Always His (Crazed Devotion #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

my eyes as I closed the front door and walked toward the kitchen.
    It had been three days since Ryker kissed me. Three days since I’d seen him and three days of hiding out in my apartment. After my father had seen my eye, it was easy to convince him I needed a few days off. The sad part about it was my eye felt fine; it was my heart that ached.
    “Are you planning on hiding in your apartment for the rest of your life?” I turned around to find Liz holding Victoria on her hip at the other side of the snack bar that separated the kitchen and living room. Tori was licking away on a sucker that was almost as big as her head.
    I ignored Liz and her questions and pointed toward my daughter. “Honestly?”
    “What?” she asked.
    I swear I couldn’t wait until the day she had a child. I was so going to pay her back for all the shit she pulls, without remorse. “A sucker after she just had her bath?”
    “Please, stop being such a downer.” Liz rolled her eyes in a playful manner and pulled a chocolate bar out of her bag. “I could’ve given her this instead.”
    “Don’t you dare,” I threatened, and she smiled even bigger as she bit the edge of the package and tore it with her teeth. I knew the moment Tori’s eyes lit up that there was no stopping her. She had already noticed the candy bar.
    “One of these days I am gonna repay you for all this. I hope you know that.” I turned around and wet a washcloth before I held it out in her direction. “You’re cleaning her up.”
    “I’d be glad to,” she said as she jiggled her hips, causing Tori to bounce. Tori giggled as she alternated between the Hershey bar and the rainbow sucker.
    Something told me she wouldn’t be going to bed in an hour.

    I had just dropped Tori off to May Berefield, Liz and Elle’s mother’s. She had agreed to keep Tori until my dad finished up at the bar.
    Today was the day Liz and I volunteered at the youth center. We did it twice a month, and it was something we both actually enjoyed. Liz was almost finished with her counseling degree and intended to take a full-time position once she graduated, but I loved feeling as if I was helping, even if it was just a little.
    As I was walking up the front walk, I glance over toward the side street and stopped dead in my tracks. I would know that truck anywhere. I had fond memories of nights out by Mitchell Lake with Ryker in the back of that truck.
    I shook off the memories quickly as I continued on toward the youth center. I had hoped he was at the diner across the street or maybe visiting Mr. Parrish at the hardware store, but those hopes were crushed once I pulled open the front door and took a step inside.
    Ryker was out on the basketball court with a group of teenage boys. He appeared as if he had been there for some time because he was all sweaty and winded. He hadn’t noticed I’d entered until the loud bang of the door behind me caught everyone’s attention. He smiled and a few of the boys hollered out their hellos as I walked farther into the building. My gaze locked on Ryker and the tattoos he hadn’t had when he left. His right shoulder was covered with some type of symbol with wording just below. I was still too far away to see the exact details. A second tattoo across the right side of his chest looked as if it was some type of verse.
    “Mouthwatering, isn’t he?” I jumped at the sound of Melanie’s voice. She was the director of the center and was married to the chief of police. She had to have been my father’s age, but she appeared to be years younger. Liz called her a cougar, but I honestly think she was just a harmless flirt.
    I smiled and looked back at Ryker, who had returned to running up and down the court. His basketball shorts hung low on his hips, showing off his tapered waist and toned legs.
    We stood in silence, watching as he moved with grace, his arms flexing as he shot from the three-point line. My body was soon achy from the torture I was putting it