by Maren Lee
“Surprise? You think this is pleasant news? Fuck you. I can’t fucking believe this shit. My kid sister, man. You’re like twenty years older than her. She just broke off her engage— Oh my god! You broke them up!?” Another sudden realization for Jake. Ryan felt like maybe he should start counting them. “Holy shit. I can’t fuckin’ process this. Let me go, Justin. I need to get the fuck outta here.”
“I’ll let you go when we get to the parking lot, man.” Justin started walking him out the door.
Fuck. That did not go down the way he’d planned.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’ve done, Blakesly, but you need to fix it. Later. You wait for Hamilton to leave then you get the hell outta here,” Brenden snapped. “Nobody has time for this bullshit.”
“Yessir.” There was no point in arguing with him.
“I told you it wasn’t going to be good.” Wesson shook his head at him.
“Shut the fuck up, Campbell! I don’t need your shit right now.” Ryan ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Hey, don't shoot the mailman.” Wesson held his hands up.
“Fuck off, Wess.”
“My man. Your forearm?” Smitty asked, his eyebrows raised. “That’s some major huevos in this department.” He shook his head.
Yeah, I should have probably considered that. Ryan turned without saying a word and grabbed his phone to text Katie.
RB: Jake knows. He saw the tattoo and Wess opened his fat mouth. He’s at least figured out we’ve fucked. He’s pissed.
KH: Oh shit.
RB: I’m still alive (obviously), but it ain’t good. Meeting’s over. Heading home for the day.
KH: Fuck. Headed home too. Xoxoxoxo
➰
Katie wasn’t working today, but she’d run into Billings to hit the Cost Plus store. Ryan’s apartment was so bland. If she was going to be staying there, she wanted a few punches of color. It needed to look like a home, whether or not she was living there. But shit. The text from Ryan threw all of her plans out the window. She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.
God dammit, Wesson! Why’d you have to fuck this up? They were mere hours from a nice little sit down and, yeah, Jake would’ve been mad no matter how they told him, but this way they’d have been completely in control.
Now? Fucking damage control.
She couldn’t have Jake hating Ryan. She wanted her brother to get along with her boyfriend for once in her fucking life. She dialed Jake’s number. It rang once and then went straight to voicemail. Fuck. Asshole.
She took a chance and called Lane. The phone rang twice before she answered.
“Hi, Katie,” Lane’s voice said calmly over the phone.
“Oh, Lane. Thank god you answered. I was worried Jake would have gotten to you already and forbidden you from talking to me.”
“Jake doesn’t tell me who I can and cannot talk to, no matter what he tells people. I only follow his orders in one room in the house.”
Ugh.
“Okay, gross. Thanks for that, Lane.”
Lane giggled. “My bad.”
“Sorry I didn’t mean to make it sound like he controls you, I know he doesn’t.”
“Katie, don’t worry about it. What’s up?”
“Have you talked to Jake?”
“He’s on his way to my office now. I know he’s angry, but I don’t know what about. What’s going on?” Lane asked, her voice on edge.
“Okay.” Katie paused and took a deep breath. “Jake found out that Ryan and I have had sex.”
“Ryan?”
“Yeah.”
“Ryan Blakesly?”
“Yeah.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah.” Katie had nothing more to say at this point.
“Oh my god. Is Ryan still alive? Shit, Jake doesn’t handle situations like this well. Fuck, I do not need to defend my husband in a murder trial.” Katie could hear Lane shaking her head through the phone.
“Ryan’s alive, for now. From what I’ve put together, they had a confrontation at the department meeting, but I don’t know specifics. Ryan just sent me a text. I tried to call Jake, but he sent me straight to voicemail. I was hoping you could talk to him, try to calm him down and convince him to still meet for drinks tonight?” Katie hoped like hell Lane would agree to help her.
“Oh, wait. Were you planning on telling us tonight? Is that what this was about?”
“Yeah. But apparently Wesson opened his mouth and Jake figured it out.”
“Wesson knew?”
“He walked in on us one time.”
“Oh my god. Jake is mad at multiple people now.” Lane sighed.
“Yeah.”
“Katie… this is big. Do you and Ryan still hook up?”
“It’s more than that. We’re in love and, well, kinda living together. He helped me get away from Brian.”
“Holy. Shit.” Lane gasped.
“Yeah,” Katie sighed.
“Okay, he’s here. I’ll talk to him. Same place and time?”
“Yes. Thank you, Lane, so much.”
“You’re welcome. But after we meet tonight, I want a sit down and full details. The stuff you wouldn’t share with your brother. Deal?”
“Deal. Thank you, sis.”
“See you tonight.” Lane hung up the phone.
