Jay dropped his gaze and frowned. The tears pooled in his eyes, and he cursed under his breath. He was just a little emotional now that the adrenaline had worn off, that’s all. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, what’s goin’ on, darlin’? Did someone say somethin’ to you? Because I’ll set ’em straight.” He snickered. “Well, unless they work with us. Ain’t no one straight there.”
Jay shook his head, amused. He wiped his eyes and told Ryden all about his conversation with Finch, even though there was a very good chance Ryden wouldn’t remember any of this, but he wanted Ryden to know. Or was he looking for reassurance that he wasn’t a horrible person andhadchanged?
Ryden was so quiet, Jay had to check he hadn’t fallen asleep with his eyes open or something.
“Ry?”
“Yeah, uh, what’s a Mean Girl?”
“It’s from a movie. You haven’t seenMean Girls? It’s a cult classic. I was in high school when it came out.”
Ryden peered at him. “Darlin’, I was in the military while you were in high school.” He rolled his head back to look up at the ceiling. “Ugh, now I feel old.”
“You’re not old.”
“Oh yeah? Name a band you consider vintage.”
Jay pursed his lips. “NSYNC?”
“Ouch.” Ryden gently laid a hand over his heart, groaning. “Ooh, that hurt my heart. Right in the AARP.”
Jay barked out a laugh. “What were you listening to at the time?”
“Garth Brooks and Nirvana. You were what? A year old when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came out? Jeez Louise. Anyway, tell me about this mean girl.”
“Mean Girls,” Jay corrected. He told Ryden the premise of the movie and how his brother said that’s what he’d been like in high school.
“I can still punch him,” Ryden said. “Don’t need my left arm for a right hook. Just sayin’. I like him, but I’ll still punch him.”
“No punching necessary. We talked it out. He was right, though. I was such a shit, and I had created this image in my mind of what I thought things had been like, what we were like. Maybe I did it because I didn’t want to believe I was the bad guy in this story.”
“Now you listen to me,” Ryden said, all humor gone from his voice. “You’re not the bad guy. We’ve all done things in our past that we’re not proud of, but that doesn’t define us. So you were an asshole in high school. Who wasn’t? No one had it all figured out at fifteen, no matter how much they thought they did. The important part is that you both grew out of it. Not everyone does. You talked it through and can be brothers again.”
“But what if I haven’t changed?”
“Darlin’, if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be feeling so shitty about it, would you?”
“I guess,” Jay muttered. “But I threw books at you.”
“They were paperbacks. Besides, I was intentionally provokin’ you.” Ryden squeezed Jay’s hand. “Do you think Iwoulda fallen in love with you if I thought you were a terrible person?”
Jay eyed him. “I don’t know. Your choices are questionable at times.”
Ryden laughed softly. “Okay. Would King have made you a part of his family if you were a terrible person? The answer is no. You have the right to a full range of emotions. It’s what makes you human. Sure, you can be pissy and snide, but you’re also kind, compassionate, sweet, funny, confident, and feisty. I’ve seen you be fearless and stand up for others. You’re a good person, sweetheart.”
Jay bit his bottom lip in an effort to keep his emotions in check. It had been a very long night. Then, of course, there was the fact he’d been kidnapped. Minor details. “Thank you.” The room went quiet, and a heartbeat later, Ryden spoke up.
“So, you’re my boyfriend now, huh?” Ryden waggled his eyebrows, and Jay laughed. “We gotta lot of boyfriending to do when I get outta here.”
“I’m looking forward to all the boyfriending,” Jay replied with a happy sigh.
“Take a nap with me.”
“A nap sounds good.”
“Don’t eat my dessert,” Ryden grumbled. “If you give me a kiss later, I might share it with you.”
