Razing Ryker (Dissonance Book 1) Read online

  Cameron scowled at her. “You’re supposed to say Samantha is crazy and an idiot for taking that spot with Surrendered.”

  “No. You’re an asshole.”

  “Thanks a lot, pal.”

  Greer shrugged. “You came to me because you want the truth. Don’t get mad at me when you get it.”

  “No, I came to you because I wanted pity.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have come to me,” she laughed. “Go to Anna or Bryce if you want a pity party.”

  “Bryce is not comforting.”

  “No, but he loves drama and he loves to sulk. And he loves to hate Eve.”

  “That’s true.”

  “You can’t get mad at Samantha for not hating her. They were friends. Good friends. It’d be like asking me to hate you.”

  “If I did to someone what Eve did to me, you’d have every right to hate me.”

  “But I wouldn’t.”

  “That’s because you’re loyal. And don’t compare us to Eve and Samantha. We’re more than that. We’re family, not friends. We shared shelter and our last bites of food with no idea when the next was coming. The most they’ve ever shared is gossip over a mani-pedi.”

  Greer stopped her stretching to put her hands on his shoulders, pull him close, and press her forehead to his. “I love you. More than anyone. And I think you’re an amazing man and an incredible friend.”

  “And good looking,” he reminded her. “Don’t forget good looking.”

  “Godlike. It’s stunning and distracting. Women swoon at your feet.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But you’re being an asshole.” He growled in annoyance and she shook him, bouncing his head against hers. “Stop being a dick and see it from her side. We all need jobs. No one can afford to be without work. You’re taking this opportunity, she’s taking hers. If you want to keep speaking to her you have to let this slide. You don’t have to be happy for her, but maybe don’t be a dick about it either. Neutral. Switzerland. Everybody loves Switzerland.”

  “They do have great chocolate,” he agreed glumly.

  She tossed him back from her, returning to her warm up. “Took you long enough to tell me you were sleeping with her.”

  He blinked. “I hadn’t realized I had.”

  “Give me a break. I know you. I knew you were fucking her the second you fist bumped her in the bar.”

  “How?!”

  The door to the studio swung open, a middle aged man dressed in workout gear smiling to them all as he stepped inside. Greer stood quickly, swatting at Cameron to get his ass in gear.

  “Because I’m magic,” she told him. “Never forget it.”

  “Hello, everyone! I’m Bryant, Ryker’s choreographer,” the man addressed the room brightly. He lifted a slim CD case, waving it in the air. “I have Ryker’s song selections here. Great stuff. A good mix of his classic songs with some of his contemporary. There’s already choreography built around a lot of this, but since not all of it is mine we’ll be revamping a lot of it.”

  The small crowd of six dancers – two men and four women – chuckled, relaxing into the easy atmosphere the man created. Greer glanced around to take stock of who had arrived.

  Cara from Surrendered wasn’t a surprise since Cameron had just been telling him about Samantha sliding into her spot. Mia, another member of the Rendezvous ensemble, stood at the edge of the crowd making three of them from their show. Only one other guy was there, dark haired and olive skinned looking like the polar opposite of Cameron with his brown hair and fair skin. Next to him was a girl about as tall as Greer and Mia with black hair and ebony skin. Greer couldn’t remember her name but she knew her by reputation. She’d been a star ballerina as a kid but she’d grown too tall, too broad, and the culture forgot about her. She had a solid spot in Incidental Intersection and Greer very much doubted that she’d given it up the way Cara had let her spot slip away.

  “I’m glad you had a chance to meet Ryker at your auditions because he won’t be with us today, but he’ll be here tomorrow and hopefully every day afterward. Personally, I’m hoping he’s working on a surprise for us. He’s left an optional slot in the production.” The man winked with a smile. “Who knows what he may fill with it.”

  He made his way to a small sound system in the corner and put the CD inside. He tucked a remote control into his pocket and spun around to face the mirror.

