Page 68 of Stuck On Them

I opened the message from Ryker, reading it out loud since he’d sent it in a new group text, which included Paige. “Sending you directions. Meet me there in an hour. There’s something I want you to see.”

“That doesn’t sound sketchy at all.” Luca opened the message. “Not the best part of Queens.”

“Why would he want us to go there?” I clicked the link to the map, but I didn’t go to Queens very often, so I had no idea where the location was.

There was a soft knock at the door before Paige came in with a slightly worried expression on her face, her phone clutched in her hand. “Did you see Ryker’s message?”

Luca closed out of the video and shut his laptop. “We did. Not sure if you should go, though. It’s not the best area.”

She rolled her eyes. “So? It won’t be dark, and I’ll be with you guys. We should get going. The map says it’s forty minutes away.”

* * *

We joined Ryker, where he was standing on the sidewalk, looking at a vacant lot filled with trash and weeds. Paige put her arms around his waist, and he lifted his arm to tuck her into his side. None of us spoke while we waited for Ryker to tell us what the hell we were doing out there.

He looked first at me, then at Luca, before returning his eyes to the field. “I told you guys that I didn’t have much growing up, and that things were... rough. But I didn’t tell you exactly how rough. I only lived in Connecticut from the time I was thirteen... we were in foster care until they adopted me and Libby a few years later and moved out of the city. Before they took us in, we lived here.” He gestured to the empty plot of land between two abandoned buildings. “There used to be a building here. This was the last place of many that we lived before my mom died.”

Luca spoke first, his voice gravelly with emotion. “That must have been tough for you and Libby.”

“It was and it wasn’t.” A muscle ticked in Ryker’s jaw before he put his cheek against Paige’s hair. “When my dad left after Libby was born, she stopped being our mom. Diane and Hugh are our parents; have been since the moment we were placed with them.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets, not knowing what to say or do. Luca and I had no clue it had been like this, and since we only knew Diane and Hugh, we never dove deeper.

“This is why I’m the way I am. It’s not just wanting to never come back to this kind of life, but it’s wanting to take care of the people who took care of me and Libby.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I want to be better... a better friend. A better boyfriend. A better business owner.”

“You have to start with being better to yourself.” I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Thank you for sharing this with us. It means a lot.”

He gave a single nod, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

Paige looked around, her eyes glossy. “What do you think they’re going to do with this lot? It looks like they’re building new apartment buildings on the street we drove down before this one.”

“A lot of the buildings around here have been condemned, so they’re tearing them down and building low-income and transitional housing. Something they should have done a long time ago.” Ryker kicked at a rock on the ground, getting his shiny shoes dusty. “As for this lot and the two buildings on either side... I haven’t decided what I’m doing with them yet.”

“Wait. What?” Luca moved in front of us and then looked behind him.

“A while back, when we first really started earning money, I found the owner, made him an offer, and he accepted. First thing I did to it was tear down the building I lived in.” Ryker’s frown suddenly turned into a grin. “The crew even let Libby do a bit of it.”

It was good to see him smiling when he’d just ripped open his chest and showed us what was inside. “Why not knock down the other buildings too?”

“I didn’t want to go overboard since I didn’t know what I was going to do.” Ryker let go of Paige and walked out into the middle of the field, between the two buildings.

On the outside, the three-story brick buildings looked solid despite the boarded-up windows and the graffiti everywhere. The ground floors both had almost the entire fronts covered with plywood, indicating that they used to be businesses.

“Let’s give him a minute.” As much as I wanted to go out there and hug him, he seemed to be having a moment.

I took Paige’s hand while Luca took the other, and we walked to the SUV idling across the street. Ryker’s ride was nowhere in sight.

We sat in silence, watching a man who’d been through so much turn in a few circles before putting his hands on his hips. I’d seen him take that stance several times before when he’d had an idea buzzing around in his head.

Paige turned around to look at me and Luca in the back row. “You’re too quiet.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Luca said, ignoring his phone that had been buzzing off and on since we’d gotten in the car. “So many things make sense now.”

“I just wish he would have felt comfortable enough sharing this with us, you know? We could have helped him work through it. It’s a big secret to keep.” I couldn’t help but think of all the conversations we’d ever had about money and how ridiculous I’d thought his fears were. Now they didn’t seem so ridiculous.

“I know I haven’t known you all that long, but Ryker doesn’t strike me as the type that likes to depend on other people.” She rested her chin on her stacked fists. “But maybe that will change.”

“Makes me grateful for everything I have.” Luca pulled out his phone. “On second thought, I take that back.”

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