Chapter 21 - Rosalie #2
His brown eyes flick to my bedroom door which, thankfully, is wide open. When he doesn’t find whatever he’s looking for, he backs off.
“Weird,” he mumbles. “We eating over there?” Ryan jerks his chin toward my couch.
With no dining table, our only seating options are at the breakfast bar or in the living room.
“I’m good right here,” Sylvie offers. “You two can take the couch.”
God, I love her.
Ryan shrugs, a silent ‘suit yourself,’ and grabs a plate. I do the same and follow him over to the couch, blowing Sylvie a kiss along the way.
I exhale quietly as I take a seat, my heart still lodged in my throat.
Holy shit. That was way too close.
“So, tell me what you’ve been up to, Rosa.” Ryan shovels some drunken noodles into his mouth.
“Just the usual,” I reply casually, as if I’m not hiding a life-altering secret. “Work mostly. I’m assigned to a big image rebrand which takes up a lot of my time.” I heap a big scoop of pineapple fried rice into my mouth, cutting off the impending anxiety-induced word vomit.
Less is more, Rosalie. Less. Is. More.
“That’s all?” He arches a brow.
“Damn, these skewers are the shit. Where’d you get ’em, Ry?” Sylvie asks, clearly trying to distract him again.
“Royal Orchid.” He barely spares her a glance. “Rosa? What’d you wind up doing on Valentine’s weekend?”
Oh, not much, bro. Just, you know, banged your bestie on every available surface of our family’s cabin.
“Sorry, starving.” I take three more bites of rice to buy me time to think and swallow hard. “Um…just laid low mostly. Why?”
Ryan’s eyes are lasered in on me. “Why were you being so weird when I wanted to hang out?”
Okay, I feel like a total jerk for playing this card, but I’m literally starting to sweat under the pressure here. I’m terrified I’m going to blurt out, “Logan and I had sex!” if we don’t change the subject fast. Let’s just say my impulse control isn’t the best when I’m panicking.
“Why do you think, Ry? It was supposed to be my wedding day. Can’t a girl wallow in peace without having to explain herself?”
His face falls. “Rosa, I didn’t—”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” I hold a hand up. “I’m over Julian, Ryan. I swear. I’m glad we didn’t get married. I just needed to escape reality and be alone for a few days, that’s all.”
Not untrue.
That was my original intention when I went to Tahoe.
It’s not my fault my brother’s gorgeous, sex-on-legs best friend just happened to be there, too, offering up orgasms on a silver platter.
I mean, truly, I had no choice but to take him up on it.
I would’ve been doing a disservice to all womankind if I hadn’t.
I snort, earning a suspicious look from my brother.
Dammit.
This is not the time to make jokes inside your head, Rosa!
I clear my throat. “Anyway…enough about my shitty ex. Why were you free on Valentine’s? No hot date?”
“Nah.” He gives me a crooked grin. “But I did have an interesting date last weekend.”
Sylvie gasps. “Interesting, as in ‘I want a second date,’ or interesting as in, ‘It was a complete shit show’?”
Ryan laughs. “A little of both, actually.”
Sylvie leans forward, propping her elbow on her knee, and her chin on her fist. “I’m listening…”
And just like that, the spotlight is off me.
Thank you, baby Jesus.
Ryan doesn’t need much prompting from our cousin to launch into a story about his wild date with the barista and her friend.
Between bites of Thai food, he spares no details—how he and Penny really vibed, how Mercedes couldn’t decide if she wanted to play the jealous ex, or if she wanted to flirt with him to make her ex jealous, and how the entire evening spiraled into super awkward passive-aggressive chaos—until he finally decided to call an Uber and get the hell out of there.
Sylvie, to absolutely no one’s surprise, loves every second of it, asking for more details along the way.
I watch my brother while they dominate the conversation, remembering what Logan said about him.
“Ryan isn’t afraid to settle down, Rosie.”
I always assumed he’d be an eternal bachelor and love every second of it.
But seeing how clearly frustrated he is that he didn’t get a chance to deepen the connection he felt with Penny…
I can see what Logan was talking about. Maybe Ryan’s not some dude-bro looking for easy fun.
Maybe he does want a real, long-term relationship with someone special.
“You know,” I say, eyeing him over my plate. “I think I was wrong about you, Ry.”
He freezes mid-bite, frowning in confusion. “What the hell does that mean?”
My lips quirk as I spear a piece of pineapple. “I had you pegged as the kind of guy who’d never settle down. Like, I could not picture you ever getting married. Or wanting kids…a house in the suburbs…the whole nine yards. But that’s not true, is it?”
