Love Struck Delusion

Chapter 305 - If only you knew.

Ryker's POV, Twenty minutes later.

This was kinda exciting to me. I was going out with Raptor Voltz and I could confidently say I was his bodyguard for the trip. I felt like I needed to prove something to him by the end of this, but when the truck came to a stop he looked back over at me to ask.

"You ready?"

Smiling back I replied with a slight bit of nervousness to my voice.

"Yeah. Ahhh? Should I be in front of you or behind?"

Opening his door he chuckled a bit before replying back.

"Nether. Nothing is going to happen. This place is pretty laid back from what I remember. Not many people. So just relax and have a good time."

Jumping out and running around the hood of the car, I came right over to his side to watch as his friend got out from the back. He was really nervous. It was clear as day to me he was going to have a lot of problems with this kind of mission we were on. With Raptor pulling out his wallet, I took a chance and got up close to his friend. The fox's attention quickly came to me as I reached out to grab his right hand. The moment I did I urged him happily.

"Come with me."

"What?" He questioned as Raptor was wide eyed and watching as I went on to reply.

"Come with me. I want to see this girl. She's the bartender right? Point her out to me."

Using my small frame, I turned with the fox's hand and began to drag him ahead. Raptor just slowly trailed behind as we began the walk over to the entrance of the bar. When I opened the door the fox begged me out of fear.

"I can walk myself. Let go of me."

"Shush." I snapped back as he widened his eyes and just shut his mouth.

Upon entering the bar, I came to see what Raptor meant when he said this place was low key and quiet. There were only a handful of seats and booths. This place was smaller than Ron's and I thought that alone was crazy. I guess what made it worthwhile was the warm atmosphere it had to it. Very bright interior and more than at least four larger plasma screen tvs going all at once for people to enjoy as they drank.

Looking towards the bar itself, I spotted a pretty nice looking red fox who had a long ponytail. Wearing black leggings and a really nice green crop top, I asked the man I held hostage.

"Is that her?"

With his eyes on her he replied nervously.

"Yeah. That's her."

"She's pretty." I informed him as he gulped. With my heart aching for this man, I didn't even notice Raptor standing between us in due time. Reaching down and handing me a twenty dollar bill he urged me.

"Take this and go get yourself a drink Ryker. I can handle this from here."

"I can help." I told him back as he nodded and begged me.

"For now just let me make the introductions. We want this to go smooth for his first time."

"Shut up." His friend ordered him quietly after.

Letting his hand go I took the money and replied.

"Okay. After you guys then."

Raptor's POV.

Waiting till the little lop was out of the way, I looked back up at Marcus to urge him.

"Come on. Let's go over."

He took a moment to follow me but by then I was already almost at the bar. The few people who were here also sat close by. Two older looking men and a smaller female cat who was maybe a seat over to my right. When I reached the bar she noticed me and let out a faint gasp from being surprised. It was enough to attract our target who stood only a few feet right of her at the sink cleaning a glass. When our eyes locked she gasped.

"Oh my god! It's you!"

Marcus kept to my side like glue as the fox came over to laugh in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you the last time we met! I didn't know!"

"It's fine!" I informed her as she looked at Marcus to ask us in a calmer tone of voice.

"So what brings you two back? Can I get you a drink?"

"Yes please!" Ryker shouted out as she appeared in the space between me and that cat. Jesse smiled as she saw the smaller girl and wondered sweetly.

"What can I get you hon?"

As the rabbit placed her own order and she got to work on making it, I got Marcus down and into a seat. With Jesse distracted I leaned over to ask him.

"Are you good?"

He just nodded and replied.

"I'm good. I just don't know what to say. I've never done this before."

"It's easy." I told him as Jesse finished up to shift her focus back on me.

"What will you have sir?"

"Just a beer if you don't mind. Anything dark I'll take."

"And you?" She asked Marcus who struggled to find his tongue. After a few awkward seconds he replied.

"Ahhh…..whiskey. Whiskey on the rocks."

"Coming right up." She informed us as I chuckled at his choice. Knowing he learned that from me I told him back happily.

"Good choice."

Once we had our drinks Jesse hoovered next to me to wonder.

"Are you even allowed to be out here by yourself sir? I figured the president would have had a security detail with them."

Sipping my drink I replied.

"Maybe when things get bad again for whatever reason, but for now there isn't much of a threat to my life. Especially not when I'm at home here in the middle east."

She seemed to understand what I meant, but I went on to say to her jokingly.

"And I don't really enjoy having no time to myself either. I take my breaks when they come to me."

"You're just…..I just can't believe I had no idea who you were. Shows you how much I watch the news. Hahah."

"Again it's fine. Your name is Jesse right?"

