A faint smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “Your house was like home,” he says. “Luke and Hazel were always welcoming. Noah was like a brother.” His eyes flick toward me. “You were annoying. But in a good way.”
“Glad to know.” I snort softly, then lower my voice. “Well… I’m happy our family could be that for you.”
His smile shifts into something softer. “You remind me of her, you know,” he says suddenly.
I glance over. “Who?”
“Your mom.”
I blink, a little caught off guard.
“In a good way,” he adds quickly. “You’ve got her drive.”
I open my mouth to respond, but he keeps going. “And her inability to sit still.”
“Hey,” I protest weakly. “I can sit still.”
Ryan snorts, giving me a look that clearly saysno you can’t.
“Some people find it annoying,” I say, chuckling. “Jacob used to say he was going to glue me to a chair one day.”
I kick lightly at the pavement, letting out a soft laugh. “Guess he doesn’t have to deal with that anymore.”
Ryan lets out a quiet sigh beside me, shaking his head, like I said something ridiculous.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No,” I say. “Say it.”
He exhales slowly through his nose, like he’s debating whether it’s worth it. “I just don’t get why you care so much about what he thinks.”
“What?” I blink. “I don’t.”
Ryan gives me a look with his eyebrows raised.
“Well,” I add, a little more defensive than I meant to sound, “why do you care?”
“I just never liked him,” he says.
I glance over, surprised. “You didn’t?”
Ryan shrugs slightly as we turn onto my street again, the familiar row of houses appearing ahead. “He was lazy. Never helped around the house. Never seemed grateful.” He pauses for a second. “And he never once bought you flowers.”
That makes me stop for half a second. Why was he even paying attention to that?
“Yeah,” I admit quietly. “I guess you’re right.”
Ryan kicks a pebble along the sidewalk as we reach the path leading up to my porch. “Noah and I used to give him the look whenever he came over.”
“The look?”
“Yeah.” A small smirk tugs at his mouth. “The you-better-treat-her-right-or-you’ll-deal-with-us look.”
I snort. “Maybe he cheated because he was scared of you guys.”
Ryan lets out a low laugh, but it fades quickly. “You never deserved him, Mads,” he says, his voice quieter now. “You shouldn’t care if he’s jealous or whatever he thinks. He’s a pathetic prick.”
