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“Goddammit, Ryder! What did you do?”
“Me? I didn’t do a damn thing. No, I take that back,” I add with a growl. “I tried to get him to enroll in a high school nearby. God forbid he should make something of his life.” She doesn’t need to know the rest. About the texts and how his bullshit almost ruined a stranger’s life. I’m not sure I could handle it right now.
She snorts. “Well, it’s no wonder he left.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s obvious. You should know by now, Pete doesn’t like having to follow the rules.”
“Well, that’s too damn bad, isn’t it?”
“It’s just… There are certain ways to handle him. I thought you knew that by now. That’s the entire reason I sent him out there with you, because you always knew how to handle him. If you want him around, you have to do what he wants.”
I swear, I feel like I’m living in some weird fever dream right now. “Yeah, things have changed. He doesn’t get to sit around my house like a bum. And I thought you would be on my side.”
“Sure, I’m on your side,” she mutters. “You made him run away. Congratulations. Way to go.”
That’s it. I have to end the call before I say something I can’t take back.
He’s gone, and I don’t have the first clue how to find him. I don’t want to see him turn out like one more statistic. But there’s only so much I can do, too. He made it pretty damn clear he didn’tsee any use in meeting me halfway. I love the kid, but now I understand that old saying about leading a horse to water. I couldn’t make him drink.
At least I have the rest of the night to look forward to… even if the idea of getting physical is out of the question.
Life just keeps getting better.
“What are you going to do?”Harlow looks and sounds as sweet and concerned as she always is when one of us has a problem. I should know better by now than to think she would ever react any other way, but it still surprises me a little.
And I’m not the only one. “No offense to Ryder, but what the hell do you care what that little shit does?” It’s pretty clear how Ash feels about the situation, sitting there with his arms folded, glaring at me from across his kitchen table where our takeout containers are spread out.
“He’s still a kid,” she reminds him. “Hell, his brain is still developing at his age. People that age make snap decisions based on how they feel right then in the moment.” When he rolls his eyes, she smirks. “What? You never made a split second decision when you were a kid that you regretted later on?”
“I would like to hear this one.” Somehow, Soren still manages to crack a joke.
“No comment,” Ash mutters before picking up a dumpling with his chopsticks. “I’m not in the mood to go through my history.”
“Thanks for being supportive,” I tell her, “but there’s only so much I can defend him for. I love the kid, I do. But I can’t defend somebody who wouldn’t even apologize for what he did. I’m seeing him through new eyes now, and I don’t like it.”
“He’s at a weird age,” Soren muses as he fishes through a container of lo mein. “When you think you’re hot shit, even though you have no proof of it. And it’s a whole other world out here. He must feel overwhelmed.”
“I just hope he comes to his senses before he gets into real trouble.”
There’s something else, something I’m ashamed to say aloud. Part of me is glad he’s gone. It makes me a terrible person to think something like that, but I can’t pretend there’s not relief in knowing I don’t have to look at him right now. I’m still too pissed off, not to mention confused. What did I ever do to him but try to be a good brother?
“Let’s talk about you.” Because I would always rather talk about Harlow than just about anything else. “So you’re back. And that means we have to walk around with blue balls for the rest of the season.”
“Wow. What a sweet way of putting it.”
“I have no intention of suffering from blue balls.” Soren winks at Harlow, moving his eyebrows up and down. “Not when I’ve got a good imagination and a strong right hand.”
“Charming. So charming. I sure did miss hanging out with you guys.” Her laughter dies quickly and she looks around at the three of us. “I really did, you know. No joke. I’ve missed this. And I’m sorry I was so absent.”
“You had your reasons.”
“And no offense,” Ash adds with a smirk, “but you weren’t, like, super fun to hang out with.”
“I didn’t ask you to stop by.”
“I didn’t know I was going to be ruining the murder marathon you had going on.”
