Chapter 14 - What are you waiting for?

Keegan's POV

I had been on edge for weeks since Ryder decided to come into my room while I was just in shorts and a bra and threw down his challenge. Weeks of watching and waiting to see what he was going to do, but it had been radio silence so far, and sometimes I think that was worse, the not knowing.
Life had been pretty busy, I continued to work my shifts at the bank, and then my evenings were spent going out on ‘dates’ with Ryder as Marcus said we needed to boost our social presence together. So far, we had been to restaurants, clubs and even a concert together, posting many photos together on his social media pages.

During these dates, I had to get over my aversions to public displays of affection pretty quickly. In private, I stayed as far away from him as possible, but I didn’t have any choice in public. We had to hold hands, smile at each other, pretend to laugh at each other jokes, be touchy-feely and, of course, make out. I know what you are thinking, oh wow, such a hard life I had, I get to go to all these fancy places and kiss a gorgeous man. Your sarcasm is duly noted. But trust me, it was hard, very hard, to stop at just kissing.

I knew Ryder was more than willing to take things further than that, and I’d be lying if I said my body wasn’t screaming at me to do it as well, but could I really do the causal sex thing when we lived in the same house? It was bound to make things more complicated. So it was best to keep it at just what was required to make us look like a couple in public and be strictly professional behind closed doors.

Training camp and his pre-season games were over and tonight was their first official game of the season. I had attended the pre-season games that were in town, and I hated to admit it, but I had fun. Most of the other wives and girlfriends tended to keep to themselves, preferring to hang with their own kind, and when I say own kind, I mean the women that were more cosmetically enhanced than they were natural, but I did make fast friends with April. She took me under her wing to show me the ropes.

Tonight I had managed to snag a ticket for Mackenna to join me, which excited her to no end. She had never been able to secure a ticket to their opening game, especially a seat behind the home bench. She was like a little kid at Christmas and had been planning for the entire week.

I spent hours primping and getting ready for this game. It shouldn’t be that hard to get ready for a basketball game, but Ryder had been right when he said my clothes weren’t girlfriend material because sitting with the rest of the wives and girlfriend was like being at New York fashion week. So after applying my makeup impeccably like I was going on a night out on the town, I got dressed in a pair of jeans that were more expensive than my entire wardrobe back at Grams houses and a Chanel silk, graffiti patterned top with lace detailing around the hem and under the bust. I was just slipping on a pair of heels because how could you attend a basketball match in anything other than five-inch spike heels, when there was a knock on my door.

Ryder at least waited for me to call out that it was okay for him to come before he entered my room this time, bag in hand.
I eyed it warily, “What is that?”

“So distrustful.” He chuckled, holding it out to me.

“You mean since you told me that our game was just beginning?” I countered, taking the bag from him and peaking inside before pulling out a Lakers jersey with his number and his name on the back, “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Of course not.” He answered, “It’s tradition. All the wives and girlfriends wear them for our opening game.”

I raised my eyebrow at him in surprise, “Sure they do. I’ll tell you what, how about I take this with me, and if I see the other women wearing them, I’ll slip it on.”

I couldn’t imagine any of these women wearing material like this without them breaking into hives, all of them except April because she was more down to earth than them.

“Whatever you want to do, Keegen.” Ryder advised turning to walk out of the room, “Your Grams would wear it for me.”

Thinking back to all the things my Grams did to him at his training camp made me burst out laughing, “Get out of here so I can finish getting ready. I wouldn’t want you to be late.”

I tossed the jersey in my bag just in case he was telling me the truth about the tradition and threw in my mini sketchbook to keep me occupied before the game started. Ryder and I were driving in together, but he had to be there for all the pre-game stuff, so I needed something to keep me busy in my seat until there was something to watch.

After we parked in the player car park, he went down to the player change room, and I used my special pass to get me into the arena. Mackenna had stuff to do today, so she wasn’t going to make it until just before the game, which meant that I was on my own for now. I was so wrapped up in the dress design I was working on that I didn’t pay any attention to my surroundings.

“Oh my god, that looks amazing.” April called out from behind me, causing me to jump a little in my seat and slam my book closed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her.

April was one of those women that you couldn’t help but like. She had such a warm personality and was smart too, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. She was 5’10 with long, wavy blonde hair that reached halfway down her back, bright blue eyes and an amazing figure, even after two kids. She was the definition of a California girl.
She was rocking a pair of jeans like me, but much to my surprise, she was wearing her husband’s jersey, so maybe he wasn’t trying to trick me tonight.

“Can I see what you are working on?” She inquired softly.

I nodded and handed over the book hesitantly, “It’s just a hobby of mine.”

April flicked through throw the several designs I had in the book before reaching the one I was working on, “You’re wasting your talents in a bank Keegan these are gorgeous. If you ever decide to turn it into a career, you’ll have your first client. I would kill to wear any of these.”

It meant so much to me to hear her say that. Now that I didn’t have to worry about paying a mortgage on Grams’ place, I was making enough money to start saving even without the two extra jobs. I was hoping by the time this whole thing with Ryder was over, I would have enough funds to go back to school and finish my business degree, and maybe, just maybe, I would be able to start designing clothes for real.

