Chapter 16 - Unwelcomed Company

Keegan’s POV

I felt something soft brush against my cheek, rousing me from my sleep, and the first thing that came to mind was how much my head was hurting. The second one was how heavy my eyelids felt. I finally managed to pry them open, and when they came into focus, I was shocked to see a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring down at me.
Ryder gave me one of his award-winning smiles, “Hey sleeping beauty, how are you feeling?”

I sat up quickly, which was a mistake as it made my head pound even more and the entire room spin, but I was too in shock to care. I glanced around, and I was definitely in my room. What the hell was he doing in here? And why was I staring at his naked chest?

My heart started racing as I glanced down at my own attire. I was wearing his t-shirt. I discretely patted down my body, breathing a sigh of relief when I realized I was still wearing my bra and panties, but I still had this nagging feeling that something had happened last night.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my head in my hands, “We didn’t……I mean….. I’m in your shirt, and you’re in my bed……but we couldn’t…..”

“We didn’t have sex if that’s what you are asking.” He answered, putting me out of my misery, “Not from your lack of trying.”

And that’s when it all started coming back to me in bits and pieces—going out for celebratory drinks, drinking way too much tequila and then practically throwing myself at him. A wave of nausea washed over me as I remembered the worst part. I stripped down to my bra and panties, straddled him and ground myself against him. Why had I done that?

“I am never drinking again.” I groaned, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Ryder laughed at me, “go have a shower. It will make you feel better. I’ve got to go and meet Marcus for a bit. I have an interview about last nights game to do. Are you going to be okay?”

I didn’t look up from my hands because I was too embarrassed to look him in the eye right now, “I’ll be fine.”

He walked out, leaving me alone with my humiliation and hangover.

A very, very long and hot shower helped a little, but there was only one true cure for a hangover, and that was lots of coffee and a very greasy breakfast. I dragged my ass downstairs, my stomach doing somersaults the entire way down to the kitchen as I thought of nothing but bacon and eggs. Faith was up and sitting at the kitchen counter typing away furiously on her phone when I got there.

I hadn’t spent much time with Faith in my time here. Ryder and I had so much on at the moment that when we were at the house, I liked to make myself scarce so they could spend some time alone together. I didn’t want her to feel like I had come in and taken over her brother’s life. She needed to know that she was important.

When she saw me enter the kitchen, she clutched her phone tightly to her chest and went white as a ghost, “What are you doing here?”

“Well, good morning to you too,” I responded bluntly as I poured my coffee. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m sorry.” She apologized, glancing down at her phone repeatedly, “It’s just I didn’t expect you here. Aren’t you usually at your grandmother’s house by now?”
She was right. Usually, I spent the whole day with my Grams, doing anything she needed me to do around the house on a Sunday. But I needed to get this hangover sorted before I went anywhere near a vehicle, or I would throw up.

“Yeah, I’ll be heading there later,” I advised, carefully studying her.

There was something shady going on. But before I had the chance to quiz her more, the front doorbell rang, which was highly unusual. Security normally called the house from their post at the entrance to the estate to ask for permission to let someone in. The only way you got through without that was if you were on the list of residents, and even then, Ryder had a gate at the front of this property, too, which we need to buzz people through or know the code.

“It’s for me.” Faith called out as she leapt off the stool and ran in the direction of the front door.

It had to be one of her friends. But then why was she so nervous when she figured out I was still here? Maybe it was a boy, someone she didn’t want her brother to know about. I know I wasn’t her parent or guardian, but I felt the urge to suss out what was going on, just to make sure she wasn’t getting involved in anything that she shouldn’t be.

I made my way towards the door, hearing a woman’s voice as I got closer. There was a mirror opposite the door, so I could stay out of sight and still see what was happening through the reflection. A woman was embracing Faith. She looked about 5’10, but it was hard to get that accurate while she was leaning done. The heels didn’t help either. She was dressed impeccably in her Prada dress and sunglasses, her bleach blonde hair perfectly styled in a chignon.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s been too long.” The woman told Faith as she pulled away slightly and looked her up and down, “You’ve gotten so big. I’ve been looking forward to this catch up of ours for weeks. I thought we’d start the morning with some retail therapy and then get some lunch followed by a trip to the spa for mani/pedis and facials. How does that sound?”

Faith smiled broadly at her, “That sounds great, mom.”