Katie hoped like hell Lane could convince Jake to sit down and be cordial with Ryan tonight. She set her phone in the center console and floored it. She needed to get home to Ryan and find out exactly what the hell happened.
Chapter 23
Here goes nothing. Ryan opened the door to the Cadillac Ranch Club for Katie. He put his hand on the small of her back as they walked into the bar. She was looking heart-achingly beautiful and if he didn’t have to face Jake right now, he would have been peacocking all around the bar letting everyone know that Katie Hamilton was his woman. Imminence was cooling down in September, so Katie was wearing ass-hugging jeans with brown knee-high riding boots. If Ryan hadn’t been about to meet Jake, he’d be fantasizing about bending her over and fucking her from behind. Those boots were going to make an appearance later.
Don’t get hard right now.
They found a table for four and sat down next to each other on the side facing the door. Katie smiled at him nervously. Lane had apparently worked miracles. Jake had agreed to come tonight. Ryan wondered how many blow jobs Lane had to promise him to get him to come. Ryan was betting a lot, but he was also betting that Lane didn’t mind so much.
While they waited, Ryan looked around. Imminence was a small town, but it was big enough that he didn’t know everyone in town. Even still, he saw several coworkers. Dillon and Cole were working a pool table with a few ladies who looked like they’d just graduated high school. Smitty was over in the corner nursing a beer by himself, his eyes not on Ryan and Katie, but on a lovely brunette sitting alone at the end of the bar. She looked like Lane’s assistant at the public defender’s office, but he couldn’t remember her name. Ryan wondered if Lane had made a few phone calls to make sure there was backup in case a fight broke out.
Jesus.
This was so fucking stupid. Ryan loved Katie. Katie loved Ryan. Jake should just get the fuck over it. They were all adults. He and Jake were grown-ass men. Ridiculous. Jake’s protectiveness of his little sister was borderline creepy. And he was going to tell Jake exactly how he felt about that.
The door opened. It felt like all the oxygen left the bar through the open door. Well, here it is. The moment of truth.
Lane walked in first, smiling. Good sign. Jake followed. Not smiling. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the Cadillac. His mouth was twisted, his brow furrowed. If Ryan had to describe him, he’d say that Jake looked pretty fuckin’ pissed.
Great.
Lane’s face lit up when she saw Katie and she grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him toward the table.
“Hey, Katie! Hey, Ryan.” Lane greeted them with a wink.
Gotta be a good sign, right?
Katie stood up and hugged Lane and then looked at her brother. Jake still looked pissed. “Be nice, Jake,” Katie ordered.
He grunted in response.
“Jake had all day to fume and he promised me he won’t lose his shit tonight, so we should be good,” Lane said with a smile as she she sat down.
Jake grunted again as he sat down. He looked right at Katie. It was like he refused to look at Ryan, refused to acknowledge his existence.
“I told Dad.” Jake was starting off with a bang.
“You fucking asshole,” Katie responded. Her voice was calm, but her body was tense. “All I’ve wanted to do is tell everyone on my own fucking terms and now I’ve been denied twice. I’m twenty-four years old, Jake. And I know you’re a lot older than me, but you are not my second dad. You’re my brother. Mind your own fucking business for once in your goddamn life.” At some point while she was dressing him down, she’d started pointing her index finger at him violently.
Jake didn’t respond. He looked at Ryan and glared.
“What did you tell him?” she asked.
Jake flipped his gaze back to his sister. “That you’re dating a man old enough to be your father.”
“And what did he say?”
“That he’s driving out this weekend to kick his ass and talk some sense into you.”
Great. Now two giant Hamiltons are after me.
“Jake!” Lane smacked his arm. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“He should know what his baby girl is up to.”
Jesus Christ.
“I’m not up to anything.”
Ryan was sick of this. “Katie is an adult. And your obsession with her love life is fucking weird, Jake.” No sense in mincing words at this point.
“An adult who jumps into things and makes split second decisions that are all super shitty. She just broke up with Brian, a man she should have never agreed to marry in the first place, and now she’s with you?”
Oh, hell no.
“Not that it’s any of your fucking business, Hamilton, but Katie and I have a history. We were together before she was ever with Brian. Shit happened between us that is also none of your business and then we were no longer together. And I was fucking miserable without her and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because I couldn’t tell anyone. When I heard about Brian, I was devastated. But I was also determined to keep her for myself. I’m fucking in love with her. So, yeah, she just broke off her engagement, but she’s been mine for nearly two years!” Ryan’s voice had gotten progressively louder. He was fucking done.
Lane looked surprised. Katie grabbed his hand and squeezed.
