Chapter 13 #3
“Thanks to Logan. He dropped my dad’s old wrench down a drain pipe. Beni brought me a new one from the utility shed, but it was huge and heavy. I was just building a picnic table, didn’t need one fit for a Titan. Anyway, yeah. It slipped, and… you get the idea.”
“Got it. It looks rough,” Jasper said, scooting closer on the couch. He picked up the ice pack and set it back on Ryan’s face.
Ryan’s good eye looked towards Jasper. “You know, I’m also sorry. For edging you on the deck and all that.”
“You didn’t edge me on the deck. You tortured me on the deck. Edging usually has a better ending than that.”
“True,” Ryan said. He laughed again. “Although you got a better ending later. Twice, if your story is to be believed.”
Jasper felt his cheeks heat and his eyes darted to the floor. He’d forgotten he lied to Ryan about what happened with Shawn. God, poor Shawn. “Yeah, well. You know.”
Ryan laughed again, making Jasper grateful the TV was on. Something to focus on so he could pretend he wasn’t dealing with the humiliation of being caught in a stupid lie.
“I heard from Micah today,” Ryan said. “Haven’t really spoken to him since I retired. He’s been busy in Don Royale’s absence, I guess.”
“What’s he up to?” Jasper was surprised by his reaction to Micah’s name.
For years, Micah had been a source of anxiety, eating up bits of Ryan’s precious free time when they both had stretches of home matches.
He was Ryan’s best friend and occasional mafia soldier in Don Royale’s wrestling faction.
Whenever their storylines highlighted any sort of “turf war,” Don Royale versus whatever other clown show CWA had dreamed up, Jasper knew he’d be seeing even less of Ryan than usual.
But hearing the name Micah now was like hearing the name of a grocery store clerk. Zero impact to his life. He let out a quiet exhale.
“Fucked up his back pretty bad.”
“Not surprised,” Jasper said. Not callously—he just wasn’t surprised. Ryan had always said Micah’s match finisher was going to destroy his body someday. Maybe that day had come.
It came for them all eventually. Even Ryan, a guy who cared a lot about safety in all walks of life, even in the ring.
His finisher was, in Jasper’s opinion, not particularly flashy, but that never bothered him.
Ryan’s safety had been paramount. He shuddered, remembering times he’d woken up to phone calls from unknown numbers—Are you Ryan Sullivan’s partner?
The scariest injury Ryan had suffered was a moderate concussion, but those calls had taken years off his life.
“Me neither. Still feel bad for him, though. Sounds like his days are numbered.”
“What’s his retirement plan? He’s from Florida, right? Will he move back?”
Ryan’s face scrunched up. “I hope not. I always imagined we’d build him a house on the back corner of our lot.”
“What, like brother husbands? Did we share you, in this fantasy of yours?”
Ryan waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe we shared you.”
Jasper snorted. “Gross. Micah is not my type.”
“Good. More of you for me, then.”
“Ry—oh, hey Jas!” Beni said, passing through the living room with a basket of clean laundry. “What are you doing here?”
Maybe for the first time in his life, Jasper was relieved by Beni’s loud presence.
Ryan’s vibe had shifted to something fond and affectionate, and he didn’t know how to handle that.
Jasper had come over for one purpose only, and that was to set things back to what he hoped would become their new normal, so their babysitting adventure wasn’t awkward.
“Just came to drop some things off. I’m heading out here in a minute.”
Ryan looked at Beni with his good eye. “He brought me my cherry pitter.”
She cackled at a classic Beni volume. “Bless you, Jasper. Don’t know what we would have done without it here, heading into the dead of winter. Our cherry tree is just bursting.”
Jasper rolled his eyes. “Alright. I’m leaving.”
“I’m just giving you shit. I’ll leave you two alone. Ryan, come find me when he’s gone. I want to show you how to log into Nina’s school portal.” She disappeared down the hallway and closed her bedroom door.
“You don’t have to go. She’s just being a dickhead.”
“I should go. I just wanted to stop by, you know, since we’ll be together a lot starting in a few days.”
“Yes, we will,” Ryan said.
“I’m sorry, again. For being a dick. We can just forget all that happened.”
“You can, if you’d like. But I’m keeping it tucked away up there,” Ryan said. He closed his eyes and smiled.
“Stop it.”
“I can’t.” His smile grew.
“Stop thinking about it!”
“Oops, your shirt just came off—”
Jasper threw a pillow at Ryan’s chest. The corner hit his bruised eye instead.
Ryan groaned. “Ow! God, okay! I’ll stop imagining it!”
“Oops! I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Jasper scrambled across the couch to move Ryan’s hand, inspecting the spot the pillow hit.
“I will be,” Ryan said, closing his eyes again. “Uh oh, there go your pants…”
“Okay. Goodbye, Ryan.”
Ryan laughed and waved goodbye, tossing a few kernels of popcorn in his mouth as Jasper closed the door behind him.