Page 56 of Mending Scars

Ryker’s eyes caught mine when I released my death stare from the waitress’ back. His lips twitched as he stifled a laugh, but it broke through after a few seconds.

I smacked his arm. “It’s not funny, Ryker.”

“Am I missing something?” Ethan questioned as he cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” I answered.

At the same time as Ryker said, “Kaiya’s jealous that the waitress was checking me out,”

I narrowed my eyes and frowned. “I am not.”

Ethan cleared his throat. “So, Kaiya, how did my brother manage to land someone as beautiful and sweet as you?”

My expression eased as I looked away from Ryker to Ethan. “Well, I started working out at his gym and ended up taking his self-defense class.” Both corners of my mouth started to tip up as I remembered our first meeting. “He saved me from a painful treadmill death.”

Ethan’s eyebrows raised in intrigue. “Really? Oh, I’ve got to hear this.”

I proceeded to tell the story of my graceful first encounter with Ryker, and Ethan was howling with laughter by the end of my mortifying tale.

“See, Ethan, I’m a regular knight in shining armor,” Ryker joked.

Ethan was too busy laughing to respond to Ryker, and our whore of a waitress finally decided to come back and take our order. She continued to ogle Ryker, pissing me off more with every passing second.

Calm down, Kaiya, You don’t want to make a scene.

Taking a deep breath, I stared her down, then placed my order as calmly as I could before placing my hand on Ryker’s leg.

“And for you, handsome?” she flirtatiously asked Ryker as she batted her eyelashes.

The anger I was trying to temper threatened to boil over. Didn’t she fucking see me sitting right next to him?

Ryker draped his arm over my shoulders and pulled me closer to him as he gave her his order. I watched her face fall in disappointment, causing a smug smile of satisfaction to replace my jealous scowl.

Yeah, that’s right, he’s mine.

I linked my fingers with Ryker’s. “Thank you,” I said dismissively after we’d all placed our orders. Her lip practically curled up in fury before she huffed under her breath and walked away.

“You know you have nothing to worry about, right, Warrior?” Ryker asked as he stroked the back of my hand with his thumb.

I felt a slight pang of embarrassment as I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I know.” I squeezed his hand. “These pregnancy hormones are something else,” I joked, even though I knew I would’ve felt the same way even if I wasn’t pregnant. My insecurities and low self-esteem were hateful bitches that caused unwanted emotions and drama that I didn’t need. I’d dealt with them my whole life, and I wished they’d just go away so I could live without the heavy weight of them bearing down on me constantly.

Yeah, wishful thinking.

Ryker pressed a kiss to my temple, then directed his attention back to his brother.

The remainder of our lunch was filled with conversations about Ethan and Ryker’s childhood, my pregnancy, and sports. Thankfully, my past was never brought up. I discussed my demons enough in therapy with Kamden and I didn’t want to think about Kaleb any more than necessary. Ethan knew about the shooting, so I assumed that Ryker had asked him not to bring up anything involving Kaleb, which I appreciated more than he would ever understand.

Once we finished our meals and paid the bill, Ethan gave me another tight hug and spoke low into my ear. “Thank you for whatever you did to bring my brother back.”

My mouth slightly gaped open out of shock from his words. “I didn’t do anything,” I quietly replied back.

Ethan pulled away, keeping his hands on my shoulders as he smiled broadly at me. “Yes, you did.” He rubbed my shoulders affectionately. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Kaiya.”

I smiled back. “You, too.”

He turned his attention to Ryker. “Sox game next Saturday, bro?”

They joined hands, then hugged. “For sure,” Ryker answered as he threaded our fingers together. “Text me later.”

---