“I need to talk to you,” Dex said, his stance calm with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“What the fuck could you possibly need to talk to me about?”
“Mae told me about the accident in Wisconsin.”
Ryan shrugged, his eyes switching between Lucas and Dex. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I think you need to help me convince Bailey to give up this search.”
When Lucas started to interrupt, he lifted his hand to stop him. “This search and you are putting her in danger. It needs to stop. She won’t listen to me, so it’s up to you to get her to back off.”
“I’m not going to help you with anything. Besides that, what makes you think she’ll listen to me?” Ryan asked.
“Because for whatever reason, she always does.” He came further into the office and took a seat. “Don’t be stupid, man, you know I’m right. You don’t have to like it, and you don’t have to like me, but you have to know this search is putting her in danger.”
Lucas said, “Instead of stopping the search, maybe we need to figure out why it’s putting her in danger.”
“No!” Dex stood and faced Lucas, no longer calm like he was a moment ago. “No! It doesn’t matter. What matters is keeping her from being hurt.”
As much as Ryan wanted to argue with Dex, he couldn’t. He’d been having the same thoughts since their accident. He didn’t want Bailey in danger any more than Dex did. “Listen, Dex, I don’t want her to get hurt either, you know that, but I don’t think I have the power to stop her.”
“Try. Goddammit, Ryan, that’s all I’m asking.”
Ryan shook his head and released a heavy sigh. “Man, what the fuck are you even doing here? She broke up with you. She’s tired of your bullshit. Why don’t you just move on?”
“My relationship with Bailey is none of your business.”
Ryan bolted out of his chair and pointed at Dex. “And my relationship with her is none of yours.”
“Right! It’s not. Not until your relationship puts her in a car that’s being run off the road. If she’d been hurt in the crash, it’d be on you, Ryan, and you know it.”
Ryan slowly lowered himself back into the chair, knowing Dex was right. Ryan knew it. He’d fucking taken her there, risked her life, and nearly gotten her killed. And for what? For nothing. They had no new information.
“Dex, don’t blame Ryan for that. First of all, you have no proof that accident had anything to do with their search—and there was no way Ryan could have known something like that could happen.”
“But I know the breaking and entering at her mom’s house did have something to do with this search. None of us can deny that.”
“Fine!” Ryan nearly shouts over their arguing. “Fine. I’ll try to discourage her from continuing the search.”
“Ryan, you can’t agree to this,” Lucas said. “Bailey’s a grown woman, let her make her own decisions and then support those decisions. Don’t bargain with him to manipulate her.”
Dex focused on Ryan. “Do we have a deal?”
Ryan gave Dex a death stare before he finally said, “Yeah. I’ll try, but I can’t promise I can stop her.”
“Don’t do this, Ryan,” Lucas said.
Dex nodded and said, “It’s a smart decision. We both need to keep her safe. Thank you, Ryan.” He reached out and shook Ryan’s hand then said, “I’m going to go find her and try to get her to talk to me.”
After he was gone, Lucas closed the office door. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“It’ll be fine.”
“You’re such an asshole. You already promised to help her.”
“And if I can’t get her to stop, I will help her. I’m not going to leave her to figure it all out on her own. I’m just not going to encourage her to continue.” Ryan lifted his hand and huffed out a sigh. “Dex is right, Lucas. Encouraging her to continue with the search for her family is putting her in more danger.”
“Just because you made some stupid deal with Dex doesn’t mean she’s going to stop. Discouraging her could put her in more danger.”
Ryan lowered his eyes. “If she keeps pushing, I won’t abandon her. I already said that.”
“Even so, Ryan, you shouldn’t be making deals behind her back with Dex.” He dropped down into the chair and said, “I guess you didn’t have that talk with her when you dropped her off today?”
Ryan shook his head, not meeting Lucas’ eyes. “I tried. I just…can’t”—he lifted his hand to his chest and pushed outward—“get it out. Besides, what if she’s safer with Dex? What if he’s right?
“Don’t be stupid. Ryan, just talk to her. It’s not up to you to make decisions for her. Tell her how you feel and let her decide for herself.” He shook his head and said, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You act like I haven’t tried. Like I don’t want to tell her. It’s not as easy as you think, Lucas, not after being friends for most of our lives.”
Lucas leaned in, trying to get Ryan to meet his eyes. “You’re in trouble, my friend.” He laughed sardonically and said, “Is it too corny to say it in song?”
Ryan tilted his head as he met Lucas’ eyes. “I already have.”
“You’ve written her a song?”
“Yeah. I finished it in Wisconsin, but I haven’t played it for anyone yet.”
“Perfect! Play it tonight.”
Could he get his message across to her without actually talking to her? Maybe. Pouring his emotions into music is what he did. It just wasn’t widely known how personal his music actually was. “Is that too corny?” He shrugged, feeling extremely unsure about it. “Would Bailey get it?”
“How can you even question that? She knows you better than anyone. I have no doubt she’ll recognize it right away. And if she doesn’t, don’t worry because I’ll sit you two down, face to face, and force you to talk it out.” He flashed Ryan an exaggerated smile and
