I knew I’d been shameless when it came to trying to get him to be a part of my life. And he’d been pretty shameless himself, although that was before his overdose. Before he started trying to turn his life around.
When I’d first met him, I hadn’t known about his substance abuse and depression. I told myself it probably wasn’t that bad. But then he’d overdosed on medication and had ended up in the hospital. He hadn’t been trying to kill himself, but still. Ryder had landed in therapy and Lucah had started watching every little thing he did so he wouldn’t backslide.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I said, and the words made my stomach turn again, and it wasn’t from the hangover.
“Good. I was hoping you’d be okay with that. You understand, right? When I’m around you . . . I want to make bad decisions. That’s not your fault, it’s just the way things are.” It sure sounded like it was my fault. But I kept my mouth shut. This wasn’t about me. This was about Ryder getting his shit together. Maybe once he did that . . .
Maybe.
“I know, I know. It wasn’t a really good decision on my part either. I’ve got so much going on with my new lingerie line and fashion show coming up, so I really don’t have time for distractions either.” Ryder Blythe was so much more than a mere distraction. That was like calling a hurricane a little bit of wind and rain.
“So, I guess I’ll see you in a few days, then? Lucah will want me at dinner so I can give him my progress report and watch me eat all my vegetables.” He was trying to make light of it, but that wasn’t really going to help. Not being able to even be friends with him was going to suck majorly.
“Better eat your Brussels sprouts,” I said, trying to keep up with the joke.
“Yeah. Or else he’s going to beat my ass.” I’d like to see Lucah try. He was in pretty good shape, but Ryder had weight and muscle mass on his side. Their other brother, Tate, was the scrawniest one of the three, and he wasn’t even that scrawny. There were some damn good genes in that pool.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll just see you around, then?” I said.
“Guess so.”
He hung up and I set my phone down on the kitchen counter. Ryder and I were over before we’d even started.
A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I glanced out the peephole to confirm who I thought was on the other side.
I unlocked the door and let Rory in. She still looked tired.
“Hey,” she said. “I just wanted to come over and see if we’re good? Lucah is still really upset, but I didn’t want you to think I shared all his views.” I knew she didn’t feel the same, but it was nice to hear it anyway.
“No, I know. It’s just such a weird situation. Ryder being your boyfriend’s brother and everything.” It was a complete mess.
She sat down at the breakfast bar and slumped over. “It is weird. The only way it would be weirder is if Tate and Marisol hooked up. Not that that would ever happen, seeing as how Tate is happily married and Marisol is definitely with Fin now.” Once upon a time, Rory’s parents had wanted her to be with Fin, the son of one of their friends, but we’d set him up with our friend Marisol instead. Somehow it had worked out.
“No, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I agreed.
“So, you want to talk about it?”
I thought about that for a minute, and then shook my head. “Not really. There’s not much to talk about. We got drunk and got naked and fell into bed together. I really don’t think there was any sex, not that I’d remember it anyway. And Ryder has already called and said that we can’t even be friends right now, so you can tell Mr. Ginger that he got what he wanted.” I tried not to sound bitter, but I couldn’t help it. I was bitter.
“Hey, that’s not what he wants. He’s just so worried about Ryder. You should have seen him when he found out. It’s just . . . not a good time right now for this, Sloane. It’s just not.” Rory was going through her own crisis right now at work and this on top of that was probably driving her over the edge.
“Okay, fine. Message received,” I said.
She gave me a tired smile. “Good. So, on to other matters, I wanted to do something for Lucah to celebrate our pre-engagement.” She looked down at Lucah’s mother’s class ring, which adorned one of her fingers. The ruby glinted in the light. He’d given it to her as sort of a promise ring. They may as well be engaged for real. Those two were definitely headed for the altar.
“Uh huh. Go on,” I said, pulling down pots and pans to make dinner. I didn’t feel like doing anything elaborate, so I was going to stick to steak and potatoes and a salad.
“And I was thinking you could make me something to put under my dress? Something sexy?” I’d made plenty of sexy things for Rory already. Fortunately, she didn’t mind being my lingerie test subject. Neither did Marisol, who I’d also used as a human model.
“I can do you one better. How about I make you a dress with underthings to match?”
Her eyes lit up. “You could do that?”
I gave her a withering look. “Babe, when it comes to fabric, I can make just about anything.” That wasn’t being cocky, it was simply stating a fact. I was only good at a few things, and making clothes was one of them.
“I know you can. I do not doubt your skills in the slightest. I just didn’t think you’d have time,” Rory said.
I wasn’t lying to Ryder when I said I had a lot going on. I did. I just wanted him to be a part of that.