Page 109 of Mad Love

Royal was still staring at the table and didn’t seem inclined to get involved at all.

Ash stepped around him and clapped a hand on Court’s shoulder. “She’s upset, man. She’ll cool down and—”

“And what?” I interrupted, curious more than anything. “Forgive him a third time? Forgive all of us when we’ve all proven that we’ll keep lying to her?” I shook my head and looked at Ryan. “I’m sorry, but I should’ve told her everything from the start. I never should’ve agreed to keep this secret.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you to,” Ryan admitted. “I’m sorry, Mads.”

I turned to Court. “Pick a side and stay there, Court.”

He frowned at me.

“Either you want her in your life or you don’t, but you can’t half-ass it. Hell, you’re not even partially assing it. Tell her the truth or let her go. But whatever this thing is between you guys, it isn’t healthy for her or for you.” I looked at the table they’d been gathered around. “Is this something I need to know about?”

Indecision warred on Ryan’s face for a split second, and I saw the very moment he decided not to hide the truth.

“We’re planning on going after Gary.”

“When?” I demanded.

He ground his teeth. “Two days.”

“Were you going to tell me?” I folded my arms over my chest.

His gaze jerked away from a second, his throat working. “Not exactly.”

“Am I part of this plan?”

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly, his gaze snapping back to mine. “I don’t want you near him if I can help it. I won’t apologize for protecting you, Mads. We both know I’ll do shit that you may not like because my end goal is making sure you’re safe. Can you live with that?”

I couldn’t exactly get pissed that he was being honest with me when I’d asked. Deciding this wasn’t a battle I needed on my plate, I exhaled and nodded. “I can live with that as long as you don’t lie to me about it.”

I spun on my heel and grimaced at Court. “See? Communication. It can actually work. Now, if you all will excuse me, I’m going to make sure Chase isn’t trying to serve us boiled water for dinner before begging my bestie’s forgiveness.” I leaned over and smacked a kiss to Ryan’s lips before leaving.

I entered the mudroom cursing, but when I entered the kitchen, it was all I could do not to burst into laughter.

Water bubbled over the rim of the massive pot and splashed onto the stovetop with a hiss as Chase… waved a damn hand over the steam.

I rushed over and turned down the heat, then lifted the pot for a few seconds for the bubbles to settle. When I set it back, it still simmered, but the bubbles weren’t threatening to spill over the edges. “What the hell?” I laughed as I looked at Chase.

Red-faced, and probably not because of the heat, he groaned. “I thought I’d make soup. I mean, it’s just water and whatever shite you throw in to make it taste good, right?”

“Right,” I deadpanned. “That’s all it is. Did you even look at what ingredients we have?”

A sheepish expression crawled across his face. “Uh, I assumed I’d find something in the pantry that would suffice.”

“Awesome. I’ll tell everyone we’re having pantry soup for dinner.” I rolled my eyes and turned to the far wall, where built-in stainless-steel doors covered two full-size refrigerators and a freezer.

I opened the freezer door and pointed to a stack of frozen pizzas. “These have instructions that are fairly idiot proof.”

“That may not do,” Chase teased, pointing to the text on the box. “It doesn’t even have pictures, and we’ve both established I’m more than fairly an idiot. Some might even call it full-blown idiocy.”

“I would!” Tyler called from the other room.

I giggled and pulled out the pizzas. Hopefully six was enough, otherwise we’d be having pantry soup, too. I took the water off the stove and set it aside, and then showed him how to operate the ovens.

As the second oven started to preheat, he looked at me. “Is Rebecca all right? She seemed upset when she ran through here.”

I exhaled and dumped the cooling water down the drain. “She will be. It’s just… There’s a lot of history here.”

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