Page 137 of Almost Ours
Reid was back. And he was holding a gun.
My breath hitched. The world shrank to the black barrel, to Reid’s finger hovering over the trigger. A cold, paralyzing fear wrapped around my ribs, squeezing the air from my lungs.
Don’t panic.
Reid’s eyes flicked between me and Ryan, wild and unfocused. He lifted the gun slightly, pointing it straight at me.
“Don’t youdaremove another step,” he hissed.
Ryan froze. His hands half-raised, his entire body rigid, like he was one second away from lunging. My pulse roared in my ears.
“Sit down,” Reid jerked the gun toward the couch, voice sharp, vibrating with barely restrained rage.
Ryan didn’t move right away. His jaw clenched, tension radiating from every inch ofhim. Slowly, he obeyed, lowering himself onto the couch with controlled precision. Before he sat fully, he turned his head, locking eyes with me.
He didn’t speak, but I knew what he was asking:Are you okay?
I couldn’t answer. Could barely breathe. I just willed him–please, just listen. Don’t push him. Stay alive.
Reid’s hand trembled slightly as he waved the gun, pacing like a caged animal. His breaths were ragged, uneven. Then his attention snapped to Ryan, his face twisting in rage.
“She’s probably told you all kinds of shit about me, hasn’t she?” he spat. “About what a monster I am? How awful I was to her?” His voice climbed, sharp and bitter. “Like I didn’t do everything for her! Like I didn’t give her everything she needed!”
He whirled, whipping the gun in my direction, though his eyes stayed on Ryan. “I worked my ass off for her! And for what? So she could turn around and play the victim?” His voice cracked. “Run off and shack up with some other guy like I’m nothing?”
His hand shook harder now. He was unraveling. His chest heaved with every breath. “You don’t know her like I do,” he continued, voice sliding into something almost pleading. “She’s a liar, man. She’ll tell you whatever you want to hear, make herself look like some saint while I’m the bad guy. But she doesn’t get to erase me. She doesn’t get to throw me away.”
Ryan hadn’t moved. Hadn’t blinked. His entire body was taught, coiled tight like a spring waiting to snap.
“She thinks she’s better than me now, huh?” Reid sneered. “She always thought she was better than me. Like I didn’t put food on the table. Like I didn’t keep her in line when she needed it.”
A sickening chill rolled through me.
“She needed me,” Reid muttered. “She still does.”
Then he turned, stepping closer, gesturing wildly with the gun. His lips curled. “She’s just a selfish, ungrateful little–”
“That’s enough.”
Ryan’s voice sliced through the air like a blade. Low. Firm. Unshakable.
Reid’s head snapped toward him, his expression darkening. “What did you just say to me?”
Ryan lifted his gaze, calm despite the blood trailing down his temple.
“You heard me.” His voice didn’t waver. Didn’t flinch. “You don’t get to stand here and blame her for your mistakes.” A beat of silence. Then, quieter, sharper– “Harper’s stronger than you’ll ever be.”
Reid let out a roar of pure fury and lunged, slamming the butt of the gun into Ryan’s face.
I screamed.
Ryan’s head snapped to the side, blood splattering against his jaw. He didn’t even react. He slowly turned back to Reid, eyes darkening with something unreadable. Something lethal. Blood dripped from his split lip. But he stared. Steady. Unmoving. Unshaken.
“Shut the hell up!” Reid bellowed, his voice cracking. “You don’t know anything!”
The gun wavered in his grasp. His breaths were erratic now. Desperate.
And Ryan?