“He’s right. I’ve been in love with Ryan for a long time. I was trying to soothe the burn of losing him with Brian. It didn’t work. Things were fine at first. Just kind of ordinary. And I was fine with it. But then I started to realize how much of myself I was giving up by being with Brian. He was too controlling. Too elitist. Too all about appearances. You know I don’t give a shit about that. It was making me crazy. And toward the end, he was an asshole and verbally abusive. When Ryan reached out again, it felt like I had a lifeline. When Brian discovered evidence of that lifeline, he lost his mind, trashed our house, and threw shit at me. I locked myself in the closet and the first person I called was Ryan. Not the cops. Not you. Not dad. I called Ryan. Then I called the cops. In retrospect, I probably should have started with the cops.” She shrugged and gave Ryan a small smile. He squeezed her hand.
“Holy shit, Katie. Why didn’t you tell me things were so bad with Brian?” Ryan could see the rage building behind Jake’s eyes.
“Because you would have said ‘told you so’ and just made me feel like your dumb little sister for agreeing to marry someone that you didn’t approve of in the first place. Sorry, Jake. Your fucking attitude hasn’t exactly made you my closest confidant.”
A look of remorse crossed his face. “Are you still working with that jackass?”
“Yeah, we’re on opposite shifts, though. So it’s fine.”
“Did you get all of your stuff out?”
“Yep. Ryan helped me.”
Jake inhaled deeply while shaking his head and glaring at Ryan.
“Not happy about this. Not happy at all, Katie. But” —he paused and exhaled— “thanks, Ryan. For being there for her,” he grumbled under his breath.
“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Ryan responded. It was the truth. And it would be the truth for the rest of his life.
“And you’re living with Ryan?”
“Yes,” Ryan said.
“For now,” Katie responded at the same time.
Oh hell no. For now? They were going to have a conversation later.
“So I have to just get over this?” Jake asked.
“Yes,” they replied in unison.
Jake looked pained. “How the fuck did this happen in the first place?”
“I promise you that Ryan did not pursue me. In fact, he kept telling me to leave him alone because of you. So you shouldn’t be mad at Ryan.” She used her other hand – the one Ryan wasn’t holding – to stroke his arm. “I wore the poor guy down.” She grinned up at him.
“Ugh. Gross,” Jake responded and leaned back in his chair. Lane smacked his arm again. “Well?” Jake looked at his wife. “Why the hell did they hide it so long if they didn’t think they were doing anything wrong?”
“I promise you, man. This is not something I wanted to keep from anyone. But—”
“Blame me for the secrets,” Katie said, cutting Ryan off. “I just wanted to have fun, but then I was falling in love. And then it was over and it was awful. So when he came back into my life, I just wanted to make sure it was good and real and we had solid ground underneath us before we told anyone. That’s why we didn’t tell you. Also, Jake, come on, bro. It’s none of your damn business.”
Jake opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again, apparently thinking better of it. Good.
“It’s not just Katie’s fault. I knew you would be upset about it. I didn’t care and was ready to fight you over it. But Katie didn’t want that, for very good reasons, So I respected her wishes. While we were in Mexico, we decided it was time to tell everyone. We’re in love. This is it for us. So you’re gonna need to get over it.”
Jake was biting the inside of his cheek and shaking his head. “So many things to unpack here. You went to Mexico with him?” He looked to Katie and she nodded. “You could end up being a stepmom, Katie. How do you feel about that?”
“His kids are amazing. I’m okay with that.”
“You’re not that much older than they are.”
“Fuck off, Jake. Ryan, let’s go.” She stood up abruptly.
“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sorry,” Jake pleaded. Ryan gently pulled Katie back down to sit next to him. “Look, I’m not happy about this. Ryan is one of my best friends at work and now he has a sexy nurse tattooed on his forearm that I just found out is actually you.” He shuddered. “You can’t blame me for being a little pissed.”
“Oooh, I wanna see!” Lane exclaimed.
“How about I show you when things are a little less tense?” Ryan offered.
Lane laughed and looked at Jake. “Yeah, okay.”
“I love you, Jake. But I’m an adult. And I’m in love with Ryan. I’ve considered everything about this relationship and you don’t get a say in it. And Dad doesn’t get a say in it either.”
“I know. We learned that when you were making your mistake with Brian. So you should understand why we’re worried that you’re making another mistake right off the heels of your last one!”
“Just let it go and be happy for me. I wasn’t happy with Brian, but I didn’t tell you that because you’re such an asshole about all of my boyfriends. I am light years happier with Ryan. He tre
ats me like the motherfuckin’ queen that I am.”
Ryan couldn’t help but laugh at that. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. When he looked back across the table, he saw Lane had the biggest smile on her face.
“I see it now. You guys are perfect. Oh my god, I love this.” She clapped her hands quietly. Her eyes were tearing up a bit. One down, a few hundred people to go.
Jake looked at his wife and rolled his eyes at her response. “Really, Lane?”