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Sitting in Jonah’s kitchen with the two brothers, Marjorie, Melanie, and Jade wasn’t what I’d imagined for this Saturday evening. I was supposed to spend the weekend with Ryan. Of course, I’d been the one to bail. None of this was Ryan’s fault.
“I’m the oldest,” Jonah said. “I’ll handle this.”
“No, that’s not fair,” Talon said. “You and I should both tell him.”
“Look,” I said. “I’m about the farthest thing from a Steel family member sitting here, but I got the hair and I gave it to the lab. This involves me just as much as it involves any of you.”
“Are you saying you want to tell him, Ruby?” Melanie asked.
Shit, no. I didn’t want to tell him. “What I’m saying is—do we really have to tell him at all?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were crap. “I’m sorry. Of course we have to tell him. I just don’t want…”
“What?” Jonah asked.
I closed my eyes and then opened them. “I don’t want to lose him, damn it.”
“None of us want you to lose him,” Jonah said. “You’re the best thing that has happened to Ry in a long time. And we appreciate you getting the sample. Melanie told us how terrible you felt about it, how you refused at first. In fact, Melanie and Jade both thought we should have told Ryan before we even did the test.”
“I agree with them,” I said.
“Then why did you get the hair?”
I sighed. “Because I didn’t want him to get hurt. I thought maybe the test would be negative, and then he’d never have to know. If my involvement could have saved him being hurt at all, I wanted to do it.”
“What are your feelings for Ryan?” Jonah asked.
“Jonah…” Melanie began.
“It’s a fair question,” Jonah said.
“It is a fair question,” I agreed. “But I’m not going to tell you anything about my feelings before I tell Ryan. That’s what’s unfair about it.”
“She’s right,” Jade said, “and both of you guys know it.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jonah said. “I’m being overprotective of Ryan, I guess.”
“Look, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Ryan. That’s why I gave Melanie the hair, if that makes any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Melanie said. “Don’t let these guys rattle you, Roo.” She smiled.
Only Tuck ever called me Roo. It sounded good coming from Melanie, as if we were old friends.
“No one’s rattling me. I just don’t want my involvement in this to be construed the wrong way. If I have a chance of Ryan forgiving me, I need to make it clear that I was trying to avoid hurting him.”
“We’ll make that clear.”
“Yes, you will. And I’ll see to it.”
“What does that mean?” Talon asked.
“It means I want to be with you when you talk to Ryan. I want to tell him I got the hair—” I stopped abruptly. I’d gotten it by accident. It was on my neck after our sweaty encounter. I didn’t really want to explain that to his brothers. “You know what? Never mind. You two talk to him.”
“We don’t have to tell him you gave us the hair, Ruby,” Jonah said. “One of us could have easily gotten it.”
I stood. “No, damn it. No more lies. Tell him where you got it, but tell him why I gave it to you. With the hopes that he could avoid being hurt. Please.”
“We will,” Talon said. “Absolutely.”
