Page 68 of Ravaged Devotion

Which he wasn’t.

He’d flirted with her before only to get Rue’s attention, but it must have gone to her head if she thought touching him was an okay thing for her to do.

Before he could tell her to back off, Rue, seated on Ryker’s left, dumped his remaining eggs onto Ryker’s plate.

“He doesn’t want sloppy seconds,” Ishleen said, keeping her tone teasing, even though there was an obvious competitive glint in her eye, which was absurd.

“No, I don’t.” Ryker swiveled in his chair before his words could sting Rue, swapping out their plates so the full one was back in front of the other guy. “What I want is for you to keep up your strength.” He captured the back of Rue’s nape, leaving his palm there pointedly. “Eat.”

“Wow, Ryk,” Penn laughed on the other side of the table, “you’re such an attentive big brother.”

“He’s had practice,” Hollis added, then immediately lowered his gaze when Ryker stared at him.

“What he has,” Ellery drawled from his perch at the end, “is patience. That’s new. A week ago, he would have stabbed you both with his fork for daring to talk about Ryder. Is this growth, bestie?” He clicked his tongue. “I hope you can undo it before our next match. Enraged you is much more useful than whatever the fuck this is.”

“He’s playing leader,” Uriel chimed in, though it was clear he didn’t mean it as an insult, despite how it sounded. “Better him than us. Unless you want to try to keep this bunch calm and alive in his stead, cousin?”

“I barely want to keep us alive,” Ellery snorted.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Want to know what I’m thinking?”

“No,” Ryker answered for Uriel, but of course that did nothing to deter Ell.

“This whole nice guy persona is an act for little brother.” He pointed at Rue with the end of his utensil, grinning when Rue gave him a dirty look. “What? I’m doing you a favor. I’m telling them all it’s best not to mess with you. Or your man.” This last part was directed at Ishleen, who stilled.

“Don’t go around spreading rumors,” Rue stated, tensing when Ryker’s fingers reflexively tightened around his neck at the swift rebuttal.

Bowie suddenly grabbed onto Ryker’s wrist, attempting to tug him off. “Let him go, Ryker.”

“Never.” Ryker wouldn’t be doing that ever again. He got to his feet, making sure to keep his hold on Rue all the while.

Across the table, Hollis frowned. “You’re stepbrothers.”

“Your point?” He didn’t shake off Bowie’s hold, but turned his attentions to the other annoyance. Ellery’s lack of interest toward the rest of their party was starting to sound highly appealing. If he wasn’t worried about one of these idiots doing something stupid that could put them all at risk—put Rue at risk—he’d leave them to fend for themselves for sure.

“What?” Hollis glanced between the two of them. “You can’t seriously be—”

“Fucking my stepbrother?” Ryker cut him off bluntly. “What’s it to you? Unless,” he tipped his head in Esti’s direction, “the real reason you left your girlfriend to die yesterday was because you were hoping to get with Rue.”

“N-no way!” he sputtered, waving his hands in Esti’s direction, even though she was very pointedly acting like she wasn’t paying them any attention.

Her mom was dead and she needed stitches she wasn’t going to get here, so it was safe to assume she had bigger things to worry about than a shitty no doubt ex-boyfriend.

“Stop saying stuff like that!” Bowie shot to his feet now as well. “You’re embarrassing him!”

“Am I?” Ryker tipped his head down at Rue. “Are you embarrassed, sweetheart?”

“Sweet—” Penn caught himself and cleared his throat.

“Oh, come off your high horse,” Ellery sneered. “They’re not blood related you absolute morons.”

“Still, it’s…” Hollis licked his lips, “it’s not normal.”

“Normal?” He flung a hand toward the window over the sink. “Are you forgetting about the monsters outside? None of this shit is normal. Get over it.”

“You haven’t answered me yet.” Ryker was going to make Rue say it. Right now. In front of all of them. That way there wouldn’t be any more misunderstandings from anyone. He’d yet to inform him that he planned on leaving today with the other Black Harts to search the pool house, and there was no way he’d be comfortable going if he wasn’t certain no one in here would try anything in his absence. “Am I embarrassing you?”