Page 22 of See My Words

Scott’s face was hot with mortification. He saw Rylan wink at him and relaxed, quirking his lips. “Yeah, at the moment I guess that’s true,” he said ruefully.

“Then let’s go get you fed.”

Rylan climbed out of the convertible, laughing as he staggered a little before finding his balance. “I’m getting too old to fuck in cars anymore.” He caught his breath as Scott grabbed him around the waist with one arm and hauled him close.

“Been fucked in a lot of cars, have you?” Scott muttered, feeling that irrational jealousy churn in his gut again, overtaking the hunger.

Reaching around to pinch his ass, Rylan said drily, “Let me remind you I went to college in Miami. I’ve done things that would make you blush.”

Scott couldn’t help himself. “Like what?”

Rylan smirked. “Let’s just say I know what I like, what I want, and when the time is right, I’ll be very vocal about it.” He gave Scott’s ass cheek a smack. “You’re gonna need all your strength to keep up with me, so let’s go get that carrot juice.”

Chapter Five

THREE DAYS LATER, SCOTT GOT his wires off, and the surgeon declared the fracture had knit well and was on its way to healing.

“You can add back in soft foods like noodles, Jell-O, and pudding, anything you can basically slurp,” he instructed. “No hard chewing just yet, especially until the muscles are stronger.”

Rylan watched in concern as Scott pinched the bridge of his nose, opening and closing his mouth a few times, a hiss escaping.

“Yes, jaw muscles can atrophy,” Dr. Rojas said, “but it shouldn’t take too long to regain your full range of motion. Just take it easy, and if the pain becomes too severe, call the office right away. Otherwise, I’ll see you in a month to check on your progress.”

On the way home, Rylan glanced at Scott in concern before turning his attention back to the road. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Scott rubbed his palm over the lower half of his face. “It just freaked me out when he cut the wires off and I couldn’t open my mouth at first. I thought I was frozen like that forever.” He chuckled, but it sounded bleak, with a tinge of defeat that made Rylan’s chest ache.

“One step at a time, okay?” he said gently. “Face is healed, wires off, and you’re on your way back to being good as new.”

Scott shrugged, and then he brightened. “He said noodles, right?” When Rylan nodded, he rubbed his hands together enthusiastically. “Know where Spaghetti Factory is?”

After a leisurely dinner of slurped noodles and a few glasses of wine, they went back to the condo and sprawled out on the couch to watch a movie. Rylan was startled when his phone suddenly chimed from the coffee table, and he snatched it up, squinting at the incoming text.

“What is it?” Scott paused the movie and stretched, a few vertebrae audibly popping in his back.

“Jaxon.” Rylan turned the screen around for Scott to see. “Texting me the score of his basketball game earlier tonight. He plays starting forward for Pace High.”

Scott lifted his head from the couch cushion to read the text from his eldest half-brother. Hey, Ry! Your little bro is a hero! 108-107! My 3-pointer with 2 seconds left clinched the win! He lay back again. “Wow, that’s awesome. Good for him.”

When he didn’t say anything else, Rylan said softly, “Penny for your thoughts.”

Scott rolled his head to look at him. “You, uh, you have any more pictures of the kids you can show me?” His voice was tentative.

“I have albums and albums of them. Would you like to see?”

“Yeah, I would.”

Rylan rose from the couch and snagged his laptop from its charger in the kitchen. When he returned, Scott had the TV turned off and was sitting up straight, his face full of anticipation mixed with something Rylan couldn’t identify. He sat next to him, and they settled back, their shoulders touching.

“I’ll queue up my cloud and put them in a slideshow,” he said. “You want me to filter the ones with Heather out?”

“No. I want to see them all.”

With a few clicks, Rylan started the slideshow. “I have them in chronological order, okay?”

“Okay.”

Rylan watched Scott as he stared at the computer, his face lit up by the glow of the screen. At first, his lips were pressed tightly together, a muscle ticking in his jaw, but his expression eased a little as the pictures scrolled by.