Page 57 of Forever Mine
JULIEN
Smushed shoulderto shoulder with Ryder on the couch, I grimace at the online photo he shows me on his phone.
“That’s hideous. It looks like a Super Bowl ring.”
“You said you wanted something with diamonds.”
“Something tasteful, not gaudy.”
Going back to the images on my phone, I swipe through pictures of men’s rings, hating every single one. Elijah doesn’t like showy, so the large diamond men’s engagement rings are out, and the regular men’s rings are ugly as hell or too plain.
I stop on a picture of a men’s platinum trio wedding band with alternating rows of white and black diamonds.
“This one’s nice. The diamonds are small and square-cut.”
Ryder leans in. “I love that one. Take a screenshot.”
Looking at engagement bands was something I wanted to do with Jay, but the jerk has been ignoring me. Usually when we fight, we immediately get over it, but it’s been days. I despise the distance between us. I hate keeping secrets from him even more.
“When are you telling Jay?”
Ryder goes rigid as stone.
Sitting catty-corner, I rest my arm across the back of the couch, so I can touch his shoulder. “You need to tell him.”
Ry reclines back against the sofa cushions and spreads his hands over his face. “Do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. I hate that you’re doing the exact same thing Jay did to you. It was shitty of him to go behind your back then, and I think it’s shitty that you’re doing it now with him.”
Ryder’s head droops to the side, and I get the full power of his amber gaze. “I didn’t plan this or set out to purposely hurt Jay. Things just happened, and… I love her, Jules. I’ve loved her since I was nine years old. By some miracle, I’ve been given a second chance; one I’m going to fight for this time.”
The entire situation with them and Liz has been fraught with angst since junior high.
“Liz has always loved you, but she loved Jay, too. If you want a future with her, don’t make the same mistakes he did. You need to come clean. I told Liz I wouldn’t keep this from Elijah or from Jay, so if you don’t man the fuck up and tell him, I will.”
His eyes cinch closed, and he draws in a shattered inhalation.
“I will. I promise. I know it’s selfish to hope for, but I don’t want to lose him. Or you.”
“For the record, I’m not taking sides. You’re my brother, too. You won’t lose me.”
I can’t say the same about Jay.
“Thanks, Jules.”
“Want to hug it out?”
He laughs. “Yeah, I think I do.”
I pull him in for a hug just as the doorbell chimes.
We’re not expecting anyone. Liz is at some study group thing with a girl from her lit class, and Elijah is out with David tonight. The fucking dinner he keeps insisting he owes Elijah.
“I’ve got it,” I preempt when Ryder starts to get up.
When I pull the door open, the last person on earth I thought I’d ever see is standing there. I blink a few times to make sure I’m not imagining the willowy, elegant woman with red hair. Red, not dark blonde like I remember.
What the fuck is Elijah’s mom doing here?