He’s silent for a moment. “Have you been talking to Logan or something?”
My pulse spikes. “What? No. It was an observation I had just now.”
He snorts. “Well, congrats, Rosalie. It only took your whole life to figure that out.”
I roll my eyes. “God. Forget I said anything.”
Sylvie laughs. “Nope. No takebacks.”
I flip her off before turning back to my brother.
Ryan leans back, shaking his head. “I’m not necessarily looking for a wife.
Or a white-picket-fence-epic-love-story romance.
I’m a realist. I don’t need my life to look like one of your books.
” He flicks the cover of a paperback on the table.
“But…yeah, I would like to meet someone who intrigues me. Keeps me on my toes. Shares my interests.” His lips curve.
“And if she happened to be a bombshell with a great rack, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. ”
“Of course not,” I mumble, shaking my head.
“But seriously,” he continues. “I’m not the lost cause you seemed to think I am.
I just know what I want, and I have no interest in settling for second best. If I ever get married, I want forever, like Mom and Dad.
As nauseating as they can be sometimes, I actually think it’s kinda cool they’re still into each other after all these years.
If the right woman is out there somewhere, I’ll find her eventually. If not, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
I absorb his words, soaking up the fact that my cocky, sarcastic brother is actually being vulnerable for a change.
And I have a bit of an epiphany.
Maybe Ryan and I aren’t so different after all.
I’ve never given my all in a relationship before Logan. It’s easy to see, in hindsight. Maybe that’s because my subconscious knew who she wanted, and she refused to settle for anyone else. Ryan and I may have different methods to our madness, but the logic behind it is the same.
“Damn, you two are looking awfully broody over there,” Sylvie comments, stuffing a spring roll in her mouth. “I know what will lighten things up. Hey, Ry? Have you ever made a girl squirt?”
Ryan chokes on the bite he just took. “Jesus Christ, Sylvie. I am not answering that.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Please don’t.”
“Tell me you’ve never made a girl squirt, without telling me you’ve never made a girl squirt,” she sasses.
Ryan gives her a double bird.
“Okay, that’s enough,” I announce, setting my plate on the coffee table. “No more talk about squirting during dinner.”
“You need therapy.” Ryan points at Sylvie. “Or better yet, a muzzle.”
“No can do. My husband would stage a riot if my mouth was out of commission.” Sylvie grins. “Quite frankly, so would I. Hudson has the most lickable lollipop my tongue has ever tasted.”
Ryan and I both cringe, making her laugh.
“TMI, Syl,” I tell her. “T.M.I.”
She snorts. “Oh, please, Rosa. Don’t play coy with me. We all know nobody gets their nipples pierced unless they’re a freak in the sheets. Hell, you’re probably worse than I am nowadays, you dirty, dirty girl.”
My eyes widen. “Sylvie!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ryan grumbles. “I’ve lost my appetite. I’m outta here. Enjoy the Thai, you psychos.”
“Oh, c’mon!” I call as he’s heading toward the door. “Sit down and finish your dinner. I’ll make Sylvie behave.”
He looks at our cousin. “You and I both know that’s impossible, Rosa. Nobody can put a leash on that one, except maybe a small, impressionable child.”
Sylvie shrugs. “He’s not wrong.”
He gestures to her, like “See? She’s proving my point.”
I can’t dispute that, so I give him a little finger wave.
“If you need me, I’ll be bleaching my brain, desperately trying to forget the last ten minutes of my life.” Ryan then walks out the door, mumbling obscenities under his breath.
After the door closes, Sylvie leans back against the counter, smug as hell. “I’ve still got it.”
I give her the stink eye. “Did you really need to mention my sex life or tell my brother about my piercings?”
“Who cares? I’m sure he’s seen his fair share of nipple piercings.”
“That’s beside the point.” I snort. “But thank you. I was freaking out for a minute when he started sniffing the air. You definitely saved me.”
“See? Nothing to worry about. Ryan came. Ryan went. He’s none the wiser about your secret relationship with his bestie, and since we chased him off, more food for us!” She fans her arms out. “You’re welcome.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I shake my head.
“You love me.” She winks. “But seriously, I’ve got you, boo. Anytime. Anyplace.”
I smile. “Ditto, babe.”
After Sylvie leaves, I take a moment to reflect on the evening. I think things with Ryan went okay overall, but something tells me this won’t be the last time I have to scramble to cover my tracks. I close my eyes, taking a few deep breaths, reminding myself to celebrate the little wins.
I can worry about the rest as it comes.