Chapter 17
Holden
“Do you think she’s doing better?” I ask Leo. We’re sitting at the kitchen island, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.
“Honestly?” he replies. “I think she’s doing better than any of us expected.”
I nod in agreement because he’s right. None of us expected anything of her when she got back.
We were just ready to take her in our arms when she was ready.
Les is one of the strongest people I know, but even I can see the toll it’s taking on her.
Day by day, though, I see the old Les shining through.
Jay will regret the day he touched her when she’s back to her usual self.
“What’s for breakfast?” Ryder asks, coming into the kitchen. He squeezes my shoulder on the way by, jerking the refrigerator door open.
Leo and I exchange a glance. “I guess we order something,” Leo answers.
Ryder turns around with his nose wrinkled. “Again?”
I laugh. “None of us can cook, Ryder.”
“Where’s Micah?” Ryder asks hopefully, making me laugh harder.
“Not here. Said he had something to take care of,” I tell him.
“Fuck,” Ryder grouches, slamming the fridge door. “I want real food.”
“I can cook.”
All of us turn as one to that voice. Zane is standing just inside the kitchen doorway, looking like he wants to be anywhere but here.
“Nah, man,” Leo answers with a smile. “We can fend for ourselves.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” Zane says, walking further into the kitchen. Ryder backtracks toward Leo and me on the other side of the island.
They haven’t been in the same room together except for dinner last night, and even I have to admit, it was awkward as fuck.
By the time Zane is at the fridge pulling out ingredients, Ryder has made it beside me.
I look up into his face, and he’s glaring at the back of Zane’s head, that muscle ticking in his jaw.
I grab his hand silently, tugging for him to sit down.
He squeezes once before letting go and leaving the room.
Leo and I share another glance; Leo shakes his head. We can’t ask for much, but Ryder will eventually have to get over this thing with Zane, just like he did with Leo. I hope it doesn’t take something like what happened to Les and Gage for that to happen.
Zane goes about cooking, and either doesn’t know Ryder left or doesn’t care. Zane seems to be trying when it comes to all of us.
“Does anyone know where Alessa is?” Leo asks, breaking the silence in the room.
Zane chuckles, dumping ingredients into a bowl. “She seems to be a little busy with Dex.”
“Oh,” I say lamely. I don’t know what else to say. He seems to be okay with all of this, but is he? Zane is coming into an already established relationship with not one but five other guys. That can’t be easy, especially since the girl involved is a girl you love.
“What does that mean?” Leo asks.
“I went to work out. I could hear Les screaming from the shower,” Zane answers, stirring. “And not the I’m fucking scared screams.”
“The I’m getting my brains fucked out screams?” Leo asks, trying his hardest not to laugh. We’re used to those, Zane, not so much.
Zane looks over his shoulder. “Exactly like that.”
Leo loses his battle; he starts laughing, “Get used to that.”
Zane grunts in answer before pouring whatever he’s making into a skillet.
“Ohhhh,” Gage says, striding into the kitchen beside Zane, looking over his arm to see what he’s doing. “Whatcha making?”
Zane pushes him back with his arm. “Pancakes. Now back the fuck up.”
“Can you make mine look like Mickey Mouse?” Gage asks with a pout.
That sets Leo and me off laughing again. “If you don’t get out of my face, I’m not making you shit. Sit down,” Zane answers, not affected by Gage.
“Come on, Zaney,” Gage pleads. “I had a rough childhood. Take pity on me.”
Zane stops pouring, turning slowly to Gage. “Sit. Down.” he grits out.
Gage drops his head, shuffling his feet to sit beside Leo. He slides onto the stool, head still down. “He won’t make me Mickey Mouse pancakes, Baby.”
“Aww,” Leo answers, still chuckling. “You poor thing.”
I see Zane slightly stiffen when Gage calls Leo baby, but he doesn’t comment or turn around. He has to know about them. Does he know about Ryder and me?
I hear Les’ laugh spill down the hallway before she rounds the corner, Dex by her side.
The first things I notice are the light way she’s walking, her smile, she has on shorts and one of her tighter t-shirts.
I turn to Leo and Gage, and they notice the same thing, surprise all over their faces.
When she gets closer, we try to school our features, so she doesn’t think we noticed.
It might not be a big deal to some, but Les in anything other than baggy clothes or our clothes is huge.
Dex slides onto the stool beside me while Les drops a kiss on each of our lips.
She walks over to the stove where Zane is and tucks herself into his side.
He drops an arm over her shoulders, leaning down and kissing her lips slowly.
I search everything in me, and I don’t find any jealousy that I thought I would the first time I saw them together.
