Page 34 of Entangled in Them

Chapter Fifteen

Rue

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RYAN SURPRISED ME.

The last thing I’d been expecting to happen that morning was for him to take it upon himself to try to teach me to read. But we spent a couple of hours sitting beside each other on the couch, while he went through the basic alphabet with me, and then moved on to the different sounds certain combined letters made.

Kodee came home sometime after lunch. He caught us sitting on the couch, books surrounding us, and gave an amused and slightly confused smile before coming over and planting a kiss on the top of Ryan’s blond head. He’d forgotten himself for the moment, and I glanced away, pretending I hadn’t seen. It didn’t bother me in the slightest that they were a thing, but my knowing obviously bothered them.

“How are you feeling?” Kodee asked Ryan.

Ryan’s gaze darted over to me. “Fine. Don’t make a fuss, Kodee.”

He shrugged. “Only asking.”

Had Ryan not been feeling well? He hadn’t mentioned anything to me. I had noticed that he’d seemed a little stiff when he’d been getting up from the couch, however. Had he pulled a muscle or something? It wouldn’t have surprised me considering their antics last night.

Kodee frowned at all the books. “What have you two been up to? Good to see you getting along”

Ryan threw the book to one side and stood. “We’re all right. How did your meeting go?”

“Good. Though I’m going to have to take a red-eye and deliver the next package by hand. They don’t want it going through the mailing system, and it’s going to take too long to drive them.”

Ryan’s expression tightened in concern. “So, you’ll be gone overnight.”

“Yeah, just for the one night.”

“You need me to come?”

Kodee shook his head. “Nah, I can handle it.”

I waited, unsure if Ryan would say anything to Kodee about me not being able to read, but he didn’t. Perhaps he figured it wasn’t any of Kodee’s business, or that it was up to me to tell him. I still didn’t know anything about Ryan, not really. He was a private person, and I felt like he wore an armor of defensiveness around him like a shell. But though he’d made it well known that he’d happily throw me out on the street if it was one hundred percent up to him, something about him made me want to crack that shell. There was someone different beneath, and I wanted to reach that man.

I studied his profile. He wasn’t as traditionally good looking as Kodee or Dillon, but he was handsome. His jaw was longer, rather than square. His blue eyes perhaps just a fraction too close together, his lips thinner rather than full. But he had dimples in his cheeks on the rare occasion he smiled, and when Kodee had pressed the kiss to his head, the haunted look in his eyes had faded for a moment and been replaced by happiness. It had only been for a fraction of a second before the shutters had come back down, but my heart had reached out, and I suddenly realized I’d like to be able to make him look that way, too.

But even though Ryan and I had been comfortable in each other’s company for the past couple of hours, now Kodee was here, the dynamic changed again. I got the impression Ryan wanted the other man all to himself, but where did Dillon come into things? Kodee and Dillon clearly had a bond.

I knew exactly why I was thinking about it so hard. I wanted to be the glue that brought them all together, not the thing that pushed them apart.

The apartment door opened, and Dillon strolled in. He was wearing a shirt and jeans, together with a leather jacket and a bike helmet under his arm. The other two turned toward him expectantly.

“Well?” Kodee asked.

“Could be a few days, but could be a couple of weeks,” Dillon said, throwing the helmet down onto the dining room table. “Won’t be any more than that.”

“And then what?” Kodee said.

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