Mom? Oh crap, warning bells were going off in my head, and every part of me was screaming, ‘danger Will Robinson, danger’. I didn’t know the details around why Ryder had legal guardianship, but I knew that he wasn’t a fan of her mother. Anytime Faith brought up her name, he found a way to either excuse himself or change the subject. He tried to hide the rage on his face, but I always saw it. This made me think that this was an unauthorized visit, which meant Ryder would kick my ass if I didn’t intervene, but I needed to wait until the right time.

Her mother smiled back at her, but it didn’t seem as genuine as her daughters, “Let’s go upstairs to do your hair, and you can tell me all about what’s going on in your life.”

Faith ran a hand through her ponytail, “My hair is done.”

I watched as the woman pulled the elastic out of Faith’s hair and started to style it with her fingers, “But you look so beautiful with your hair down.”

I saw red when I finally figured out what she was doing. She was parting her hair in a way that covered her cochlear implant. I wanted to go and grab her skanky hand and tear it off.

Faith finally seemed to figure out what she was doing too and swatted her hand away, “Mom, I thought we were past this.”

“Don’t sass me, Faith”, Her mother reprimanded her, “I just want you to look your best.”

“Why?” Faith countered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“If you must know, we are meeting someone for lunch. I wanted to wait until then to tell you the good news, but if you insist on being a brat about it.” She growled, holding out her left hand and showing off an engagement ring with a very large diamond. “I met someone sweetheart, and he asked me to marry him. His name is Henry, and he’s a French Count, can you believe it. He was coming to the States for a visit and thought it would be a good chance to meet you. I have told him all about you…”

“Let me guess.” Faith interrupted her, her voice harsh, “Everything apart from the fact that you abandoned me and the fact that I am deaf without the aid of a medical device.”

Her mother sighed, “Don’t ruin this for me, Faith. I am finally happy after all of this time. Just do me this one favor, let’s have some fun shopping and then we can have a nice lunch with Henry before going to the spa. I am just asking you to do this one thing for me. You own me that much.”

“I think you should leave now,” I advised, stepping out of my hiding, knowing if I didn’t intercede now, Faith was going to blow.

The woman looked me up and down, a look of disdain on her face, “My name is Tiffany Masters. I’m Faith’s mother. This is a conversation between my daughter and me and does not need any comments from the help.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself from bitch slapping this woman into the fiery depths of hell. The only thing that had saved her so far was that Faith was here, but even that wasn’t going to save herself for much longer.

“Mom, this is Ryder’s girlfriend, Keegan.” Faith told her.

A small smirk appeared on Tiffany’s face, “Wow, someone finally managed to get Ryder to settle down. You must have a pussy filled with magic dust to keep that boy interested for more than the night. Or do you let him tap that ass of yours too to seal the deal? I hear that can be a real man-pleaser.”

Come on, Keegan, she’s trying to provoke you, don’t bite, I kept telling myself. Don’t give the cow the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. I ignored her and turned my attention to Faith moving to sign language.

*Are you okay? Do you want to go with her? Because no offence, but I’m ready to make a mess of that perfectly made-up face.*

*Not really, I thought she was here to spend time with me when all she wants to do is play the doting mother in front of her new man. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have believed her.*

Tiffany cleared her throat, “Excuse me. It’s rude to talk in front of something in a language they can not understand.”

“Well, maybe if you actually cared for your daughter at all, instead of pretending to be a good mother, you might have bothered to learn the language that she relies on.” I berated her, “Maybe if you were a good mother, you wouldn’t use such vulgar language in front of your child. And maybe, just maybe, you better back the fuck off and leave this house before I call security to drag you away.”

She placed a perfectly manicured hand over her chest, “Faith, are you going to let her speak to me that way?”

“Just go, mom,” Faith begged, sniffing back her tears.

Without another word, her mother spun on her heels and stomped all the way back to her Mercedes. I watched carefully as she drove off down the driveway. I had to assume Faith gave her the code for Ryder’s gate. Unfortunately, he was the only one who could change it, so instead, I called the security guards that looked after the entire estate to let them know that that woman was not welcome back on the estate without Ryder’s explicit permission.

Once I was finished with them, I turned my attention to Faith. She looked like she was going to break down any second. The poor thing. I hated how much alike our formative years were. We both had one parent who died, and the other didn’t give a rats ass about us unless we could help them with something.

“Are you going to tell Ryder?” She asked quietly, unable to bring herself to look at me.

“No, I’m not.” I advised her, giving her a little hope before snatching it away, “Because you are. But that is for a later time, right now I want you to get ready because we are going out. She isn’t off the estate yet, and I don’t like the idea of you being here alone until the gate code is changed. So you’re coming out with me.”

My greasy breakfast and coffee would just have to wait. This was more important.