Page 56 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Moving to sink down on his desk chair, I turned to face him, resting my elbows on my knees before looking across at him. Needing to get a feel for his mood first, I paused and watched him carefully.

“What’s up?” he asked, his gaze seeming uncomfortable.

Fleetingly, I wondered why I made him feel that way before I realized I didn’t care. “I asked Amy to marry me.”

Ryan blanched. His eyes widened with obvious horror. “What?”

“Last night,” I said quietly. “She said yes.”

His hand tightened around his cell, and what appeared to be panic rolled across his expression. “She said . . . ? What the fuck?” He stood up and moved toward his closet before turning again. “Why the hell did you ask her to marry you? You don’t love her,” he said, his expression somehow turning angry and confused at the same time.

His words struck a nerve. I tensed, biting my tongue.

Spinning to face me, his gaze turned accusatory. “Not like I do. I love her. Me! She’s supposed to marry me. Not you.”

I stood. I couldn’t stop myself. “Ryan. Man, you’re my brother and I love you, but do not tell me I don’t love her. I get that you think you’re in love with her, but man, you don’t know love yet. If you did, you wouldn’t treat her like a possession.”

His eyes narrowed, and anger gleamed in their depths. “I don’t fucking treat her like a possession!”

He was starting to piss me off. “Fine. A business transaction, then.”

Ryan recoiled like I’d punched him, and something that looked an awful lot like guilt came over him. “I do not,” he said, although there was no conviction in his words.

Unease hit me like a fucking wet sponge. Tilting my head to the side like a fucking bull looking out at a red flag, I tried to get a read on him. He looked guilty as all fuck. What the hel

l did that mean? What the fuck had he done?

“I do love her,” he said quietly. Turning his back on me, he put his hands on his hips and stared out the window. “She’s everything . . . ”

I stood staring at his back for a long time, my mind clicking over, trying to figure out why the fuck he was acting so weird.

Suddenly, Ryan turned to face me, everything about him looking defeated. “Look, I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. I just . . . I wasn’t expecting that.” He sighed and rubbed his hand over his head. “Obviously, it doesn’t matter how I feel. You guys’ve made your decision. I’m happy for you. I am,” he said, almost like he was trying to convince himself. He shrugged. “Not as happy as I could be, but . . . ” He gave me a humorless laugh.

I exhaled hard, trying to rid myself of the tension that’d grown inside me. “I don’t want things to be awkward between us, man. And I don’t want Amy upset, either,” I said, a hint of warning in my tone.

He gave me a sharp look. “Of course I don’t want to upset her. Look . . . I’ll deal with it, okay? I just need time to process it. Just give me some time, all right?”

I studied him. I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I couldn’t. Ryan had the same ruthless grit about him Dad did. It meant he could lie almost flawlessly. But there was nothing I could say about it now.

“Sure, man. No problem. And for what it’s worth, I am sorry you feel the way you do. As much as you might not believe me, I don’t like seeing you hurting.”

Ryan didn’t answer me. Instead, he just nodded, watching me with curiosity. After a few moments, he shifted on his feet. “So, when are you guys thinking of tying the knot?”

I couldn’t seem to shake the unease that had settled in my gut, but unwilling to let Ryan think I was affected, I lifted my chin. “We haven’t decided yet. I think she wants to wait a while.”

His shoulders relaxed a fraction before he nodded, and his gaze grew distant.

Deciding I just needed to get out of there, I gestured toward the door. “All right, man. I gotta go . . . ” I wanted to be able to say thanks for understanding, or tell him how much I appreciated his well wishes, but seeing as I had received neither, and we both knew that wasn’t the truth, I nodded and left in silence.

Making a quick stop at my room, I grabbed my keys and cell, and headed for my car. I needed to see my princess.

Chapter 25

Amy

It’d been two days, one hour, and ten minutes—give or take a few minutes—since I’d become engaged, and I still couldn’t stop looking at my ring in disbelief.

Snuggled against Daniel’s side on the sofa in the den, I smiled, immediately giddy with the idea of being his wife. Again. It happened every time I looked at the damned ring. Daniel kissed my temple and pulled me a little closer as he continued watching the movie I had yet to even pay attention to.

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