Page 173 of Say Yes to the Nemesis

Jay studies him for a long moment. “You have a reputation, Ryan. A pretty well-documented history of not staying with women very long.”

“You’re right. I do. But Wren isn’t just another woman. She’sthewoman. The one I want to build a life with.”

“How do I know that?”

“Because I’m here. Because I walked away from a seven-figure contract to choose her on national television. Because I’m sitting in your kitchen letting you interrogate me instead of telling you to go to hell, which is what I want to do.”

I reach over and take Ryan’s hand under the table, squeezing it gently. He squeezes back.

Jay looks between us and sighs. “I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to like it,” I say. “But you do have to respect it.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then that’s your choice. But it doesn’t change mine.”

Jay is quiet for a long moment, clearly wrestling with something. Finally, he looks at Ryan again.

“If you hurt her, there will be consequences.”

Ryan smirks. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

They stare at each other. I can practically see them sizing each other up. Finally, Jay nods once, sharp and decisive.

“Okay, then.”

“Okay, then,” Ryan agrees.

After dinner, Ryan kisses my cheek and tells Jay thank you for dinner. “I’m going to head out,” he says. “Give you two some space to talk.”

“You don’t have to leave,” I tell him.

“Yeah, I do. This part is between you and Jay.”

He’s right, and I know it. As much as I wanted him here for moral support, this conversation needs to happen without him.

“I’ll see you at home,” he says, and the casual way he says it makes my heart flutter. Home. Our home.

After he leaves, Jay and I migrate to the living room. I curl up in the corner of the couch, the same spot I always sat in when we were kids. Jay takes his usual chair. The room feels different without Ryan here. Smaller somehow, but also safer. Like we can finally say the things we’ve been holding back.

“You love him,” he says. It’s not a question.

“Yeah. I do.”

“And you’re happy?”

“I am.”

He nods slowly, like he’s trying to accept something he doesn’t want to be true. “Then I guess that’s what matters.”

“But?”

“But I’m having a hard time with this, Wren. Not just Ryan, but all of it. You moving in with him, taking this new job, this whole new life you’re building. It feels like you’re pulling away from us. From me.”