We lose ourselves in the silence for a few minutes. Ryan’s trying to get his head around all these new ideas and I’m trying not to be squashed under the weight I’m carrying.
“Is there something I can do? Something we can do?”
“You and Nick?” I ask incredulously.
“We’re a family. If one of us calls, the others will come.”
“Once, maybe.”
“Don’t change the subject, we’re talking about you right now. What’s the situation?”
“Bad, Ryan.”
“Nothing new there.”
“I slept with Riley.”
“Holy shit!”
“And it was a mistake. Another one.”
“She isn’t—”
“She isn’t ready. She doesn’t trust me and I don’t think she ever will. She won’t let me in.”
“So, now what?”
“Now it’s a big fucking mess.”
Ryan sighs.
“You’re not going to end up like me, right, Ian? We’re not already at that stage, are we?”
I slowly lift my eyes to meet his.
“Jesus Christ,” he says, dropping his head into his hands.
We’re well past that point.
We’re past the point of no return.
