Chapter 836

“Sounds good. Just don’t go breaking your promise,” Ryan teased, letting me lie there while he pushed himself up on his elbows.

But as soon as I shifted, things got a little too heated. I scrambled off him in a hurry. “I’ll head downstairs for a sec—pretty sure Mariah’s looking for me.”

Ryan nodded. “Go ahead.”

When I got downstairs to help, Mariah wasted no time pulling me aside. “Victoria, you better dial it back a little. Don’t go startling Ryan.”

I sighed inside—yup, she totally misunderstood, thinking I was the one jumping all over Ryan.

“Mariah, not here. Too many people around,” I whispered.

“Ryan’s younger than you. If you come on too strong, you might totally freak him out,” she added, proving she knows her daughter way too well.

I could only nod, all flustered. “Yeah, got it. Next time, I’ll remember to lock the door.”

Mariah laughed and shot me a mock glare.

Ryan and I stayed at my family’s place for a couple days, and I took him hiking in the nearby mountains. On top of the peak, watching him stand there, full of life and energy, I couldn’t help but think—what are we really chasing in this life?

Maybe it’s just about finding someone who truly gets you, and spending all your years together, side by side.

On the way down, I twisted my ankle on a rock, and Ryan ended up carrying me all the way to the bottom.

His security guys, all in plain clothes, tagged along with us the whole way.

“Isn’t that your old school?” Ryan asked, pointing to the school gate as our car rolled past.

My heart jumped, but I forced myself to calm down. Even if Ryan knew it was my alma mater, he couldn’t possibly know anything more than that.

“Uncle Ed came up with the name, didn’t he? Pretty poetic.” Ryan tossed the line out so casually—just when I thought he didn’t know a thing, his next words totally knocked the wind out of me.

“You…” I was so stunned I couldn’t get a word out.

Ryan reached up, absent-mindedly spinning the plain ring on his middle finger—the one I’d bought him last night while we wandered through the shops.

“Vic, I’ve known about you and Uncle Ed for ages,” Ryan said, his eyes dark and unreadable as he looked over at me. “Honestly, you’ve never really had any secrets from me.”

I shot him a wide-eyed glare, but then just turned away—totally pissed and refusing to even look at him.

Seeing me get bent out of shape, Ryan put on this hurt puppy look. “Hey, I’m just talking about you and Uncle Ed. You don’t have to freeze me out.”

“Ryan, seriously—sometimes I wonder if you only came back because you couldn’t let things go, and now you just want to mess with me to scratch that itch of yours,” I snapped, voice cold as ice.

Ryan slid his arm around me, pulling me close. “I just think we ought to lay it all out, be real about it—so there’s nothing coming between us later.”

I was taken aback.

Ryan continued, “Uncle Ed and I grew up side by side. We’ve always liked the same things, so honestly, it’s no shock to me he’d be drawn to you.”

“Ryan, I…” I started, but the words got stuck in my throat.

“So you’re saying… you genuinely loved Uncle Ed, didn’t you?” Ryan asked, locking eyes with me.

I bit my lip, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Ryan glanced at me with a meaningful look and asked, “If you run into Uncle Ed again, would you still catch feelings for him?”

His question was pretty blunt, but I knew it was something we had to be honest about.

“If I’m with you, no one else will even cross my mind,” I replied, seriously.

Ryan smiled. “Alright, let’s just tuck that whole thing with Uncle Ed away.”

“You trust me?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

Ryan gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. “Like I said, all I want is for us to be happy together. If we keep making trouble for ourselves, we’re just messing up our own good times.”