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“It looks like you did with Rebel Sports and football.”
“Homework club has been invaluable, too. It allows me to focus on work, knowing school is covered.”
“And you shouldn’t feel guilty about that.” I sensed that he did.
He studied me, and I shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
I wondered what he saw. A girl who was lost, and never found her way?
His gaze was assessing. “I’m sorry. I talked a lot about Corey today.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind. I like him.”
His gaze locked on mine. “You do, don’t you?”
I nodded. “He’s a good kid.”
“He is, but I worry he’ll be labeled as a troublemaker.”
“Anyone who does that doesn’t need to be in your life.”
A slow smile spread over Ryan’s face. “You sound pretty confident about that.”
“No one should label a child a troublemaker.” I remembered the parents who’d look at me with pity and talk about how I was the little girl whose mother had abandoned her.
The smile slid off his face.
I wanted to be closer to him, but the table was between us. Instead, I asked softly, “Were you?”
He slowly lifted his gaze to meet mine. “My parents were the worst.”
I nodded. That’s what I would have guessed.
His upper lip pulled back in a sneer. “My dad didn’t waste his time on troublemakers. My older brother was doing everything they were proud of, so they focused on him.”
I reached over, touching the top of his hand. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”
He raised a brow. “They weren’t wrong.”
“Your behavior may not have been the best, but their focus on what you should be doing probably made it worse.”
He smiled wryly. “That sounds about right. I was a little shit back then.”
I shook my head. “You didn’t have anyone guiding you like Corey does. He’s lucky. He has you, Jake, and Reid.”
He tipped his head toward me. “And you.”
Goose bumps skated over my skin. “Like I said, he’s lucky. He’s going to be okay, and so are you.”
Ryan’s face smoothed out, and he winked at me, effectively lightening the mood. “We’re both lucky to have you back in my life. Then there’s Jake. Without him, I wouldn’t co-own a garage.”
Dropping Jake’s name in the conversation cooled the heat that erupted through my body from our shared moment. “You can’t know that you wouldn’t own your own business without Jake.”
“I never would have made that leap. Mainly because I wasn’t happy living near Tiffany. I hadn’t met anyone I trusted enough to open a business with.”
“Maybe returning to Annapolis was meant to be.”
“Maybe.” He tipped back his beer.
