepperoni teased his nose. Forcing himself to keep walking, he made his way down the block, keeping to the east side of Ocean Avenue—as far east as you could get without paying a ridiculous rent or landing your ass in the Atlantic Ocean. If he could help it, he’d never live anywhere else again.

  His complex was on the main strip, rather than right on the boardwalk, but he didn’t need a view. When an apartment opened up seven months ago, Ryder had jumped on it. He just needed to be near the ocean for him to feel a sense of peace that no other place gave him.

  There were two identical buildings facing each other perpendicular to the ocean with a courtyard in the middle; a sidewalk cut down the center with walkways branching off to the left and right. Each walkway led to two, side-by-side doors with a couple of steps before them. As soon as Ryder rounded the corner to his place, he saw a familiar face sitting out on the steps in front of his door. Well, it was technically the kid’s door, too.

  “Hey, Ryder,” Chris said, his face lighting up. “Tattoo anything good today?”

  “What kind of question is that? All my tattoos are good.” Ryder gave the kid a wink, pushing playfully on the side of Chris’s head as he walked by. Chris swatted his hand away and laughed. Ryder pointed down at the colored-pencil drawing on Chris’s lap. “That’s pretty cool. You did that?”

  “Yeah… You really think so?” Chris asked timidly, scrunching up his freckled nose as he looked down at the sketch.

  “It’s Black Panther, right?” Ryder asked, and the kid nodded his head, a small smile forming. “Wouldn’t know that if it wasn’t good.” Chris’s smile grew even bigger, and he brushed the mess of chestnut curls back from his face.

  “How’s your grandma?” Ryder asked, getting a shrug in return.

  “Tired.” Chris looked back down at his drawing, his shoulders sagging.

  This was where Ryder had no clue what to say. Shoot the shit about unimportant things? He was your guy. But talk to someone about what’s bothering them? He wasn’t cut out for that. “Okay, well…I’ll see ya.”

  Chris waved over his shoulder as the heavy, outer door closed. He and his grandma, Mrs. Rowan, lived immediately to the left, on the first floor. Ryder took the stairs two at a time up to his place on the second floor, glancing back down at Chris through the window of the door.

  Ryder never saw him with any friends. He wondered if the kid even had any. All too well, Ryder could relate to that. Kids weren’t stupid and people fucking talked. Ryder had been teased all through school because of his strung-out parents and ratty clothes. And the more they’d teased, the more of a loner he’d become; at least until he’d gotten the fuck out of there and started living his life for himself. So, he wouldn’t be surprised if Chris was dealing with the same sort of thing. In the seven months Ryder had been here, he’d never seen a mom or dad in the picture, so he wasn’t even sure if there were any. Besides Chris’s grandma, the kid didn’t seem to have anyone, but she did the best she could for both of them.

  Before Ryder got caught up thinking about things that only served to bring his mood down, he opened the door and let himself into his place. It wasn’t huge, but it was plenty for him. Of course, he knew from the layout of his apartment that Chris and his grandma were living in tight quarters downstairs. Still, Chris was lucky he had someone who could take care of him. If only Ryder had had someone like that back when he—

  Stop with the depressing shit.

  He tossed his keys on the small table next to the door and kicked his shoes off, pushing them to the side. Taking tired steps to his bedroom, he peeled the gray tee up and off and threw it into the laundry basket by the door. He wasn’t the neatest person in the world, but he wasn’t a complete slob either. I bet Avery’s place is immaculate.

  Again with the man popping into Ryder’s head for no damn reason. “I should have gone out tonight and worked this tension out through my fucking dick,” he grumbled to himself as he took the rest of his clothes off. Truth was, it hadn’t been the same since Novak and Eli had made things completely exclusive. Novak used to be his wingman. Even Parker and Kenz hadn’t been up for going out lately. They were both seeing new people, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that neither one of them was happy.

  Join the fucking club.

  Avery huffed a laugh as the string bean bounced off Ryder’s forehead and landed on his plate. Somehow, he’d ended up across the table from the man this Sunday, rather than Ryder rushing to sit next to him. Honestly, Avery didn’t want to acknowledge the slight disappointment he’d felt, but having Ryder across from him turned out to be just as entertaining.

  “Hey!” Ryder yelled at Kenz, who sat next to Avery. Then he shrugged and picked up the stray string bean, popping it in his mouth. “Whatever, I won’t turn down more food.”

