Page 55 of Mending Scars

I was already nervous about meeting Ryker’s brother, and to top it off, I was now flustered about the reason we were so late. It was definitely not the first impression I wanted to make.

Hi, I’m Kaiya. Sorry we’re late, but your brother and I got caught up having sex and lost track of time. Nice to meet you.

That would go over well.

I snorted at my inner ramblings, causing Ryker to glance over at me from the driver’s seat of his truck. “Something funny?”

He turned his attention back to the road as I replied. “Just thinking about what reason we’re going to give Ethan for being so late.” I looked at my phone and shook my head. “We’re almost thirty minutes late, Ryker.”

He chuckled and turned right onto the street where the restaurant we were meeting Ethan at was located. “Don’t worry, babe. I already texted him that we were running late when we left. He was fine with it.”

“I’m so nervous,” I said as I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt. “And I’m making a terrible first impression by being so late.”

Ryker placed his hand over mine on my lap. “No, you’re not, Ky. Ethan’s going to love you, just like I do.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand reassuringly and gave me a sweet smile.

Turning my hand over, I linked our fingers together and squeezed tightly. I darted my gaze out the window. “I hope so.” Even though I had some animosity toward Ethan because of what he did to Ryker, he was the only family Ryker had left. I wanted to support Ryker’s decision to make amends, and I didn’t want to cause any more problems between them.

Once we parked and started walking to the restaurant, Ryker called Ethan. He talked to him on the phone as he navigated us to where Ethan was seated in a booth near the back.

Ethan stood once we reached him. “Finally. I’m starved,” he greeted jokingly. Our eyes met and a huge smile curved over his lips. “You must be Kaiya.”

Ethan looked a lot like Ryker, with a defined jaw, golden skin, and dark hair, but Ethan had green eyes instead of brown, and he wasn’t built like Ryker was. Ryker was pure muscle, and while Ethan had a nice physique, he had nothing on his brother’s immaculate body. Ethan also dressed totally different than Ryker and looked like he was ready to go to the country club with his pressed button-down, sweater vest, and khakis. Ryker was definitely more casual in his faded jeans and fitted Henley.

“I am.” I nervously flung out my hand to shake his, but Ethan wrapped me in a hug instead, taking me by surprise. My widened eyes met Ryker’s over Ethan’s shoulders, and he grinned before patting his brother’s back. “Don’t scare her away now. You just met.”

Ethan pulled back and turned his attention to Ryker. “If you haven’t done that by now, I don’t think there’s anything I could do that would scare her off.”

I smiled at their exchange. “Now, now, boys. It takes a lot more than that to scare me.” I glanced down at my stomach before meeting Ryker’s eyes. “I think you’re stuck with me.”

Ethan laughed, gesturing to the seat in the booth. “Please sit.” He waited for me to scoot in before sitting on the opposite side and picking up a menu. “I think it’s too late for brunch.” His eyes darted back and forth between us knowingly, as if he knew the reason why we were late, before they settled on the menu in his hand. “But the lunch here is just as good, so no big deal.”

My cheeks heated in embarrassment as I looked accusingly at Ryker, who shrugged his shoulders and picked up his own menu.

Ugh, men. Ryker probably text him all of the intimate details.

I rolled my eyes and picked up another menu, browsing over the lunch specials for that day for a few minutes. When I set my menu down, the brothers were already in a discussion about sports.

Kill me now.

Thankfully, the waitress saved me for a few seconds as she took our drink order, and I swiftly changed the topic of conversation once she left. “So, Ethan, Ryker told me that you’re in commercial real estate.”

Not exactly the most stimulating conversation topic, but it’s better than sports.

“That I am. The market has been very good, but I don’t want to bore you with the details. Tell me more about you—I want to learn more about the woman that changed my brother’s life.”

I stole a quick glance at Ryker, who smiled sheepishly and avoided my eyes. My mouth quirked up to one side as I thought about how rare it was to see Ryker embarrassed.

How sweet. I wonder what he told him about me.

Turning my attention back to Ethan, I stumbled for words as I tried to tell him more about me without divulging the crazy.

Yeah, good luck with that.

“Um, well, there’s not that much to tell. I’m pretty boring. I’m a project coordinator for a marketing and public relations firm here in Boston. I live with my older brother Kamden in Cambridge, and I enjoy long walks on the beach.”

Both Ryker and Ethan chuckled at my corniness as the waitress dropped off our drinks. I couldn’t help but notice how she basically devoured Ryker with her eyes before walking away again.

You better think twice, bitch.

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