Page 64 of Surviving the Break
“The firepit is pretty big, and Ryan has had it going for a while now. The area around it will be warm, and once you get a couple beers in you, you’ll be complaining about the heat.”
We pulled up the driveway and went around back. Sure enough, I began unbuttoning my jacket before reaching the pit. A man, who I guessed to be Ryan, stepped from the clearing of the woods with a handful of firewood. Max jogged off to help, and they laughed, sharing a joke I wasn’t privy to.
Dropping the logs against the pit, Max made introductions. “Ryan, this is Ash. Ash, this here pain-in-the-ass is Ryan. I call him Ry when he’s being good.”
We clasped hands, and he pulled me into a one-armed hug. “So, you’re the guy that put the smile back on his ugly mug?” He pointed at Max, and we shared a good-hearted laugh while situating ourselves along the circular upholstered seating in front of the fire.
Ryan was good-looking in a rugged, surviving-off-the-land sort of way. I could easily see him living in the woods he’d moments ago stepped out of. He wore his hair and beard long, but it wasn’t a fashion statement. No, I pegged him for the type of man that couldn’t be bothered with any grooming that extended past a primal bath in a stream.
We spent the next several hours drinking beers, stripping off layers and listening to Ryan relive childhood stories of him and Max on the farm. Max and I sat shoulder to shoulder, holding hands with our feet propped up on the stoned edge of the pit. At some point, Ryan decided he needed to test my worth and commitment to Max in a way that only a best friend could.
“Did Max tell you he fucked me all up and down this farm for months when we were teens?”
“Ryan!” Max chastised, dropping his feet and sitting up straight.
Of course, he waited until I was in mid-swig to drop that off-the-cuff bomb. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me sputter. “Is that so?” I asked.
A twinkle formed in his eye. “I’ll have you know, I was straight before this guy got to me.” He pointed the butt of his bottle at Max. “Now, I suppose I can go either way.”
I turned my wide stare on Max. “He can be bisexual, but I can’t?”
Max swung his mortified gaze from Ryan to me. “I never said there was anything wrong with being bisexual, Ash.”
I squeezed his hand knowing his issues went deeper than that. It wasn’t a sexuality thing, it was Hayden’s dishonesty.
“And don’t let Ryan rile you up. Nothing came of it.”
“Yes, he merely used me,” Ryan said, grabbing his wounded heart.
“Oh, don’t pretend you were helpless,” Max shot back, rolling his eyes. “You could’ve said no.”
Ryan gave me a look that asked,is this guy serious?before turning his attention back to Max. “Have you seen your cock? Christ himself would bend the knee for a slip of that up his shitter—”
“Ryan!” Max shouted.
I growled low in my chest.
“Are you okay there, Ash?” Ryan asked, enjoying the reaction he pulled from me. “It was a bad time for Max. He’d recently ended hisfriendshipwith Hayden.” He watched for my confusion and nodded appreciatively when I remained unfazed. I must have been important if I knew about Hayden.
“I’ve heard enough stories for one night.” I placed my empty bottle on the ground.
“I hope I haven’t upset you.” This time he appeared genuine. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“Well, I’m about one more story away from fucking him on this soil to prove he’s mine. But I wouldn’t say I’m upset.” My smile was all teeth.
Max groaned beside me.
Ryan keeled over with laughter. “I like this one.” He said to Max, “Hayden was never possessive enough if you ask me. If Max were mine—”
“I get it, Ryan,” I squeezed out.
He stood. “Well, that’s my cue to leave.” He came over and kissed Max on the forehead before striding off toward the house.
“Is he always so…”
“Charming?” Max supplied
“That’s one way of putting it.”
