Page 31 of Eggnog and Edging
Ryker wraps his arm around Starla as they step into the entertainment room.
"Hey, Dad, I want to explain." Starla speaks for herself, which isn’t really a surprise. I step to her other side and put my arm around her.
“This will make it easier.” He doesn't look at us. Just shoves three drinks across the bar. “A peace offering.” Anger is gone from his tone, replaced with frustration, and maybe hurt. Interesting.
With any luck, Christmas won’t be totally ruined.
I step forward, grab the drinks, and return to Ryker and Starla. “Thanks.”
Starla says. "No father wants to see what you walked in on, and no daughter wants her father to walk in on any type of intimate relationship. So I'd like to ask that we never speak of that again.”
“Agreed.”
“Please believe me when I say that this thing between us was brewing long before they won me in the auction."
"That explains it. I knew you all lied to me, and I hated that I drove the people I care about to doing that." Ross raises hisvoice, causing Starla to flinch. I get where she was going with that, but it didn’t come out quite right.
I tighten my grip around her and follow her lead. "I left poker night because I realized Starla had snuck out. It was obvious where she would have gone. Long story short, I went to the auction, and because she’s a consenting adult, it was clear that the easiest way to protect her was to win her."
"Protect her? Is that what you were doing?"
Starla squirms. "Dad."
He ducks his head and holds his hands up.
Ryker adds, "I realized what Cullen had done and talked to him about winning her for the both of us."
"She's like a daughter to you, Cullen, and she's your sister, Ryker."
I don’t fault him for struggling to accept this, but at least he’s talking. I say, "The important word islike, because she's not my daughter, Ross. She'syourdaughter, and you've raised an incredible woman."
Ryker jumps in, "And she'slikea sister to me. She's my stepsister, no blood relationship. We were only connected by your marriage to my mom, a legal arrangement between our parents, and that doesn't even exist anymore.”
“We all tried to resist our feelings, Dad.”
Ryker laughs. “What happened to that pesky little sister who wanted me to have tea parties and play with her Easy Bake Oven?"
Starla chuckles.
Ross finally makes eye contact. "I just don't get it. There are people you can have feelings for and there are people you can't."
"Those aren’t actually rules, Dad. They're not mine, they're not Cullen's, and they're not Ryker's. We don’t get to control our hearts.”
Silence sets in while he pours himself another drink.
“I can’t imagine how hard this is for you, Ross. You’ve fallen head over heels twice and got your heart broken both times. Love can be a bitch.”
Ross scoffs and sets his glass on the bar with a little too much strength.
Ryker whispers, “Where is this headed?”
“All I’m saying is that, love is a leap of faith. No one knows how it will end, we just know how it feels when we’re in it. And Ross, the three of us are in love.”
“Three of you? In love?”
Ryker says, “It’s not something I would have asked for, but I realized that with two of us to provide for Starla, she’s that much safer.”
Starla steers the conversation in a new direction. “It’s going to take all of us some time to get used to this, but I promise, if you'll knock before you come in a room, you never have to see any PDAs between us again."
