Page 46 of Broken Player

"Douchebag at three o'clock," Quinn muttered as he rode past us up to the front porch.

A tall blonde guy that looked like he'd stepped straight out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog stood on the porch with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. I had to assume this was the fiance, Yates.

Every picture his name had conjured up for me had just been proven right. But he couldn't be all bad if he managed to get Ryan to agree to marry him, right?

Still, my gut told me there was something not right with this guy. I didn't know what yet, but my intuition rarely steered me wrong. I wasn't exactly making a great first impression, but I really couldn't give any less of a fuck. This guy had stolen my girl, so I immediately hated him on principle.

Ryan pulled herself even further away and climbed down off of Storm. I glared at Yates, not at all happy that he was the one to make her pull away from me. I felt like I'd made some real progress with her today, and he came along and wiped all that out. My fist clenched around the saddle's horn as I climbed down behind Ryan and tied the reins off on the porch rail.

I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on, watching as Ryan climbed up the porch to greet her fiance. Quinn moved beside me, having already tied up Daisy. He leaned close but kept his eyes locked on Ryan. "Pretty sure the dickhead's here for lunch. We should fuck with him," he whispered, shifting his eyes to look over at me where they were practically sparkling with mischief. I almost laughed, except I noticed Yates's stare burning through my skull.

I wanted to lift my hand and flip the fucker off, but instead, I glanced over at Quinn, who still stood shoulder to shoulder with me. "I'm in."

Ryan and Yates walked ahead of us, and their conversation drifted back to Quinn and me.

"Where's your ring?" Yates asked.

"Oh-" Ryan started, but Quinn cut her off. "She can't wear that monstrosity working on a ranch, dude."

It looked like Yates was biting his lip to keep from telling Quinn to fuck off, so I chuckled but kept my mouth shut.

"Sorry, but Quinn's right. I'd break it or lose it or get it caught on something and hurt myself. But it's safe on my dresser. Promise," Ryan confirmed.

After that, the silence was awkward as fuck, but Quinn and I shot each other looks. He was about to make this lunch a lot more fucking bearable.

We followed Ryan and Yates into the house, washing our hands and making our way into the dining room. Shannon was placing a couple more dishes on the table, and even though Yates and Ryan walked in the room ahead of Quinn and me, Shannon lit up when she saw us. "My boys! I'm so happy to have everyone here for lunch," she fawned over us, wrapping her arms first around Quinn and then me. "The only thing that would make this better would be if Charlie and Justice were home."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Yates frowned, his jaw muscles tense, and my chest swelled a little. I'd always fit in with the Knight family. They took me in and accepted me as one of their own when I was a kid. This family was the only bright spot in my entire childhood, and I missed them more than I'd thought.

Coming back here and being with them felt like coming home. As an added bonus, it made Yates uncomfortable that Ryan's family had included me more than him. I went over and patted Alex on the shoulder. This was the first time I'd seen him since I'd been back, and the first time I'd seen him since his accident.

I was glad Ryan told me about what happened before I saw her dad because it was shocking seeing the powerful andindestructible Alexander Knight so broken. Even still, he wore the warm smile I remembered from when I was a kid. If I ever had kids, and that was a bigif, I'd want to be the kind of dad Alex was, or even True's dad, Chris.

"Good to see you, son," Alex declared, clapping his hand over mine. His eyes were warm and welcoming, and a little part of me that had been knotted up inside for a very long time loosened at their forgiveness and compassion. I convinced myself a long time ago that the Knights all hated me because of how I left. It wasn't just about Ryan. Yeah, that was fucked up, but they all had been like family, and I disappeared without a word.

"You, too, Alex. Hope you don't mind I've been helping our girl out the past couple of days," I added, knowing it would probably piss Yates off. Quinn coughed behind me to hide what sounded like a laugh, and I moved to the chair next to Quinn. Ryan sat across from me, and Yates was next to her.

Ryan's dad chuckled, probably well aware of what I was up to, but that was fine. I doubted he liked this idiot any more than Quinn or I did. "Not at all. Imagine if your fans could see you now," he mused.

Shannon passed me a tray of ribs that smelled both spicy and sweet, and I pulled a couple onto my plate before giving the dish to Quinn. Yates was studying me across the table, probably trying to figure out who I was. "Fans?" he finally asked.

A cocky smirk spread across my face, the one I knew pissed people off when I used it. "Mhmm, fans," I drawled, not really caring to answer his question. He had Google. He could figure it out if it mattered that much to him. My eyes drifted to Ryan, who looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. I wouldn't mind if she did, maybe I'd join her.

"So, Yates," Quinn began, pausing his forkful of baked beans halfway to his mouth. "What is it that you do again?"

The blonde dickhead sat up straighter, obviously on more comfortable ground talking about this. "I'm in finance," he stated proudly, even puffing out his chest a little. I didn't even try to hide my eye roll, and I watched as his face turned red. But then he smirked, tossing his arm across the back of Ryan's chair and stroking the skin of her shoulder with his thumb. I clenched my teeth but wouldn't take the bait.

"Howinteresting," Quinn mocked. "Doesn't your dad own the company or something?"

Yates scoffed and opened his mouth to speak, but instead, Quinn turned to me, effectively cutting him off. "When we're done with the hay, we should take our girl for a swim. You in?"

"The old pond in the east pasture?" I asked, wanting to make it clear I was more familiar with this place than Yates would ever be.

Quinn nodded before turning to Ryan. "What do you say, Lancelot?"

"I think that sounds lovely," Shannon spoke up, her eyes dancing as she looked at me and winked. Yeah, she knew exactly what we were doing and was on board. I loved these people.

"Uh, yeah. It's hot out there today, so a swim sounds good," Ryan agreed, shifting in her seat a little further away from Yates's wandering fingers. Interesting.

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