  “Let’s begin!”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ryker strode down the hallway of the building listening to the sound of his own song building the closer he came to the studio. It was one of his older works. One he wrote when he was fifteen and excited about driving fast cars, kissing pretty girls, and playing Xbox with his dad. He smiled now thinking about the way he’d felt when he wrote that entire album. He was still with Disney then, still a child star and recently recovered from the transition from little boy to young man. It wasn’t long after the concert Grant was so focused on, the one at Christmas in Washington. There’d been snow on the ground. Worship songs on the radio. His mother had been alive.

  His smile faded and his step slowed, his excitement over the rehearsal fading instantly and evaporating into nothing. He hesitated at the door, not sure he wanted to go inside after all. They’d been at it all day while he’d been stuck in meetings with Sarah and conference calls with his label badgering him about officially releasing Internal as a single and making that fuckin’ money, but he’d dug in his heels. He’d told them no until he was blue in the face and finally he’d stormed out and found himself here.

  This concert wasn’t going to fix everything. It might help repair some of the damage done by his time with Lexy and the dark days he’d had after his mother died that stretched into weeks and months and a year, but it wouldn’t fix him. He had to stop hoping it would. What was in him, what was broken and missing, it couldn’t be fixed. And yet here he was drawn and here he was caught hoping. Wishing.

  He heard the sounds of feet on the floor, marching to the beat of his music, and he knew they’d be distracted. He pulled the door open a small crack and peeked in to scan the crowd. To look at the loot he’d stolen from other shows, and as he watched them he realized he was right. This was right. The music he gave Bryant was his but he’d had it tweaked. The music accompanying his lyrics was no longer band music full of guitars, drum, and synth. It was orchestra. It was woodwind and brass.

  It was Broadway.

  It matched his dancers to a T and as he watched them work their magic, he grinned to himself.

  Then his eyes found green and he felt his chest pinch. Greer stood on the opposite side of the group, her eyes focused on Bryant as he spoke but they flickered to his for just a split second. Just long enough for her to smile at him and set his heart into a hammering sprint that felt almost like fear. As his pulse slowed, his body roared.

  She was in skin tight spandex capris and a pink sports bra. That was it. Her toned, tanned body was on display and he watched the steady rhythm of her stomach moving with her breath, her muscles rolling with the motion like waves on the shore. Her breasts filled the tight bra and strained against the material, fighting to be released. And her ass. She jumped into the number with the rest of the crew and when she spun and dipped he could see her ass in the tight black pants with no lines. Either she was in a thong or she wasn’t wearing underwear.

  Coming here was a mistake. No, watching Greer was a mistake. Making eye contact. Sporting wood in the hallway while he peeked between the doors like a perv, that was a mistake.

  “Ryker!” Bryant called excitedly, having spotted him.

  Fuck.

  “You made it,” Bryant continued, smiling and gesturing for him to come inside. “We’re almost finished for the day but we’d love to show you what we’ve got.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed numbly. “Yeah, just give me two seconds. I have to use the restroom and I’ll be right in.”

  “Great!”

  He slid the door shut, wondering
what the hell he was going to do about the half chub sitting big and obvious in his pants. He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face and thought horrible thoughts. Clowns. Puppets, he hated puppets. The Muppets were Satan’s army fresh from hell, he was sure of it. Camping. Horseradish. The flight from Japan to France when they’d hit so much turbulence he’d been convinced they were going to die and he’d almost pissed himself. Bubble wrap.

  He emerged from the bathroom three minutes later with a flaccid dick and a lot of questions about what it was that made him tick.

  “There he is!” Bryant called, coming over to pull Ryker into a half hug.

  The feel of another man’s crotch against his, add that to the list of turnoffs.

  “What’s up, man?” Ryker greeted him, slapping him on the back. He turned to the group he’d put together and waved. “Hi. Thanks for coming. It’s good to see all of you again.”

  “No problem.”