  Jake pointed at both of his laughing nephews, who were mischievously eyeing their plates now as weapons instead of food. “Don’t even think about it.” He turned to Kenz with the same dad tone he’d perfected over the last year. “Same goes for you.”

  “Tell him not to bug me,” Kenz complained, nodding her head toward Ryder.

  “Me?” Ryder retorted. “Tell her not to be so sensitive. All I said was I saw Charlie the other day.”

  Avery watched Ryder and had to laugh at the guy. He was purposefully pushing Kenz’s buttons, but Avery wondered if anyone else had picked up on the fact that it happened to be when the conversation with Drew and Zach was getting too heavy. As it was, it was like they were all speaking in tongues, trying to talk about what had happened to Drew without scaring the boys. Avery glanced over at Eli’s brother Zach and caught the subtle nod he gave Ryder. Ryder just nodded and smiled, continuing on with the chaos he’d created.

  “Jesus. When did we get two more kids?” Eli stared down the length of the table at Jake. Anyone could see how much the two men loved each other, but the admiration coming from Jake aimed right at Eli was undeniable. It didn’t escape Avery’s notice that Eli often referred to Nick and Dylan as their kids. The fact that he loved Jake’s nephews that much—Kevin’s kids—made him more than all right in Avery’s book.

  “So, I guess you don’t want to know she asked about you?” Ryder added, shrugging his shoulders as he gave Kenz an innocent look. “And that she moved back?”

  “Wait, who’s Charlie?” Drew asked, tension no longer etched on his face.

  “No one important.” Kenz narrowed her eyes at Ryder, gritting her teeth. “I’m seeing someone, remember?”

  “You are?” Parker asked, most likely, jumping in just to annoy her.

  “Oh, you’re one to talk,” Kenz shot back at Parker.

  Ryder snorted and put another forkful of chicken in his mouth, sliding those sexy lips back off the fork—stop looking at his mouth, Avery. Before Avery got his act together, Ryder arched a knowing eyebrow at him, licking his lips and then smirking.

  Then he looked back at Kenz and said, “If you say so,” wiggling his brows at his friend.

  Even Avery knew Ryder was skating on thin ice. Kenz may be small, but she was feisty. Avery glanced around the table at the people he’d grown so close to over the past year. If it weren’t for Nina and Stan, he’d most definitely feel like the odd man out as far as style.

  When Kevin was alive, Avery and Jake barely knew each other. At the time, he sure as hell didn’t think he had anything in common with his best friend’s younger brother. Jake owned a tattoo shop, Inkubus, where he and most of his friends—Ryder, Eli, and Kenz—worked. And damn, did it show…all over their skin. Even their friend Parker was covered in ink.

  After the accident, Avery struggled to find where he fit in this family anymore…until he’d realized that being there for those boys was their common ground. Suddenly, they were all thrown together, and the only way to hold on to some sanity after their loss
was to surround those boys with as much love as they possibly could. Oddly enough, it turned out that once you took away the tattoos and piercings, they weren’t so different after all.

  “So, boys,” Nina said to Dylan and Nick, “are you all ready to go back to school? Your uncle Jake said he took you shopping yesterday.”

  And just like Ryder had planned—and Avery would bet money the guy had planned it—the conversation completely shifted from heavy to light. Avery had noticed that Ryder often broke the tension with something funny, even if the end result got him in trouble. Those were the moments when Avery saw something he respected in Ryder. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he rarely took anything seriously.

  The conversation for the rest of dinner went relatively smoothly. An hour later, dinner was done and they were all saying their goodbyes. Jake and Eli wanted to get the boys back into a routine before school started. That meant going to bed earlier and waking them up early to go to Nina and Stan’s house for the last week of summer, instead of Nina coming over and letting them sleep late. It was something Kevin and Maggie had started with the boys, and like with so many other things, Jake and Eli didn’t mess with what already worked.

  Avery’s skin prickled when a deep voice said from behind him, “So, how about giving a guy a ride home so he doesn’t have to deal with Kenz’s wrath?”

  Avery slowly turned around and shrugged. “Sure, where’s Parker at? I can give him a ride.”

  “Ha fucking ha. If you won’t give me a ride, you sure as hell aren’t giving my friend one.” Ryder shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped right into Avery’s space. “So? How ‘bout it?” Then the evil man wiggled his eyebrows up and down, the silver ring through the left one moving with it. Kind of like the other ring moved when his—no, don’t think about piercings in other places on the man’s damn body, for fuck’s sake.