Page 39 of Remade

No words were exchanged. He just nodded with a dip of his chin, then backed off, cleared his throat, and faced Ryan. The two spoke too quietly for me to hear, and Ryan nodded and clapped his brother on the shoulder.

“Lemme just say hey real quick, Squeezy,” I heard someone say quietly. It was Ethan, and it brought my attention to Willow. Fuck—she wasn’t happy here. She looked insanely overwhelmed, and she’d screwed her eyes shut. Ethan readjusted her headphones before he turned to me with a brief smile and extended his hand. “Welcome to the family, kid. I’m Ethan. And whatever Ryan’s told you about anything in life at any point is 50% bullshit.”

“Language, son,” Mary chided, moving over to comfort Willow.

“Yeah, what the fuck, little brother,” Ryan said with a scowl. “Watch your fuckin’ mouth. If anyone’s bullshittin’, it’s you.”

“Ryan.” Mary gave him a look too.

I exhaled a croaky chuckle, sounding like an idiot, and shook Ethan’s hand. “Thank you. Um—” I felt really bad for Willow, so I gestured to her. “We’ll pass our living quarters upstairs if she needs privacy. She can have my room.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Mary replied. “I think that would be best.” She hugged her daughter to her.

“Well, let’s not stand around here and waste away,” Ryan said. “We can head up. I sweet-talked a cafeteria lady into bringing up coffee.”

That sounded good to me. I needed a breather. I needed something to take the pressure off. Also, I really fucking needed Bo.

Ryan took charge and draped an arm around my shoulders on our way to the elevators.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I haven’t unclenched yet,” I mumbled under my breath.

He chuckled.

I sniffled and wiped away the last remnants of my tears, hoping that was the end of it. I already had plans to fall apart like a baby tonight when I was alone. Maybe while Nurse Tina helped Bo in the shower.

Mary asked if she could take a separate elevator with Willow, so I stepped into the car and tapped my ID card, and then I pressed the button for the second floor before I walked out again.

The rest of us piled into the next elevator, and I noticed Darius eyeing his surroundings.

Was it weird for him to be back?

James cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back. “So, the next time you say you’re goin’ off fishin’ for a week…” That was directed at Ryan.

Gray coughed a laugh.

“Like I said, 50% bullshit,” Ethan pointed out. “I bet he planned on pickin’ up a trout or two on the way home.” He did a double take at Ryan, as if he’d just thought of something. “Holy shit, I’m right, aren’t I? When I called you the other day, you said you were on the phone with Madison and couldn’t talk at the moment. You were putting in an order with his uncle, weren’t you?”

At that, Darius let out a gruff laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face.

Who were Madison and his uncle?

Ryan sighed and scratched his eyebrow. “In my defense, I can’t be honest about this side hustle. We all know who our mother is.”

Darius peered around Ethan and gave Ryan a pointed look. “But you don’t need to use my restaurant’s supplier to create an alibi. Find your own fishin’ crew, brother.”

Ryan lifted his brows. “What the fuck? I’m the one who went to high school with him. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only one who’s got my back right now.”

The elevator stopped with perfect timing for Ryan to just stalk out.

If this was the rest of my life, I was never going to complain ever again. They clearly had stellar banter in that family.

James and I were the last to step out, and he sighed heavily.

“This has been my life for decades,” he told me. “Someone’s always off riskin’ their life.”

Oh boy.

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