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Beside me, Cade shoved half his bacon melt into his mouth in one bite, groaning dramatically like he hadn’t eaten in a week .

I laughed, shaking my head as he struggled to chew.

Ryder, more controlled as always, cut neatly into his pancakes, stacking bites like he had all the time in the world.

He didn’t talk much, just sat back, eating slowly, his gaze skimming the diner lazily, never really relaxing, but not tense either. Simply aware.

I hesitated before speaking. “So, I know we said no Hunt talk, but… have either of you gotten word on what’s going to happen with Dennis?”

Ryder didn’t miss a beat. “Expulsion.”

“That seems extreme.”

Cade grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. “Sanj, he tried to drag you through one of the university’s restricted tunnels and pretend he was a Huntsman. Not to mention, he broke nearly every rule in place for something that hasn’t even started yet.”

I frowned. “Pretend?”

Ryder leaned forward, bracing one arm on the table. “He was invited to play this year, but his family couldn’t afford the cost of entry. He had no business doing any of this.”

I sat back, processing. “Okay, yeah. He screwed up. But expulsion? Isn’t he on a scholarship track? This shouldn’t derail his whole future.”

Cade shook his head like I’d personally offended him. “There’s no way I’m hearing right. You’re defending Dennis?”

“I’m not,” I said quickly, scowling. “I think he’s a shriveled ball sack with delusions of power, and I want to kick his so hard they ricochet into his stomach for how sore I am.”

They both visibly cringed as if they could feel that happening themselves.

“I can hear a but in there,” Ryder pressed.

“But did he do something awful enough to—.”

“Oh, my fuck, Little Sanj,” Cade groaned, dragging a hand down his face and cutting me off. “Why are you so…”

“Human?” I snapped.

His mouth opened, but Ryder spoke first, his voice so calm it made me still.

“I love how kind of a soul you have, baby, but it won’t save his.” He sliced through his food with slow, deliberate movements before taking a bite.

“Then what about the other guy?” I asked, eyes narrowing. “Are you going to find out who it was and go after them too?”

Cade looked up, chewing more slowly. “What other guy?”

I jolted back. “What do you mean? Dennis wasn’t alone.”

They shared another look, and my stomach twisted.

Ryder leaned in slightly. “Are you sure?”

I stared at him. “Are you kidding me right now? Yes , I’m sure.”

Cade straightened, brow creasing. “What did they look like?”

“They were wearing all black,” I revealed, heart rate picking up as I thought about it again.

“Had one of those LED face masks. Some kind of voice distorter, too. Whoever it was talked the same way the person texting us does. You didn’t see the new messages I got?

” I looked at Ryder. “You didn’t check?”

He rubbed his jaw and gave me a bemused look. “I answered your phone when it rang, so you didn’t get woken up, Sass. Your thread with D-W was already pulled up. I wouldn’t randomly go through your text messages.”

That...did nothing to ease the pressure building behind my eyes. I grabbed my cell from the table, unlocked it, scrolled to the thread from 1031, and slid it across to him. “Look.”

He took it, reading in silence.

“You guys don’t get private texts?”

“Oh, we do,” Cade said, taking the phone from Ryder. His brow furrowed. “But this is…” He trailed off, eyes still on the screen.

“Is…?”

Again, neither of them answered right away.

“So you didn’t know there was someone else?” I questioned when the silence stretched, my voice sharper than I meant it to be. “That’s who backhanded Britt.”

Ryder tilted his head. “She said Dennis did that.”

“What? No, he didn’t.”

Why would Britt lie?

There was no way she was in on what happened. She wasn’t that good of an actress. She barely managed to show up to class on time without getting lost, and we’d been attending college for two years now.

Cade’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts, voicing my inner doubts. “Could she be in on it?”

“I don’t understand. She had the shits and then got backhanded and dragged by her hair. Who signs up for that?”

Cade blinked. “She had the what ?”

I threw up my hands. “I don’t know, that’s what she said. She was only in the locker room because her stomach was having issues or something.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, like he regretted asking.

Ryder was watching me, silent and calculating, like he was cataloging every word, every crack in the story she told.