Widening her eyes she replied.

"Yes sir, it is. Wow I can't believe you remembered."

Chuckling I took a step forward with the conversation and went on to tell her.

"I remember some things from time to time. Last time we met you made the impression. Oh! By the way Jesse, I think the last time we spoke I didn't properly introduce my friend here. This is Marcus. He's a good friend of my family."

With her eyes looking over to him, I watched as she reached out to offer her hand. Marcus slowly took it as she said to him with a smile.

"No I don't think I got your name that time either now that he mentions it. Nice to meet you."

Thanks to this asshole, I could now read her mind and body. She was most certainly still interested in his presence, but at the same time she still maintained the restraint of addressing him further than that introduction. I understood pretty fast that it would be extremely difficult for either of them to make the next move. So once their hands disconnected from their exchange, I asked her.

"How are things with you Jesse? Do you spend most of your time bartending these days?"

Nodding her head she replied.

"I'm full time. I work every weekday and I'm off every weekend. So to answer your question; no I don't spend all my time here. I spend my days off either just resting at home or just going out and taking in the city. There is always something fun going on with the war over. People are still celebrating to this day."

I felt the warmth of that realization hit me and with a small blush I looked over to Ryker to find her with a straw in her mouth and her ears in front of her eyes. The one on her left however slowly moved aside and her eyes could be seen looking over Jesse from where she sat. Once she took the straw out of her mouth she looked up at us to add on to the previous statement.

"They sure are. I'm still not even over it yet. It's crazy unbelievable."

"Who are you by the way?" Jesse kindly asked as the rabbit refocused. Moving her ears back she replied.

"I'm Ryker. I'm just a friend of his who wanted to tag along after having such a boring day."

"You're in the army too?" Jesse asked her as we watched the small rabbit nod her head and respond while taking another sip of her drink.

"I'm not part of the ground forces, but I do work in communications. I'm a radio engineer. Joined up earlier in the year."

"You're so brave." Jesse stated as the rabbit chuckled. Looking back to me Jesse then wondered nervously.

"I should know this, but if you don't mind me asking sir, how long have you been in the military?"

Finishing off my beer, I put the empty bottle down to reply.

"Most of my life honestly. I joined up when I was eighteen. That's well before the first war really started."

I wasn't looking to give her the whole story just for the sake of time. Thankfully her eyes looked back to Marcus who she asked sweetly.

"How about you?"

With wide eyes Marcus drew a blank. Ryker was also interested in knowing the answer, but I sensed he was struggling to make a believable story. After a good twenty seconds he replied back.

"It's a long story."

Jesse and Ryker both seemed understanding to his response. Marcus was good at playing the role of a nervous baby. I already knew we were off to a bad start, but at the least Jesse wasn't pushing him much further. Once her eyes had come back to me did I decide to ask her a question.

"So how else is life Jesse? Do you have any family or friends around town?"

Nodding her head she replied.

"My parents live closer to the downtown region of the city. Only a few miles thankfully from here, but as far as friends go, I have my few moments where I can relax with someone from time to time."

"Boyfriend? Girlfriend?" Ryker tagged on as I glanced over to her to see she was smiling it through and through. She knew what she was doing so I just left it be and watched as Jesse took a moment to react surprised. Giving the rabbit a quick laugh she replied back.

"Hahah no nothing like that. I've been single for the last…..hmmmm maybe two years? Probably close to three now, but I blame that on work."

"I feel like you could meet a countless number of gentlemen in this line of work."

With Jesse's eyes giving me a soft stare, I took in her body language as she laughed out.

"I do, but none of them are my type. I like people my size and my species. I'm not really into the others. No offense of course, I just had a bad experience when I was younger and seeing this older echidna. After it was all said and done, I just made a promise to myself that I was sticking to the simple choices in life."

"Understandable." I told her back as she nodded and looked back at Marcus to ask him.

"How about you guys?"

With wide eyes still Marcus replied.

"Ahhhh no. I'm not seeing anyone."

His eyes directed back to me and with that I followed up with my own response.

"I'm currently in the process of having a baby with the woman of my dreams. She's due in less than a month."

Jesse now looked at me with a wide smile and even Ryker jumped at the chance to shout out.

"Really!? Congratulations!"

"Thanks." I replied to her as she then asked me.

"Do you know what you're having?"

Nodding I replied back.

"A girl."

"Hedgehog?" Jesse wondered as I shook my head to state back.

"Wolf." The dice rolled that way for once, but I'm glad they did. I know for a fact she wanted one.

"Do you have a name?" Jesse asked me as I honestly had given it some prior thought. Sitting up in my seat I replied.

