“I….”
I waited.
“I knew you,” he said in a rush. “From before.”
I sat up quickly. “You did? How?”
He pushed himself up too, chewing on the inside of his cheek like he was nervous about something. He shook his head, steeling himself for something, and then did the most ridiculous thing. He covered his chest with his hands and said, “Please don’t make my nipples explode!”
I said, “What?”
He blushed and dropped his hands. He looked away again, then back at me, eyes searching for something. “You ever been turned to stone, Sam? It’s an interesting experience to say the least.”
“No. Fucking. Way,” I breathed. “Nox? You’re Nox?”
He shrugged. “In the flesh. Go by Ryan now, in case you didn’t notice.”
“But… but… you were such a dick,” I said, my voice going high. “What in the name of fuck?”
“I was a dick,” he corrected me. “Things change.”
“Um. No. Sometimes, you’re still a dick.”
He scowled at me. “Thanks.”
“How the hell did I not know this?” I asked. I was pretty sure my world felt completely altered.
“I grew up,” he said. “Worked out. Gained muscle. Joined the King’s Army. Got recruited into the knights. Came to the castle after that.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I asked. “At any point?”
He looked a little hurt. “Would you have even given me a chance if you’d known?”
“A chance for what?”
And that seemed to fluster him. “For… just… oh my gods. Sam. I don’t… friendship, okay? Like… or whatever.”
“Or whatever,” I echoed. “So, instead of telling me that you were the guy that stole Mrs. Kirkpatrick’s cloth, you decided to be dashing and immaculate.”
“Maybe?” he said with a wince.
I just stared at him, too many things running through my head, so many things I wanted to say to him. So, of course, I said the thing that mattered the least. “Why did you steal her cloth?”
He rolled his eyes. “I was a teenage asshole from the slums. I stole everything.”
And it hit me. Why my magic had manifested then. Why I’d been able to turn them to stone when I did. Why I’d done magic so complex without ever having done it before. Ryan had been there from the very first. He was my cornerstone, even then. He was the reason I was able to do what I did.
“Holy fucking shit,” I whispered.
“What?” he asked.
“I… don’t….” I shook my head. “I’m just… surprised. Of all the things you could have said, that’s probably the thing I expected the least.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your eyebrows go that high before.”
“It was very shocking,” I assured him. “The most shocking of all. Why now?”
“Why tell you now?”