CHAPTER 32

O kay, Grayson Charles Harper,” Tessa began, and I groaned. No good came out of this fucking woman using my middle name. Ever. “We need to talk.”

Or that. No good ever came out of anyone saying that sentence.

“Fuck, Tee.” Mal chuckled. “Sound more ominous, will you? Shit, I’d run the other way if you said that shit to me.”

It was just the three of us at the table. Jake had taken Jo outside for a breather, and Ryder had gone to the bathroom. The second the two of them were gone, Tessa had honed in on me.

“At least she waited ‘til I ate somethin’ before decidin’ to rail me,” I teased, making her scowl.

“I’m not going to rail you,” she retorted with a little too much emphasis on the word. “But I’d really like to know what’s going on between you and my brother.”

“Pardon me?” She wanted to know what now? My relationship was none of her damn business.

“Yeah, like how temporary is temporary at this point?” Mal asked with a stupid ass grin. Jesus fuck. “Is it like ten years temporary? Is that the cutoff?”

“You think you’re real damn cute, don’t you?” I retorted. Grabbing a toothpick, I chewed on it to give me time to figure out what the fuck to say. How the hell did I explain Ryder and me? Fuck, most days I didn’t know what we were. We just… were. And that worked for us. I shrugged. “I don’t know. We just are.”

“Are what though?” Tessa pressed. Good Lord, this woman. I just shrugged again. “I don’t have to tell you that Ryder’s been through a lot—”

“They’re practically ten years in at this fucking point, Tee,” Mal interjected. “I think he knows what the fuck Ry’s been through. I think what she’s trying to say is that she wants to know what the fuck you two are to each other. Is it permanent? Are you two just fucking around until something better comes along? Are you just playing him?”

I fucking grinned at the kid’s tone with that last question.

“Are you aimin’ to threaten me, Mal?” I demanded. “It won’t end real good for you if you do.”

“Why are you being so difficult?” Tessa retorted.

“Because you ain’t sayin’ what you mean.”

“Do you love my brother?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded slowly. I sure as fuck did and then some.

“The last Ryder said to us, this whole thing was just you two hunting and other things until you separated,” she continued. “Temporary.”

“We ain’t temporary.” I chuckled. Sure, we’d been temporary. Once . But nine fucking years wasn’t temporary. “If it helps any, I got a ring.”

“You got a ring?” Tessa squealed so damn loud the whole goddamn restaurant could hear her. I scowled while Mal broke down laughing.

“Fuck, Tee!” he exclaimed. “You’re so damn loud. He’s going to hear you!”

“You got a ring?” she hissed, hands slamming on the table as she leaned closer. This goddamn woman. “When? Have you asked? Tell me! ”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” I muttered. “I ain’t asked him yet, I ain’t got a clue when I’m goin’ to ask him, I ain’t even sure if I’m goin’ to ask him.”

There was some information I shouldn’t have given her and clearly, this was it. I didn’t grow up with siblings, so I didn’t know much about having an overly involved family. There wasn’t a damn person in the world besides Marta who gave a fuck about what happened to me. But fuck me, that look on Tessa’s face was damn near deadly.

“Grayson Charles Harper,” she scolded in true mom fashion. “You can’t buy my brother a ring and then not fucking ask him!”

“I don’t do real well with people tellin’ me what to do. You know this shit,” I reminded her. Glancing across the restaurant, I checked the bathroom door to make sure Ryder wasn’t about to waltz into the middle of this conversation. I wasn’t ready to have a conversation that I didn’t know the answers to. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doin’, darlin’. Right now, I just hunt things and drive around the fuckin’ country with your brother.”

“Can you make sure he tells me when you do?” Tessa whispered.

“Us,” Mal corrected.

“Oh, I ain’t in charge of that. No, ma’am.” I shook my head adamantly. There was no way in hell I was stepping in the middle of their relationship. That shit was complicated enough. “If you want a whole relationship with your brother, you need to do the fuckin’ work.”

“I’ve done the work,” she faltered even as she said it.

“Don’t you try lyin’ to me too,” I warned Mal when he opened his mouth to say something. “I sure as fuck know both of you ain’t had a damn thing to do with him for fuckin’ years. Life and all that, I get that. But if you want him in your life, you got to fuckin’ try. That man fuckin’ dropped every goddamn thing to come rescue your ass and help you rescue your husband’s ass. He damn near killed himself tryin’ to help y’all. And no, before you say shit, I ain’t on your side. I’m on his side every fuckin’ time. If you want Ryder in your life then fuckin’ try. You want him to tell you shit then fuckin’ tell him shit. ”

I sounded like a fucking dad scolding his goddamn kids. But I stuck by what I said. I knew Ryder wasn’t good at keeping in touch with them, but they needed to keep in touch with him too. Shit, this kind of drama made me glad I didn’t have siblings. This shit was complicated.

“You give that man an inch, I promise he’ll go the fuckin’ mile,” I continued. A trait I both loved and hated about Ryder. “Just pick up the goddamn phone and send him pictures of Jo or a text message or some shit. It ain’t that complicated. Text him Star Wars shit for Christ’s sake.”

Mal laughed because we both knew Ryder would absolutely entertain stupid conversations about that damn series with Mal if he texted about it. That was just Ryder.

“Okay,” Tessa said. From the way that woman stared at me, she had about half a million other things she wanted to say to me. I sighed and popped a fry in my mouth as I waited for her to continue speaking. If she and Ryder fixed their shit, that meant I was stuck with her. I was stuck with all their dumbasses as family.

And that single thought made me fucking smile.