Page 88 of Say it Ain’t So

Pops smiled, but it was full of sadness. “Don’t know that I ever told you the truth, Rylan. Might have beat around the bush a bit, hoping you’d get it without me having to say it, but I think I missed the mark.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It wasn’t Susie I was trying to save when I married her, kid.”

My brow furrowed and I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”

“I married her because of you. I married her because I couldn’t stand the thought of what would happen to you if I didn’t. That day I found you with blood coming out of your ears, I overheard the nurses whispering that they thought it was child abuse and they were going to keep an eye on you. They were going to strip you away from your ma and send you off to live with people you didn’t know. I couldn’t let them do that to you, kid. And I knew they would. Susie could barely take care of herself, let alone pay attention to you. She and I may not have been serious when we were together, but I had a soft spot in my heart for you, and I couldn’t let them take you away.”

He rubbed his thigh, casting it a glance I was sure matched the one I’d been sending at my own leg. When he continued, his voice had lost some of its emotion.

“I wasn’t much of a catch. With my leg and all…”

“Don’t do that,” I chided, only for him to turn a chastising glare my way. I ducked my head and let him continue.

“I had benefits. I couldn’t work, so I had plenty of time on my hands. And you needed someone to care about you.”

“I could have taken care of myself!” I bit out only to cringe as the words hit my own ears.

“You know that’s not true. You couldn’t take care of yourself, kid. That’s why you were bleeding from the ears and hadn’t eaten in days. But that’s also not what I said. I said you need someone to care about you. Susie was so wrapped up in her own little world, she forgot about the most important person in it: You.”

“Pops.” Emotion clogged my throat and my eyes burned once again.

“You are special, Rylan. Having kids of my own was never in the cards for me, but I’ve never regretted a moment of that because I had you.”

A tear fell from my eye, but I couldn’t wipe it away. Pops had grabbed my hands in his, holding on so tightly I couldn’t have let go if I wanted to.

“I’ve always loved you, kid. Even when you were an insufferable ass.”

“Hey!” I couldn’t help but laugh, especially not after seeing a rare smile on his face. When my laughter calmed, I turned a sober look his way. “I’m lucky to have you.”

“You’re lucky to have Joss, too.”

Nodding, I wiped a hand across my face. “I love her.”

“Does she know that?”

“Yeah. At least I think she does.”

Pops didn’t speak for a minute, and as content as I was in that silence, I could feel something else coming. By the time he spoke, my shoulders were tense, waiting for whatever it was, because I was sure it was going to hurt.

“You two still married?”

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and I blinked at him as I tried to find whatever alternative meaning he might have had.

He shrugged, glancing down at my hand. “She wasn’t wearing a diamond ring. And I see you’re without a ring as well. So, are you still married or what?”

I huffed out a breath, then found myself baring my soul to my stepdad. I told him about Joss, how I’d walked into work over a year ago and found her standing there looking like the most beautiful woman alive. I explained how I’d hated her, and how that had slowly changed as I got to know her and the reason she left, and what happened after. I had tears in my eyes as I told him how she’d practically moved in with me after I came home from the hospital, how she made my life worth living when being stuck in my apartment had me itching for a way out.

“Why haven’t you left?” Pops asked gently, still holding onto one of my hands.

“I can’t.” I shook my head. “I’m not steady enough. I’m not strong enough to get up and stand on one leg.”

“Not strong enough,” he muttered under his breath before his voice took on a harsher tone. “I call bullshit. You’re trying to tell me that you—a man who hasn’t been able to sit still for more than an hour before he’s itching to move again, who has climbed the sides of mountains and jumped from airplanes and the tallest building in Vegas—you aren’t strong enough to pull yourself up and stand on one leg?”

“It hurts,” I tried, but Pops wasn’t listening. Instead, he unhooked his prosthetic leg and took it off, then made a show of pulling himself to standing, balancing himself on the only working leg he’d had since before I met him. My heart pounded in my chest as he let go of the couch, putting his arms out to his sides—reminding me of the yoga pose I’d done in the class Joss dragged me to. A pose I’d done without issue just days before that bullet hit my thigh.

Pops turned his gaze to me and gave a smile that said the words that’s fucking bullshit without him opening his mouth. He tilted his body, and I lifted my hands, worried about how I was going to catch him when I couldn’t even catch myself, but he righted himself before I had a chance.