“That was the best pizza I’ve ever had,” Lucah said, folding his hands on his stomach and leaning back.
“Food always tastes better when you’re really hungry,” I said, trying to figure out if I could get up from the couch.
“Yes it does. But still. We should probably get back.” He actually made it to his feet this time.
“Um, you might want to put some pants on first. And maybe a shirt,” I said as he pulled me up as well. I’d just thrown a robe on when I got out of the shower, so I had to actually get dressed.
What seemed like hours later, but was only a few minutes, we were dressed and heading back to the hospital.
“Will you stay the entire night again?” I said.
“I think I should, at least until they release him, which will probably be tomorrow. And speaking of that, I need to ask you something. I’ve been thinking about it all day, but I wanted to ask you before we make any final arrangements.” I waited as we rode down the elevator to the first floor.
“And what is that?”
His eyes watched the numbers go down instead of looking at my face. “I, uh, want Ryder to move in with us.”
My jaw hit the floor. Or at least close to it.
“I just don’t think we should send him back where he was, wherever that was. The people he was living with haven’t even bothered to call, or check in on him even though they knew that he was in the hospital. Plus, they’re part of the problem. We talked today, and he told me that he’s been trying to get off drugs for a while now, but they were always high, so it wasn’t the best environment for him to quit in. And I feel partially responsible for what happened. For not being there for him.” I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but I didn’t think that was going to get me anywhere. I got over my initial shock pretty damn fast.
“Well, we have an extra bedroom,” I responded, because that was the best thing I could think of to say.
“Are you serious? You’re okay with this?” The elevator opened to the ground floor, and he moved to get out. He was looking at me as if I’d just handed him a check for ten million dollars.
“If Ryder is up for it, we have the space, so of course. He’s your family, and so he’s part of my family. You’ve done a lot for me, and for Sloane.” He opened his mouth and then closed it, at a loss for words. Then he grabbed my face and kissed me fiercely. We hadn’t kissed like that since the situation started with Ryder, and I’d missed it, even though it had been less than two days.
“I love you so much that I can’t breathe sometimes. How did I find you?” His thumbs skimmed my cheeks and he smiled so big, I thought his face might crack. I was smiling too.
“eBay.”
He leaned forward once more and kissed each cheek and then the tip of my nose and the middle of my forehead.
“It’ll take some getting used to, having him around, but it will only be temporary. I’ll get him set up with his own place, and get his ass employed and he’s going to get his shit together whether he wants to or not. And then we can go about our merry way.”
The last part made me laugh as I imagined Lucah and I skipping through a field of wildflowers.
“Now we just have to break it to Ryder.” Lucah said as he hailed a cab.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to be thrilled about it.”
That was an understatement.
~*~*~
“You are fucking kidding me!” Ryder said when Lucah pitched him the idea. We’d stopped at Ryder’s favorite taco place to pick up a bunch of tacos to soften the blow, but it didn’t really work. He’d known something was up. Sloane had gone to make a few phone calls, and April and Tate were out in the hallway talking about something kid-related.
“I am not moving in with you. I’m not some stupid kid. I’m an adult. I have my own fucking life.” His face was getting red, but so was Lucah’s.
“Yeah, you do Ryder, and look where you ended up. In the fucking hospital. You can’t keep living this way, and I will be damned if I’m going to let you fuck your life up any more than you already have. What would Mom and Dad think?”
There was a charged silence after Lucah’s outburst. The two men were nearly shaking, they were so worked up. I was torn between thinking that I should leave them to it, and staying to make sure they didn’t get into it. On the plus side, we were already in a hospital.
I stayed.
The rage simmered and I thought it was going to explode, but it didn’t. Ryder looked away from Lucah and out the window.
“I’m not trying to punish you, Ryder. I’m fucking trying to keep you alive. And like it or not, I’m all you’ve got. Me and Tate. I can’t lose any more of my family, I can’t. Don’t make me have to.” Lucah’s voice went from loud to soft and intense. Ryder kept glaring out the window, but I could tell that he was fighting a losing battle. He might be a grown man, but he was still Lucah’s little brother. Something like that didn’t change, no matter how old you got.