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“How come he gets that treatment and you’re all up in my face?” Sawyer asked when she went to hug her other son. Ryder fell into her and rested his chin on her shoulder. He winked at Sawyer.
“Because I’m angry with you,” she said, releasing her third born to hustle back into Sawyer’s kitchen.
“I’m angry with him too,” Ryder muttered, then downed the glass of sparkling orange stuff his mom handed him. “Just tell me why again?”
“I did nothing to you,” Sawyer said. “I could eat now, Mom.”
“You talk, and I’ll get your breakfast.”
“What’s he talking about and why?” Ryder asked. His forehead was now resting on the breakfast bar.
“LA, Jolena, and Birdie,” J.D. said, ticking the names off on his fingers.
“About time,” Ryder said to the bench.
“So, when I last saw you in LA before I came here to see you and stayed, you’d just broken up with J Bitch—”
“Love that name,” Ryder said, interrupting J.D.
“And you had a broken arm and black eye, and I was never sure how you’d gotten them. Then suddenly, two weeks later, you were moving back to Lyntacky.”
“You told us that was a cycling accident,” his mom said. “Wasn’t it?”
“No.” Sawyer looked at the people who cared about him. People he’d always tried to protect. Was it time to come clean? Birdie said he needed to move on from Jolena, which he’d thought he’d done, but clearly the scars she’d inflicted still ran deep.
He’d kept his secrets since he’d returned from LA. Let them change him and stop him from living. Which was exactly what he’d accused Birdie of doing. Clearly, she was not the only one hiding.
“This shit has been stewing inside you for too long, bro. You need to let it out if you want to have a future with Birdie… or anyone,” Ryder added when Sawyer shot him a dark look.
“I don’t like spilling my guts,” he said.
“You’re shitting me,” Ryder said.
“Ryder.”
“Sorry, Mom, but Sawyer is the example of a vault. He never talks, and he’s difficult to unlock without manipulation.”
Sawyer exhaled slowly. Could he speak about it? Birdie’s words echoed around in his head again.Let her go.
“I didn’t tell you to protect you, just so we’re clear,” Sawyer said.
“From what?” J.D. demanded.
“We’re big people and strong enough to protect ourselves and you, if need be,” Ryder said, now resting his cheek on the granite so he could look at Sawyer.
“I hadn’t planned on making LA home, but I fell hard for Jolena. Nick and I brought her in to help with marketing when we realized how big we were becoming,” Sawyer said. “We clicked right off and were dating straightaway. Four months later, Jolena moved in with me.”
“Fast-moving for the turtle of the family, it has to be noted,” Ryder said.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. “We’d planned a trip back here to tell you all because we decided to get married.”
“And you didn’t tell us!”
Sawyer winced at his mother’s shriek.
“I was coming home with my fiancée to break the news to you, Mom.”
“I should have known before then,” she snapped. “Clearly, being in a big city meant you lost your manners.”
