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Ryan shook his head, placing the tablet on his tongue and swallowing it down along with half the water. “Thank you, Jason,” he whispered when he came up for air.

“What for?”

“Everything. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

“I did,” I said, removing his glasses and placing them on the bedside table. “Because that’s how I was raised—you help your own. And I know you’re not from here, but you’re one of ours now. It’s not your fault Sawyer’s a raging asshat.”

“About what you said⁠—”

“We don’t have to talk about that right now. God knows I don’t really want to. I know we have to, but it doesn’t have to be right this second. You should get some rest first.”

Ryan picked at the fringe on the blanket I pulled up to his chest. “I just… You know I’m attracted to you. If that was your idea of some sick, twisted joke then⁠—”

“It wasn’t a joke,” I assured him. “Sleep now. We’ll talk about it later.”

I left it at that and exited the room, pulling the door shut behind me. My stomach was in my throat. I didn’t know if I wanted to cry, throw up—or both. Although I knew it wouldn’t happen, I went to my own bedroom to try and sleep.

CHAPTER NINE

After more hours of tossing and turning, something jolted me awake in the early hours of the morning. Seeing that it was still dark out, I glanced at my phone—it was barely six a.m. Had I dreamt everything with Ryan?

Upon realizing that I hadn’t, I bolted out of bed, freezing on the spot when I remembered what I’d told him.

Fuck—maybe he won’t remember.

I tiptoed across the hall and nudged the guest room door open. The bedside lamp was on, illuminating Ryan’s sleeping form, chest rising and falling with each breath. The poor guy must have been exhausted.

Resting against the wall, I scrubbed my hands over my face. There was no way I was getting back to sleep, not when my brain was fully aware of my situation. Stomach rumbling, I went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

I thought cooking with my injury would be a struggle but to my surprise, between the painkillers and the burn cream, I hardly noticed it.

I’d only just finished plating up the food when the bedroom door squeaked, and the bathroom door clicked shut. My heartbeat picked up. As I’d tried to fall asleep, a million different scenarios played in my head. What would happen when we had that vital conversation? I still wasn’t sure what my best-case scenario would be.

That was a lie. I knew what I hoped for, but it was far from my reality. Whether I liked it or not, I was having some sort of sexual awakening. Ryan was part of that, and I had to face the facts as they were.

He stumbled into the kitchen, glasses in one hand while he scrubbed at his eyes with the other. With his clothes rumbled and his hair frizzy and sleep-mussed, I had to admit that he was fucking adorable.

“Morning. Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” he answered, and I had to squash the feelings that raspy voice stirred up in my gut. “I think that pill you gave me sucked out everything I had.”

“Go sit down. What do you want to drink?”

“Uh, water’s fine. You didn’t have to make me breakfast. Thank you.”

This time, instead of putting as much distance between us as possible, I sat next to Ryan. “You need to eat. I wasn’t going to cook for myself and not make you anything.”

He picked up his fork and pushed his eggs around his plate. “Jason, about last night⁠—”

“Not yet. Food first. Talk later.”

With a grateful smile, Ryan… inhaled every bite of food in front of him. I couldn’t help but steal glances at him as we ate. Blood seeped through the bandage on his head, and bruised purple skin peeked around the edges.

It made me sick to my stomach.

“Sawyer really did a number on you didn’t he?” I commented.

Ryan bubbled out a nervous laugh, but winced as it put pressure on his injuries. “I’m in so much pain.”