"To be honest we're still on the fence about it. I was thinking about calling her Xena or maybe Zara, but she was thinking about either Skylor or Sam. But either way I want her to be happy with the decision we make. So if she wants to name her Sam or something else, I'll go along with it."

"I like Sam." Ryker informed me as I nodded and looked back over to see Jesse watching over Marcus now. Their silence became known. Staring into one another's eyes she leaned up on the counter closest to him to add onto Ryker's comment.

"I like Sam too. Maybe even Samantha? That way depending on how she feels she can fall back onto one side more than the other. It sounds nicer too. Sam Voltz? Samantha Voltz? See?"

Giving her a soft but humble chuckle back, I replied as Ryker was done with her drink by then.

"That's actually a good idea. I might just have to do that if that's the route we go. Because if there is one thing I know I'll want for her as her father, it's that I want her to have more than one option in life. More options than I had."

Jesse was pretty happy considering my reaction towards her opinion. She barely knew me but that didn't matter. With the attention slowly leaving me and fading back onto Marcus, Jesse and him locked eyes once again and without even second guessing she asked him seeing he was clearly shaking.

"Are you okay? You look worried about something."

Marcus was tongue tied and with that was unable to speak back. After a few more seconds I wanted to step in and try to help, but all of that went out the window when Ryker told Jesse the truth. While of course she held nothing back as her emotions kicked into gear, driving her voice upwards.

"He wants to ask you out!"

Everything went silent. I was just staring back at the bunny in shock that she would even be that straightforward. Marcus had gone blue in the face and without a doubt had stopped breathing. Jesse on the other hand widened her eyes to question in his direction.

"What? Really?"

She was looking for an answer from him and without missing a beat Ryker replied.

"Really. He likes you." He told us he met this nice girl once before at the bar, but was too nervous to ask her out because he's never been in that position before. So of course this time around I had to come and meet her. I know this guy too well to believe he's capable of making the move on his own.

"Ryker?" I mumbled back as she was most certainly putting him on blast.

Jesse was nothing but smiles however as she looked back at Ryker to say in a happy voice.

"Is that so? Well….?"

Now her eyes went back to Marcus who she proceeded to ask.

"Is that true?"

The god himself now had to speak on his own behalf. Ryker during this time scooted over to my side to grab my right hand. Pulling me over she whispered.

"Let him."

I couldn't save him even if I wanted too. I already told Marcus he was on his own with this, but this little rabbit took it a step ahead of what we planned to do. With our attention back on him we listened as he replied back carefully so not to seem overly confident.

"I…..I….I mean you're really beautiful and….and I…..I just thought the last time we met you were pretty cool and maybe there would be a chance for us to….?"

I was so focused on what he was saying it had taken my whole body away. Ryker was just happy as hell listening as her crazy plan went into action. With Marcus turning red in the face he went on.

"I was hoping that if I had the chance to see you again, I would be able to ask if you maybe wanted to go somewhere after your done work. I think…..I think it would be fun and hopefully I could get to know you a little more."

He was still having trouble making eye contact and for what I thought was hopeless, I dropped my mouth when Jesse replied.

"I'd like that. Tell you what. I get off in about an hour. If you're still interested I'd have no problem going somewhere. It's a nice night and you seem like a really nice guy. A little nervous, but that's understandable. Not many guys have the balls to ask the bartender out on a date, but I'm glad your friend here did. Do you want another drink?" She asked him as Ryker jumped in to reply.

"Yes please! And thank you!"

Jesse just laughed and got to work on fixing the rabbit another round. During that time she left us alone for a moment. With Marcus breathing heavily I leaned over to whisper to him.

"That went really well. If she only knew."

"Nice guy?" He questioned as I chuckled and patted his side to reply.

"You can still run now."

"I'm not going to run." He told me back defensively as I nodded and quickly fired back happily.

"Well you owe Ryker."

"I owe her a beating." He snickered under his breath as I laughed and sat back up straight as Jesse came back with Ryker's drink. By this point the little rabbit was on her phone and after a second or two she asked me with her two big eyes directing themselves to mine.

"Would you want to come over to my place again Commander? My mom is making a late dinner and you know she'd kill to see you again. Especially since you're the president now."

I could go for her mother's cooking and I knew Zeta wouldn't mind. With the way things are right now she has the house to herself and her sister. I've been needed at the capital for the last few days and as far as she knows I won't be seeing her the rest of the night. So giving her another small smile I wondered back.

"Is your dad making that stew again?"

Jumping in her seat she replied.

"It's the only dish he knows how to make."

Nodding my head with a long smile I replied back calmly.

"Sounds like a plan then. You wanna call ahead and warn them?"

Giving me two wicked eyes, Ryker threw her ears back to reply.

"Absolutely not."

mT Shadow.