What did it mean if she was in on what happened?

Why would she be?

I refused to believe it. I already had Layla acting suspiciously and slinking around behind my back. I’d known Britt even longer. She wasn’t like that. She couldn’t be. I glared at the table, so I didn’t embarrass myself and cry.

“Let her out, Cade,” Ryder instructed, voice low.

Without hesitation, Cade slid from the booth. Ryder was there in the next instant, gently easing me across the seat.

“Get the tab,” he tossed over his shoulder, guiding me toward the door.

The chilled fall air hit like a reset button, sharp in my lungs, cold on my flushed cheeks, making it a little easier to breathe.

Ryder didn’t speak as we crossed the parking lot. He walked me to the passenger side of his truck and pulled the door open for me. I climbed in and settled onto the seat.

“Look at me, Sass,” he said softly.

I didn’t. My eyes stayed on my lap, on my hands gripping the edge of his jacket like they might keep me from coming apart. “I don’t understand,” I whispered. “And if she is in on something… why? Do my friends secretly hate me?”

He stepped closer, gripped my waist, and turned me until my legs were hanging over the side of the seat, and he was between them. “We don’t know what’s going on. Just breathe a little for me, okay? I’ll figure it all out for you.”

“I feel like I sound crazy.”

That made him laugh, the sound low and warm against my skin. “Remember what I said?”

I raised my gaze to his and instantly got lost in his eyes.

“I know what crazy looks like, and it could never be you.”

I nodded, my voice barely there. “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me, Rye. You saw those texts.”

“That’s someone trying to get in your head, and that makes it even more of my problem. I’m supposed to be the only one in there.”

I released a watery laugh.

“No one’s fucked with me remotely,” he continued. “A few of the same type of messages, yeah. That’s all. I promise I’ll make this right without a single hair on my head being touched.”

“That doesn’t make me any less worried about you,” I pushed back.

“It’s you we need to be worried about, Sass. I’m doing my fucking best to keep myself in check right now and not lock you away somewhere where nothing and no one could ever touch you again. Knowing he put his hands on you…” He trailed off, exhaling hard.

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I felt it in the tension of his grip, rolling off his body like barely leashed violence. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tight. His arms circled my waist like he was anchoring both of us. His mouth dipped to my neck, and I froze.

“Ryder.”

He pressed a kiss to the side of my throat, then another. Despite everything wrong with the timing, the ache still fresh in my muscles, and the anxiety crawling in my chest, my body had no problem reacting.

“Rye,” I half moaned when he pressed another kiss just a little lower.

I felt him smile against my skin. Then he pulled back just enough to speak, his breath still warm against my throat. “Those little sounds are going to destroy me,” he groaned. “I could fuck you right here, just like this, but then I’d have to burn down our Waffle House so there’s no witnesses.”

My thighs clenched around his hips, and I couldn't look away from the way him. “I hate how much I like it when you say things like that,” I murmured, my voice unsteady.

His grin turned feral. “That’s not hate, baby.”

A hand slid down to my thigh, gripping it just enough to make me inhale sharply.

His other hand stayed curled at my waist, holding me in place like he was weighing the line between teasing me and taking what he wanted.

“ Ahem .”

The sound of Cade clearing his throat broke through my lusty haze.

“As erotic as this is, can you get off my sister so we can go home and not give these people a show they should be paying for?”

My face heated. Ryder didn’t look remotely ashamed. He grinned at his brother and stayed exactly where he was.

“We can finish this later,” he promised, low in my ear, kissing the corner of my mouth like punctuation before finally stepping back. “Let’s get you home and in bed.”

I swatted him, cheeks blazing as I slid my legs back inside the truck and busied myself with my seat belt like it was suddenly the most complicated task in the world.

Cade climbed into the backseat this time and held out my phone.

My poor, neglected phone, which I really needed to keep better track of.

I reached for it, and he grinned. “The old parking lot rendezvous, eh?”

“Shut up.” I snatched my phone from his hand and swiftly turned in my seat.

Ryder’s laugh was drowned out as the truck rumbled to life beneath us, headlights cutting across the lot. His hand found my thigh as he pulled out onto the road.