Page 77 of See My Words

“Just—stuff, okay?” he said impatiently. “I’ll see you later.”

“Rylan—”

“I’ll be fine, Scott. I have my phone.” He hurried away before Scott could say anything else, grateful when he didn’t follow him.

Rylan wandered the dark streets aimlessly, his thoughts churning, until the heat drove him inside a nearby coffee shop, where he bought an icy, frothy concoction of something or other. He sat in a window seat with it and brooded until his phone buzzed with a text from Scott: Worried about u.

Rylan sighed, typing: Didn’t mean to worry you, I’m sorry.

Wanna talk about it?

Rylan had to be honest: Not right now, no. Later, ok?

No answer, and Rylan stuck the phone in his pocket, only to have it vibrate again almost immediately. He huffed in annoyance and pulled it back out, surprised this time to see a text from Garrett, his younger stepbrother.

FYI, never heard from Scott. U give him our numbers?

Shit. Rylan put his head in his hands, overwhelmed. He’d totally forgotten about that, as distracted as he’d been with their impulsive trip to Sedona and the busy month that followed.

His thumbs flew over the keyboard as he replied: Garrett, hey. Totally my bad, but I never told him :( Don’t be mad at him, ok? I’ll do it next time I see him, promise.

A pause, then: No worries. Thought he blew us off tbh. Let me know.

Will do. Really sorry, man.

Rylan put his phone away again before resting his head on his crossed arms, thinking of his younger stepbrothers in Florida waiting patiently for a text that never came. Pain shot through him at what they must have felt, wondering if Scott didn’t have time to get in touch with them, or worse, didn’t care. Damn it, he was such an asshole for forgetting.

“Thought that was you.”

Rylan jumped a mile at the sound of the husky voice at his shoulder, and he whirled around on his stool to see a woman smirking at him. She was dressed in a black pencil skirt and a silky cream-colored blouse, a handbag with a gold chain for a strap hanging over her shoulder.

“Maya!” Rylan stood and held out his hand for her to shake. “Wow, you look great!”

“Mmm. Don’t sound so surprised. Clean up that well, eh?” She released his hand and perched on the chair next to him, laying her purse on the table.

Rylan decided not to dig himself a deeper hole, so he just smiled and asked her a simple “Buy you a coffee?”

“Yeah. Please.”

He got up and was soon back with a cup of black coffee, which she took with a wink of thanks. “So what’s goin’ on, cutie pie?”

Rylan avoided her eyes. “Oh, nothing. Just the usual.”

Maya shot him a narrow glance. “Right. Which is why you seemed so down and out just now.” She shrugged. “Whatever, man.”

Rylan’s phone buzzed again, but he ignored it. “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to instead? I haven’t seen you around.”

Maya leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, smoothing her skirt. “That’s ’cause I haven’t been around. Picked up another regular, and count ’em, that makes three, honey. He wants to pay part of my tuition and books for the fall semester, too.” She flipped her hair facetiously, her long, varnished nails glittering in the overhead light.

Rylan raised his coffee in a silent toast. “What are you taking in college?”

“Right now, web design. Been workin’ on refinin’ my business plan, and the next step is to have my website up and runnin’ by spring. I wanna be totally indoor-based this time next summer, no more workin’ a stroll. The heat like to kill a bitch, ya know?”

Rylan gave a snort. “Believe me, I know. I was just out in it, and it didn’t help I also got roasted over an open fire by a very opinionated nun.”

“Must be good ol’ Sister Beej.” Maya’s tone was full of fond humor. “I saw the RV a couple blocks over.”

“Yep.”