Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
RYKER
I entered the dining room last, my cheeks still flushed from having fun with Harley. My hair resembled a disheveled bird’s nest after a tornado, despite my desperate attempts to tame it with my fingers.
“Perfect timing,” Dad announced, striding in with a steaming pan of lasagna that filled the room with the mouthwatering aroma of tomato sauce, herbs, and melted cheese.
Mom followed with a basket of golden garlic bread.
Sawyer and Gia trailed behind, each carrying glasses, while Gia also brought a pitcher of iced tea before everyone took a seat.
“Sorry I didn’t help with dinner prep,” I mumbled, staring at my empty plate as if it held the secrets of the universe. I couldn’t bring myself to meet anyone’s gaze, especially Harley’s, who practically radiated “I just made a straight boy come” energy.
“Don’t worry, biscuit.” Mom’s knowing smile made me want to spontaneously combust and have my ashes shipped to the Sacred Monastery of Keep Your Mouth Shut, where no one would ever mention dicks again. “We understand you were occupied with more important matters.”
Sawyer snickered from across the table. “Yeah, I bet you were fully occupied.”
Harley burst into laughter beside me, the damn traitor. I wanted to die of embarrassment. If the floor could have opened and swallowed me whole, I would have thanked it for saving me from explaining my newfound dick appreciation to my entire family.
“Ugh, you’re all the worst,” I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
Gia rested her elbows on the table like a gossiping oracle. “You know, Ryker, for someone who just got laid, you’re remarkably uptight about sex.”
“I didn’t—we didn’t—” I stammered, then gave up trying to correct her. “Can we please not discuss my sex life over dinner? Some things should stay private.”
“Since when are you a prude?” Sawyer asked, snagging a slice of garlic bread from Mom. “You’ve never shied away from oversharing before.”
“That’s different,” I insisted. “That was before—” I clamped my mouth shut, halting myself before I could spill our secret. “Just because you and Gia have no boundaries doesn’t mean I want my family dissecting what Harley and I do behind closed doors.”
Dad gave me and Harley extra-large portions, the cheese bubbling on top. “I figured you two need to replenish your energy after your vigorous afternoon,” he said with a wink that made me wish death would hurry the hell up and take me.
My face burned hotter than the lasagna as Harley accepted his plate with a grateful grin. “Thank you, sir. I worked up quite an appetite.”
“Dad!” My protest came out as a squeak. I focused all my energy on trying to teleport myself to another dimension while Sawyer laughed so hard she nearly choked on her iced tea.
“What?” Dad asked, the picture of innocence as he served Mom next. “Growing boys need their protein.”
Harley snickered beside me, and I could practically hear the dirty joke forming in his mind. I elbowed him hard in the ribs before he could say whatever cheeky comment was on the tip of his tongue.
“Ow,” he complained, rubbing his side. “What was that for?”
“You know exactly what that was for.” I stabbed my fork into the lasagna like it had personally started the rumors about me getting dicked down when all I'd gotten was a hand job.
“You two are adorable,” Mom said, beaming at us like we were the cutest kittens she had ever seen. “I always knew you’d make the perfect couple.”
I took a large bite to avoid responding, nearly burning my tongue. Mom’s lasagna had always been the eighth wonder of the culinary world, but I might as well have been eating cardboard drenched in tears since my dignity had just packed its bags and moved to Fuckofflandia.
Sawyer laughed at my plight. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised since Ryker’s always been emotionally constipated.”
“Hey, I’m not emotionally constipated simply because I don’t feel the need to broadcast my feelings like a reality show,” I shot back.
“Says the guy who sobbed for three days when his goldfish died in third grade,” my sister countered.
“Bubbles was a good fish! He deserved a proper send-off,” I defended myself, grateful for the change of topic.
Dad chuckled. “Remember how he insisted on a full funeral service? Made us all wear black and everything.”
“I was eight!” I protested.
“It was very sweet,” Mom said. “You’ve always had such a big heart, biscuit.”
“Yeah, and now that big heart belongs to Harley,” Sawyer teased, making obnoxious kissing noises with Gia.
I rolled my eyes, but Harley took it in stride. “I’m very lucky,” he said, his voice softer than usual. Something in his tone made my stomach perform acrobatics so complex it would require its own chapter in an anatomy textbook titled What the Absolute Fuck Is Happening in There?
