He slept in the clubhouse again. One arm thrown over his eyes to shield them from the fluorescent lights, one leg hanging off the couch. The activities from the night before after the vote, left Ryder so drunk that he could barely make it to the couch in the common space of the clubhouse without falling on himself. He should be happy though, right? He got promoted. Ryder James Aeron was now the Vice President of an MC; God, even to him that was a terrifying thought. But everytime he’s reminded of his new position, there’s a feeling in his heart that could only be explained as the rug being pulled out from under him. This was the last straw. There would be no more Rowan, Andy or even Lettie, anymore. While he knew this day would come someday, and he knew there was no one to blame but himself and his actions, he still felt lost.
A huge part of the redhead wanted to just crawl into the room he declared as his own in the clubhouse and not get out of bed for a few days. And honestly, he was about to. Until he remembered that now he had a responsibility to the club. He had to work; and working today meant meeting with Seth to discuss details. So instead of bed, Ryder found himself dragging his feet into the shower, coming out twenty minutes later hair still wet, head still aching and in the clothes from the night before.
The new Trojan President was waiting for him. Nodding a little bit at Seth, Ryder pulled himself up into a stool, taking the bottle offered to him and just holding it in his hands. Right to business; Ryder could respect that. The younger man shook his head “Ford and I will be fine.” He snorted, knowing that their fights were on the intense side before, but also the ginger met Seth in the ring multiple times before so it wasn’t anything new. It was the comment about him having anyone that rocked Ryder to his core. Choking a little on the beer he was taking a sip of, he only had to think for a moment.
“Adrian. Got no one else.” He said, tracing condensation circles on the worn wood of the bar. He didn’t want to talk about his personal life anymore; and as he wracked his brain for a subject change, he thought of something. “You gotta tell me about that woman from the fair now though.” Ryder said, knowing Seth wouldn’t like it but he continued anyway. “If I saw you, then they mighta seen you and they might try to use her against you. Is she someone we need to protect?”
Seth perked an eyebrow at Ryder, intrigued by his tired appearance. They’d had a great time at the party, the night before, but Seth had ultimately left before the party was completely over. Kids had school in the morning and Seth wanted to shoot a text off to Emmeline to make sure she wasn’t in the middle of battling her ex-husband. He’d been around town and Seth hated knowing he couldn’t necessarily stop the man from terrorizing the woman and her daughter. Although Beth knew very little about the situation. Still, the party must’ve been something to have Ryder looking half-asleep at the table. And he’d still trust that the younger man was enough in the right state of mind to give off an agreement like that. Ford and Ryder weren’t friends but as long as they could work together, no one was gonna have to fight. Not yet anyway. Although Seth can already imagine himself yelling at the idiots in the Club. He just hoped it wasn’t his right hands. “Glad to hear that,” Seth said, checking off the item off his list with his pen.
“You want harness boy protected?” Seth snorts, shaking his head for a moment in his laughter. “Whatever you say, firecrotch,” he shrugged, making a mental note. Ryder may not have a lot of family or friends unaffiliated with the Club but Seth can remember a time when Ryder had been close to the Thanes. He doesn’t know how that’s going but he wasn’t completely oblivious to the others around him when he was the Primordial vice president. Seth doesn’t judge Ryder on his limited protection orders, it was probably better that way. The less you had to lose, the better suited you were for the Club, was the harsh truth. “I’ll talk to Ford later, see if he has any but I don’t think that kid’s got anything besides the Club,” Seth admitted, trying to remember to be honest as they moved forward.
However, the comment about Emmeline had Seth hesitant. He hates to share her story for her and really, what the fuck were they? They were friends… Seth is hoping to sleep with her… Seth is thinking his dumb ass likes her a bit too much for it to be just a one night stand now. And it’s obvious by the way he’s made himself available for her, spending the night with her to protect her, teaching her how to shoot, texting her to make sure everything’s okay and that she’d checked the locks. Seth looked down at his list, this conversation had not made the docket but he knew he had to answer now because Ryder was right, Seth could be putting Emmeline in more danger now that he was around her more. Looking back up, Seth moves his glasses to his head to look at Ryder, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “Em is a friend. She’s in a tough spot right now and goin’ through some shit. I’m helpin’ her out as a friend. She’s got a kid— a cute one— so I’m lookin’ out for them right now. That enough or you want me to tell you her favorite fuckin’ color?” he explained, feeling compelled to snap at Ryder at the end. “She’s under my protection.”
Seth shakes his head, hating that Emmeline has to be involved in any of this at all, but he pulls his glasses back down to look at the list. “Next item, unless you wanna tell me about your first kiss with harness boy or some shit I don’t care about, is getting back at the Primordials for Kane’s Tootsie Pop situation. I’m going with ‘no’ on it but feel free to disagree and run us into the ground,” Seth smirked, sarcastically. His tone had changed since Ryder brought up Emmeline, he knew but he didn’t stop it. He was annoyed by the ginger’s need to know about her. “But I’m guessin’ you’re fine with it. Question is, we gonna have to worry ‘bout Iz? She gonna do somethin’ stupid?”