  “Happy to be here.”

  “Thanks for the chance.”

  “Love your music.”

  He absorbed the scattered greetings with a nod, carefully avoiding eye contact with any of them the way he did in front of a crowd of reporters.

  “Do you want to see what we have?” Bryant suggested.

  “I saw. I was, uh, I was stalking you all a little from the hall,” he told them with a small grin. “You look great. Really great. It’s going to be a good show. I’m sorry I wasn’t here today but I’ll be with you tomorrow. I promise.”

  “Well, we’re all wrapped up for today. I think I’ve put them through the wringer enough.” Bryant clapped his hands and addressed the group. “I’ll be sending you all the music you heard today. You’ll get digital copies in your email tonight. Learn it. Practice it. Live it!”

  “Just don’t leak it,” Ryker joked half-heartedly.

  They chuckled quietly, awkwardly. He caught Greer watching him, her lips pinched apologetically. He gave her a slight nod.

  “I have more appointments to get to, but it was good to see you all. Again, thanks for coming,” he told them earnestly. “I know some of you have other engagements that we’re working around and all of you value your time. I understand that and I promise to make every second count.”

  Another scattering of ‘thank yous’ followed him as he left the room, hurrying into the hall and out of the building. He paused on the sidewalk, checking his phone and cursing. Text messages, all from Sarah. All angry. Oh and a missed call from Lexy just to piss him off. He’d made it perfectly clear to her a hundred times that they were through but the girl just wasn’t getting it. Unbelievable.

  “I’ll use Jessa’s laptop to download it, no big deal.”

  “And download it to what?”

  “Don’t start.”

  “Get a phone. Get an iPod. Hell, get a Zune.”

  “Where would I get a Zune? 2008?”

  “They still sell them.”

  “Do they, Cam?” Greer challenged. “Do you they really?”

  “Get something.”

  “I will.”

  “When?”

  Jace turned to find Cameron and Greer walking out of the studio doors and slowing to a stop near him. Greer met his eyes and hers tightened with what he could only interpret as embarrassment.

  “Not today,” she muttered in reply to Cameron’s question.

  Jace nodded to her, their eyes still locked. “You looked amazing up there.”

  She smiled faintly. “Thanks. Bryant’s a good teacher.”

  “He’s also on crack. Don’t let him run you guys into the ground.”

  “He’s a little Energizer Bunny, that’s for sure,” Cameron commented, looking between them as they continued to stare at each other.

  Jace broke away, offering his hand to Cameron. “What’s up, man? Glad you decided to join.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it. Thanks for taking us on.”

  “Lucky to have you.” His eyes pulled back to Greer like gravity had hold of him. “Both of you.”

  “Yeah,” Cameron replied slowly, grinning. “Well, I gotta go.”

  Greer snapped her eyes to his, her face furrowed in confusion. “What? Where?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “It’s why I asked.”

  “I have to go apologize for being an asshole, remember? I have to say the three worst words in the English language.”

  “I was wrong?” Jace guessed.

  Cameron pointed at him. “My man. See, he knows. This is gonna suck.”

  “Well, good luck,” Greer told him as he backed away down the street. “Remember Switzerland.”

  “I’ll even bring chocolates,” he promised. “See ya.”

  Looking at Greer standing on the sidewalk in front of him with her long hair in a loose ponytail, her body encased in skin tight spandex and her white hoody, her face flushed from her workout – a workout she’d done to his music – Jace wondered what the fuck he was doing. He knew what he wanted to be doing, but was it right? Probably not, and it made him want it all the more.

  “Do you have somewhere you have to be?” he asked her.

  She shook her head, shrugging. “Washington in a couple weeks? That’s about it.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “Can I take you to dinner? There’s a restaurant near my hotel that’s insane. I’m hooked on it.” He pulled out his phone. “I can have my car pick us up in a few minutes and—“

  “What about that diner?” she asked, pointing across the street.

