Page 59 of Ring Rust

“He’s right there. I think he fell asleep.”

Jasper snorted out a laugh. In a normal volume, he asked, “Why does Uncle Ryan have so much stuff on his back?”

“He hurt it. I don’t think he can get up.”

“He’s hurt?”

Ryan felt Jasper crouch beside his head and stroke the hair off his face. Ryan kept his eyes closed, giving himself time to enjoy the feel of Jasper’s hands.

“Uh huh. And I’m very hungry. He’s been there the whole time you were gone.”

“Jesus Christ. Okay. Let’s go get you some food, and then… Oh, man. It’s bedtime. We’ll play with Ryan more tomorrow, okay?”

Ryan heard the rustle of blankets and the thump of little feet as Nina gathered her things.

Then there was a pause, and Jasper said, “What are you watching?”

“Uncle Ryan wanted to watch his wrestling show, but then he got hurt. I put it on to cheer him up, but then he fell asleep.”

Ryan opened his eyes and glanced up. He couldn’t see Jasper’s face or the TV, but he could picture exactly what was on the screen—some younger version of himself doing somethingreckless and stupid. Probably causing the exact injuries that landed him there on the floor, in a house he used to own with a man who used to love him.

Half an hour later, Nina was in bed. Ryan was awake, but still on the ground. Jasper came back into the room and quietly removed things from his back.

“Aw, my deep tissue massage is over?”

“Oh, shit,” Jasper said, laughing. “I thought you were asleep. I was going to cover you with a blanket.”

“Believe it or not, this isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.”

Jasper laughed softly. “I’d guess not. Are you okay?”

Ryan nodded into his pillow. “I’m fine. I just tweaked something.”

He felt Jasper’s hand slip under his arm, and Ryan worked to lift himself off the ground with Jasper’s help. It was a whole ordeal, one that had Jasper’s hands moving all over Ryan’s body. There was minimal pain, but Ryan was still left with an ache in his chest.

“You good?” Jasper asked.

“Yeah. Feel a lot better. Thanks.”

For a second, neither of them moved, Jasper’s hands still steadying Ryan on either side of his waist. Then he stepped back.

“Goodnight, then. Take some more ibuprofen.”

Ryan nodded. “Goodnight.”

Chapter Sixteen

Despite how badLogan was at everything, Ryan was pleased with the progress they were making on the park. The one thing stressing him out was the carousel, Jasper’s pride and joy, and Ryan was nowhere near confident enough to attempt to fix it. Logan got within two hundred feet of it once and Ryan nearly tackled him with a spear—the wrestling move, not the weapon, though the latter was tempting. Maybe he just missed the ring and the aggressive physical contact that came with it, or maybe Logan was just an idiot who created a thousand times more work for Ryan.

He could see Logan now, pressing his drill into a hinge on a gate, causing a terrible noise to echo through the woods.

“Hands off the gate,” Ryan yelled, picking up his pace.

Logan winced and put his hands up, dropping his drill. “I think I can do this one, though!”

“No.” Ryan squinted. The screw was stripped completely.

“Please?”