Mackenna arrived, slumping down in a chair beside me, decked out head to toe in her Lakers gear, the excitement written all over her face. I introduced her to April, and while the two of them were talking, I grabbed the jersey from my bag and slipped it over my top.

“Ryder told me it was tradition, but I wasn’t sure,” I explained as I caught April looking at me with a big smile on her face.

“It is tradition.” She acknowledged, “But only a few of us girls tend to follow it. Most of the others can’t seem to get the sticks out of their asses long enough to put one on for just one night.”

This is why I liked this girl so much. She was such fun to be around and said things how they were. The other wives and girlfriends started making their appearances, and the looks of disdain on their faces were priceless as they took in the three of us in our gear. But there wasn’t much time for them to judge me before the game began.

As Ryder’s introduction was made and he came running onto the court, I played the part of the dutiful girlfriend and cheered and clapped loudly for him. His eyes ran over the crowd, and I could see the small smile on his lips when he realised I was wearing his jersey, but he recovered quickly, throwing a wink my way. The game was pretty close the entire way through, and I hated to admit it, but Ryder was an incredible player and dominated for most of the game, including scoring the game-winning basket, which made the entire side of the stadium erupt in cheers and celebrations.

Once the final siren went off, April tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention, “Come on, you two ladies are coming with me. The boys will be held up with reporters for a little while, so we are going out for a few drinks to celebrate the victory, and they will come to meet us once they are done. My mother has the kids tonight. I’m ready to hit the town.”

There was a bar not far from the stadium that had a private room that, according to April, they set aside for Lakers’ players and their guests to use after all the games. When we got there, a few of the other wives were already waiting and once again turned their noses up at us when we settled at one of the tables ordering a round of beers and burgers. I hadn’t eaten since lunch, and a kale salad like they were eating, was just not going to cut it. I was halfway through my burger and my second beer when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my neck and shoulders from behind me and felt his lips on my cheek.

Ryder smelled amazing close-up, his hair still wet from a shower. “Hey babe, you ladies seem to be doing fine without us.”

“I know it’s going to sound strange, Ryder, but we don’t need our men around us all the time to have fun.” April retorted as her husband came over to her to greet her in the same fashion.

“Come on, April. You know you’d be lost without us.” He joked as he stole a fry from my plate, “I’m going to go order some food. You need anything, babe?”

“All good here,” I responded, tilting my head back to give him a quick kiss. It was crazy how quickly we slipped into couple mode when we barely saw each other outside things like this.

Ryder nodded and motioned for Michael to join him, and as he was walking away, both girls were looking at me with smiles on their faces.

“You guys are so cute together.” Mackenna cooed, making me blush and ignore her, concentrating on my meal instead.

After a few minutes, when the boys still weren’t back, my eyes searched for them, and I found Ryder talking and laughing with a couple of girls that I recognised Laker Girls from their performance at halftime. To be honest, they weren’t wearing many more clothes than they were wearing on the court while they danced.

At the same moment, one of the other wives slid a tray of shot glasses onto the table in front of us. “Can I interest any of your ladies in a shot to celebrate the boys' victory tonight?” When she saw where I was looking, she laughed, “yeah, you have to watch out for those ones. They will do anything to get into one of the player's beds, and I do mean anything. Danny told me that Ryder room while they are on the road has a revolving door of girls through it.”

“Layla! Why the hell would you say something like that?” April chastised before turning her attention back to me, “Don’t listen to her, Keegan. I see how Ryder looks at you. You have nothing to worry about.”

I grabbed one of the shot glasses off the tray and downed it quickly, the tequila burning my throat as I swallowed it down and then skulled the rest of my beer. Ryder must be a better actor than I gave him credit for because he had April fooled that this thing we had was real. I know Layla was just trying to be a bitch, but it did make me start to wonder if that was exactly what Ryder was going going to do when he was on the road. I mean, hadn’t I given him the green light to do what he wanted? This relationship wasn’t real, so why was the thought of him having sex with one or many of the Laker girls bug the crap out of me?

By the time we left the celebration, I had had a few more beers and more tequila shots than I could count and was very, very giddy. I had gotten more bold and touchy-feely with Ryder as the night went on, and by the time we got back to the house, I felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t get a release tonight. I carried my shoes in hand as we walked through the dark house and upstairs towards the bedrooms. Ryder had seemed concerned about my current state, so he walked me to my room.
When we got to my bedroom door, he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek goodnight, and I turned my head at the last minute, so his lips landed on mine and threw my arms around his neck, pressing my body against his.

After a few minutes, he pulled back, panting, “What the hell was that?”

“That was a kiss,” I confirmed smugly as I reached behind us and got my door open, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him into the room.

Once we were in the room, I pounced on him again, and after a little hesitation on his part, he kicked the door shut behind us as he slid his hands into my hair, pulling softly on the roots while he slid his tongue into my mouth. I moaned, still clutching his top tightly and before he spun as around until my back was pressed harshly against the wooden door.

I broke the kiss again, my eyes burning with desire as I reached between us, sliding my top up and over my body and dropping it unceremoniously onto the ground, his eyes exploring my body. “What are you waiting for?”