“We’re all lucky to have Harley in the family now as Ryker’s boyfriend,” Mom declared, raising her glass. “To Ryker and Harley!”
Everyone lifted their glasses, and I tapped mine against Harley’s. When our eyes met, my lungs forgot how to do their one fucking job, as if his gaze contained the instructions manual but was keeping it hostage out of spite. It was the physiological equivalent of sticking a fork in a toaster.
Gia passed the garlic bread to me with a smirk that spelled trouble. “So, how’s the honeymoon phase treating you? Based on how late you are to dinner and how flushed your cheeks are, I’d say pretty well.”
I fumbled with the basket, nearly dropping the damn thing.
My fingers suddenly forgot how to function like normal human appendages.
Just as it tipped precariously, Harley’s hand shot out, saving it from a tragic fate on the floor.
Our fingers brushed, and that innocent touch made my nervous system go completely feral like a house cat that had discovered catnip for the first time.
Sparks flew, warning bells screamed, and I’m pretty sure my brain voided its warranty.
“I’d say it’s going fantastic,” Harley answered for me, his hand squeezing my thigh under the table. “Ryker’s full of surprises.”
The way he emphasized “surprises” made it clear he was alluding to our earlier escapades.
My mind flashed back to the feel of his skin under my fingertips, the taste of his lips, and the sounds he made when I touched him.
Heat crawled up my neck and into my face, igniting what had to be the most obvious blush in human history.
“Can we discuss literally anything else?” I attacked my lasagna like it had personally offended me.
Sawyer’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Sure! When did you first realize you wanted to jump Harley’s bones? Was it during one of those late-night study sessions where you were ‘just friends,’ or did you walk in on him jerking off in the shower and decide to join in the fun?”
I huffed, dropping my fork with a dramatic clatter. “That’s not what I meant by ‘anything else,’ and you know it.”
“What?” Sawyer blinked with exaggerated innocence. “I’m trying to piece together the timeline. One minute, you’re straight as an arrow, and the next, you’re upstairs making enough noise to wake the neighbors.”
“Our neighbors are twenty feet away,” Dad pointed out, far too entertained by my mortification.
Sawyer’s grin turned triumphant. “Exactly. And they’re about to get an education on how good a sexual awakening can feel.”
Could I spontaneously combust from humiliation? Because I was definitely feeling the heat.
We settled into eating, relishing a moment of blessed silence. I focused on my food, trying to ignore the weight of Harley’s hand resting on my thigh.
Gia turned her attention to Harley. “So, three years of pining after Ryker. That’s commitment.”
Harley nodded, completely unrepentant. “The best things are worth waiting for,” he said, casting a sideways glance at me that transformed me into a human embodiment of a keyboard smash as my internal monologue sounded like, “THUDKABOOMZAWHEEE!!!??!!?” All while my face tried to remember which muscles formed a normal expression.
His usual sharp, teasing demeanor had blurred, revealing a look so disarmingly genuine it felt like a plot twist in a rom-com. Was he still acting?
“And you, biscuit?” Mom asked, taking a bite of garlic bread with a carefully crafted innocent expression that was anything but. “Only a few weeks of interest? I find that hard to believe.”
“It wasn’t one moment,” I said quietly, surprising myself with how honest I sounded. “It was all the little things. Like how he always makes coffee for both of us in the morning. Or how he can make me laugh even when I’m drowning in exam stress.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around this,” Sawyer said. “You’ve been adamantly straight your entire life. What changed?”
I shrugged, feeling oddly calm despite the spotlight. “Maybe I was never as straight as I thought. Or maybe it’s just Harley.” The words rolled off my tongue, and I realized with shock that I might actually mean them.
“I always suspected,” Mom said, looking far too pleased with her maternal intuition. “A mother knows these things.”
“You did not,” I protested. “You’ve been trying to set me up with women since I was old enough to date!”
“Only because you kept insisting you were straight. I was waiting for you to figure it out yourself.”
“I appreciate you care about our happiness.” Harley’s warm smile made my mother practically preen like a peacock.
“Speaking of happiness,” Gia interjected, “when did you realize Ryker wasn’t quite the poster boy for heterosexuality he claimed to be?”
My soul left my body as I braced for Harley’s inevitable raunchy response.
He had the sexual discretion of a megaphone playing a porn soundtrack, and I was convinced he was about to announce to the entire table exactly how many times he’d caught me deep-throating a banana out of sheer curiosity before volunteering to let me use his dick.