Page 150 of Jackass

I watched Ryder wince when he tried to move his arm. He was easy to read at that moment, and I knew he wanted to cross his arms over his chest, but couldn’t, given one of them was in a sling.

“You told me you knew who I was as soon as I came back. That means you have already used up five of those seven fucking years,” Blade argued, then crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

He guessed what I had and knew Ryder wanted to do the same but couldn’t.

“Then come talk to me in two more years,” Ryder countered.

“Come on, man. I told you I was sorry. You have to at least try to see it from my side,” Blade pleaded. “You think Becca’s gonna let you keep acting this way once the baby gets here?”

“What?” I whispered.

Every head in the room turned to Blade.

“Fuck, she’s gonna kill me.” He pointed at King. “You know nothing, and you say fucking less to your brother. If you tell him before she does, there won’t be anywhere you can hide.”

King just grinned. “Dec is gonna lose his shit.”

“Beck’s having a baby?” Ryder muttered.

“Yea, I need you with us, brother. Need you to love my kid like I love yours.”

“I wouldn’t do anything less, but I don’t need to be in the club to do that,” Ryder said.

“Ryder—”

“No, King. I appreciate the offer, but I can’t,” Ryder insisted.

“Ry,” Blade begged.

“I said no, goddamn it! Now get the fuck out, all of you.”

I grabbed the cut, placing it back in the box. I handed it toKing and ushered them out the door.

“You guys head back to the club. Let me talk to him,” I said, my hand still on the doorknob.

Once they left, I walked back into his room.

“I told you guys to leave,” Ryder hissed.

“And they did. I stayed because I wanted to talk to you.”

“There is nothing more to say.”

“There is a lot to fucking say,” I told him. “The day Carrie and Derek were at the store. We got called back to the club, and you didn’t come with us. You missed a lot of fucking information.”

“That was club business,” he reminded me.

“Which you would be a part of, if you got off your high fucking horse. But that isn’t the point,” I said. “That day, I found out Derek was my brother.”

Ryder looked up at me then, surprise clear on his face.

“Yea, talk about a fucking plot twist. Anyway, I went to talk to him, to see if he knew. He knew I existed, but didn’t know where I was until the first day we met when he came to the clubhouse. Said he suspected it was me because we look so much alike. He said I look like my mother.”

I ran my hands through my hair, taking a breath.

“I never thought I would ever know who my family was, and I found out my brother was married to the woman I love. The woman he put in the hospital when he found she was pregnant with my child.”

“Fuck,” he whispered.

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