Page 90 of Dare Me

“Basically because I wasn’t sure how it was all going to work. We thought we were only going to have that day and weren’t going to see each other again, but then we ended up on the same flight home. We spent that entire trip talking and making plans, but…he realized I was related to Liam. He didn’t mention that to me, of course, but he figured it out and decided he didn’t want to cause any problems for us.”

“That was really decent of him if you think about it,” Jamie commented and when everyone sort of glared at him, he took a step back.

Their father looked at Ryleigh. “Why did you lie about dating Will?”

“Because you’re all crazy!” she snapped. “No matter how much I keep telling Mom that I don’t want her fixing me up with people, she just keeps doing it! I knew about Arianna and Will’s history and I knew how Mom was going to be about the situation if they started openly dating, so I wanted to help, okay? I thought it was the least I could do to help my sister out and give her and Will a chance.” She turned to Ronan again. “Hit me.”

“Ryleigh, do you really need to drink to talk to talk to your family?” Kate asked sadly.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” she replied. “Ari? You want a drink so you can tell them all how you and Will are in love and how you moved in right across the hall from him?”

“What?!”her parents cried in unison.

“Um…thanks, Ry,” she said nervously before addressing her folks. “I moved out of Ryleigh’s a couple of weeks ago. I looked at several places and ultimately decided on the one in Will and Liam’s building.” She let out a long breath. “I didn’t say anything because I wanted to get it all fixed up first, but then Liam saw Will leaving my apartment and we weren’t ready to tell anyone we were dating…”

“You saw a strange man leaving your sister’s apartment and you didn’t say anything?” their father said as he took a step closer to Liam.

“It wasn’t a strange man! It was Will! And I didn’t know she lived there!” Liam said defensively.

Arianna was about to defend him when she was cut off.

“Andyou!” their mother said to Patrick. “You let her rent a place right across the hall from him?”

“I didn’t even know she rented the place until this morning!” Patrick stated firmly. “You can blame my assistant for this!”

“What kind of boss doesn’t know the deals his assistant is making?” their father said. “Is that the way you do business?

Next thing she knew, everyone was talking at once and there seemed like at least four different arguments going at the same time.

Her parents were arguing with her brothers, she was defending herself, Jamie wanted to know why he was the last to know about her and Will, Patrick was threatening to fire his assistant, Liam stated that he wished he’d stayed in the Marines…

A whistle shrilled through the air and they all stopped talking. Turning, they found Ryleigh precariously perched on one of the barstools. She stood and wobbled a little, causing everyone to rush to her aid. “Back off!” she cried. “Everyone needs to shut the hell up and be happy for Arianna and Will! All this time you’ve been pushing us to find someone and fall in love and she’s found that and you’re ruining it!Ruining it!” Then she wagged a finger at them. “Shame, shame, shame!”

“Ryleigh Marie, you come down from there right now!” Kate said firmly. “What in the world has gotten into you? A good girl doesn’t climb up on the bar like that!”

“Maybe I’m not a good girl,” she said with a giggle.

It was wrong to laugh, but Arianna couldn’t help it. Walking over to her sister, she helped her get down and then was immediately enveloped in a bear hug. “Oof!”

“I love you, Ari,” her sister said. “And you deserve to be happy.”

“Thank you. I think…”

“Will’s a great guy,” Ryleigh said loudly as she faced the rest of the family again. “All he’s been doing is trying to keep all of you from upsetting Arianna. Ever since he showed up in town,you’ve all been saying how awesome he is, so how about you put your money where your mouths are and just let them be?”

“I think they got it, Ry,” she whispered as she tried to lead her over to the booth to sit down.

Once she had her seated, she turned and looked at her parents. Her mother was frowning slightly, but her father looked…thoughtful. For the life of her, she had no idea what either were thinking, but she knew that maybe she should do some of the talking herself.

“Look, I know it was wrong to hide our relationship. I’ve been going on and on about how mature and responsible I am and bitching that no one sees me that way, and then I do something childish like this. But you need to know that we didn’t plan this. I never believed in love at first sight or that something like this would happen for me. I certainly wasn’t looking to fall in love, but…” She shrugged. “If there’s one thing you both taught me, it’s how amazing love can be with the right person. I look at the two of you and I think…that’s what I want. I always dreamed of finding a man who loved me the way dad loves you,” she said to her mother. “Watching the two of you dancing around the kitchen or joking around and always laughing…that’s what I want. And that’s how I feel with Will.”

“Willrocks!” Ryleigh called out as she climbed up on the back of the booth seat and Arianna wanted to groan.

No one said anything for a solid minute, but then it was her father who came to stand in front of her. “This…Will. He’s good to you?”

Tears stung her eyes. “He is, Dad. He really is. I love him.”

He gave her a curt nod before looking at his sons. “I appreciate you all looking out for your sister, but…I think it’s time that we acknowledge that maybe she knows what’s best for her.” He gave her a sympathetic and loving smile. “Thatdoesn’t mean we’re not allowed to worry, but…we promise to be respectful. Okay?”

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