  He glanced up, surprised. It was a bit of a dive, not somewhere Lexy or Sarah would ever have set foot in. He looked at Greer skeptically. “You want to eat there?”

  “Why not? It’s right there, you wouldn’t have to call your car. And besides, I don’t think I’m really dressed for anything fancier.”

  “How do you know this restaurant is fancy? Maybe it’s a shithole with really good pasta.”

  “It’s by your hotel. Where are you staying? The Hilton? Four Seasons?” she scoffed. “It’s not a shithole.”

  He grinned. “No, it’s not.”

  “How many stars?”

  “Four.”

  “No.”

  He put his phone away, raising his hands in defeat. “Fair enough. The diner it is.”

  It was terrible. They commiserated over the soggy buns, the dry meat, the rubbery cheese, and the oily French fries until they couldn’t take it anymore. Jace threw a fifty on the table despite Greer’s protests and her multiple attempts to pay for her meal, further confirming his suspicion that she’d asked to eat there because she could afford it. In the end he won and they ran for their lives before their surly waitress could scowl at them again and spill more water on their table.

  “Wow,” Greer breathed when they were finally free of the smoke filled building. “I have regrets.”

  “I think I have food poisoning,” Jace countered.

  She smiled at him, pushing stray strands of her hair out of her face as the wind took hold of them. “You have tetanus at the very least.”

  “I’m up on my shots. I should be in the clear.”

  “That wasn’t beef, was it?”

  “Cows don’t crumble like that.”

  “Ugh,” she shuddered. “Alright, hit me. How many stars?”

  He grinned. “One.”

  “That’s generous,” she chuckled.

  “I had to give them something for having tables. How about you?”

  “Hmm,” she hummed thoughtfully, looking back at the building. “Comparing it to some other places I’ve eaten, I’ve gotta give it a two.”

  “Bullshit!” he cried, feeling a full smile stretch his face in unfamiliar ways. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “No!” he cried, throwing his head back and howling mournfully to the sky. Greer’s full laugh fell around him like rain, lingering in the air and in his ears. He looked back to her, the smile still tight on his lips
and a feeling in his chest that he couldn’t ignore. “You have to let me fix that.”

  Her eyes flashed with uncertainty. “No,” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. “That’s okay. I’m okay.”

  “Your call,” he agreed, backing off immediately. He understood this reaction, he’d seen it before. His money put people off sometimes. Not everyone wanted to be thrown into his wealthy world and he had trouble knowing where the lines were. He didn’t know what it was to be middle class or lower. Hell, he didn’t even remember upper-middle class. Things that seemed so simple to him were struggles to others. His every day was the average person’s luxury or dream come true. He was a winning lottery ticket. He was the one percent.

  And it was fucking lonely at the top.

  “It’s going to be dark soon,” Ryker commented, glancing around as lights came on up and down the street. He caught her tight eyes and offered his arm. “Can I walk you home?”

  She grinned, her face relaxing. “That’d be nice, thanks.”

  She hesitantly put her arm through his and guided him in the right direction. They walked in silence, their feet falling in time with each other creating a rhythm Ryker could feel in his blood. One he’d remember forever.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Greer!” Jessa called into the apartment. “You have a delivery! You gotta sign for it.”

  “I have what?” she asked, coming out of the kitchen and drying her hands on a worn gray towel.

  Jessa pointed to the young courier waiting impatiently in the hall. He thrust the rectangular package forward and jangled his clipboard.

  “I need a signature from Greer Weston,” he demanded.

  She hurried forward and took the clipboard, eyeing the package suspiciously without taking it. She scanned the paper in front of her, unsure. “Where do I…”

  “Here.” He tapped the sheet. “On the only open line.”

  She scribbled her name on the line, shoved the clipboard into his chest, and took the offered box. “Thanks so much,” she said sarcastically.

  “Whatever.”

  Greer closed the door hard and threw the locks. “Was I supposed to tip him?”