All I feel is relief. She seems to be letting herself want what she wants instead of fighting it.
“That’s bullshit,” Gage says after they split apart, Zane’s arm still over her shoulders. “I get pushed away, and she gets a kiss.”
Les turns to look at him. “You want a kiss from Zane, Gage?”
“Yes,” Gage pouts back.
Zane snorts. “Not happening, crazy boy.”
“Wow. You’re just trying to rip my fucking heart out today, aren’t you?” Gage replies, wiping a fake tear from his cheek.
Les slides onto the stool beside Gage with a chuckle. “What?”
Gage pulls her into him. “He’s being mean, Pretty girl.”
“He’s cooking you breakfast. How is that mean?” she asks with a laugh.
Gage huffs. “He just called me crazy.”
Leo barks a laugh. “You are fucking crazy, Gage.”
Gage’s head whips to Leo, then he laughs. “Fair point.”
Zane plates up pancakes sitting them in front of everyone but Gage. Zane slides more onto a plate, slapping it in front of Gage. And the very top one is…Mickey Mouse.
“No fucking way!” Les cries, laughing so hard she almost falls off her stool.
“Don’t say I never gave you anything,” Zane says before grabbing his plate and sitting beside Les.
Gage turns big eyes on Leo. “Baby, he made me Mickey Mouse.” Leo doesn’t answer because he’s laughing as hard as the rest of us. Gage turns to Les. “Mickey Mouse, Pretty girl. He made me Mickey Mouse.”
“Yes,” she answers, wiping tears from her cheeks. “He did.”
Gage jumps up from the stool, going toward Zane with his arms out like he’s going to hug him. “If you touch me, I will fucking stab you in the eye,” Zane threatens, holding his fork up as a weapon.
“Aww, come on,” Les says, bumping her shoulder into Zane’s. “Just one.”
Zane glares at Les. “No.”
Gage flops back down, looking at his pancake. “Now, I don’t want to cut him.”
“Oh my God,” Les laughs, stabbing the pancake with her fork. “There, I killed him for you.”
“You’re a monster,” Gage declares, pouring syrup. “A real fucking monster.”
Les just giggles, shoving a bite of pancake into her mouth.
The day Les went missing, and Gage got shot was the worst day of my life. Even being held in captivity for four years didn’t compare to the thought of losing either one of them. Now they’re sitting here, laughing and joking.
I look at Les again to ensure I’m not imagining things. The shadows that clouded her eyes are gone, leaving them that vivid blue that I love.
“What did you do to her?” I whisper to Dex.
He looks up, looks down at her, then smiles. “I just reminded her that she’s perfect for us.”
Ryder came to the kitchen about five minutes after we started eating, ate quietly, then disappeared again.
I honestly don’t know what else to do to make this easier.
Gage, Leo, Les, and Zane disappeared outside by the pool after breakfast; Dex said he was going to actually work out, leaving me with a brooding Ryder.
“Talk to me,” I tell him from beside him on the loveseat. His head is leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling, his hand casually laying on my thigh.
“About what?”
“Don’t do that,” I snap. “Don’t act like there aren’t a thousand fucking things we can be talking about.” I try not to shrink back when he turns those dark eyes on me. I don’t mean to snap, but damn, I’m getting tired of his mood.
He raises an eyebrow. “You want to talk about Zane? Go right the fuck ahead.”
I sigh. “You need to move on from this, Ryder.” I turn more to face him. “He saved my ass yesterday.”
“You can handle yourself,” Ryder argues.
“I wasn’t packing. You know I don’t like to carry.
” I raise my hand when he opens his mouth with what I know will be a lecture.
“Point is…he didn’t have to do that. He’s not that bad.
” I unrightfully judged him before. All I knew about him was the bad shit, not the good stuff I’m finding out about now.
“How the hell am I supposed to move on from this? I can’t even be in the same fucking room with him. I don’t think I can do this, Bello.”
I roll my eyes. “You haven’t even given him a damn chance.”
“Mark my words,” he grits out. “He will fuck up again.”
“I don’t think he will,” I argue back. “That’s wishful thinking on your part, and that’s fucked up. Because if he messes up again, that will break Les. Again.”
Ryder stands up from the loveseat without comment, striding out of the room.
I get up and follow him, running into his back when he stops suddenly. I step to his side to see Les and Zane further down the hallway, just inside the door that takes you to the patio. Zane has Les pressed against the wall, his lips locked over hers, his hands planted firmly on her ass.
“What the fuck?” Ryder growls, causing them to break apart. Their lips anyway, Zane’s hands are still on her ass.