“I see.” Her voice doesn’t give anything away, so I have no clue if she believes me or not.
“I don’t know why Zane told you about her anyway.”
“Because your brother loves to snoop and tell everyone’s secrets. That boy has always loved to stir up trouble.” There’s a softness in her tone that comes out every time she talks about Zane.
“True.” A smile forms on my face, despite the frustration I feel toward my sibling.
Because my brother wasn’t exactly planned, my parents always call him their miracle baby.
And now I’m going to have one of my own. Wow.
“So everything’s going well, then? How’s training?”
The last thing I want to talk about is training. Or anything really. I’m drained, both physically and emotionally after this crazy week and the little sleep I got. But it’s my mom, and I don’t want to be rude.
“Same as always. It’s a lot of work, and I certainly feel it more now at my age, but it’s going well, I think. My coach seems mostly happy with my times, so I’m happy.”
I’m leaving out the fact he’s been trying to rip me a new one most of this week, but that wasn’t only his fault. My performance definitely hasn’t been the best, but I’ll be back to my old form soon.
“That’s great. I’m glad to hear that.” The smile is unmistakable in her voice.
I know it’s hard for them to live so far away from us, but when my grandma puts her foot down, she really puts her foot down. And she absolutely didn’t want to leave her home, but my parents wanted to do right by her. Which is something I respect the shit out of. Everyone deserves to have people like that in their lives.
What about Harper? Does she have people like that? With her mom and her best friend gone, it definitely didn’t sound like she does.
My mom huffs into the phone. “Oh, what did she do now? I’m sorry, Ryan, but we’ve got to cut it short today. Your grandmother is cussing like a sailor in the kitchen. We’ll talk soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom. Say hi to Dad and Grandma.”
“Will do. Bye.”
The line goes dead, and I close my eyes. Relax.
I stay like this for a few minutes, trying to clear my head. Trying to work my way through the muddy waters of my brain. I really need to get some good sleep tonight. My phone beeps with an alarm, letting me know I only have ten more minutes until my conference call. The desire to talk to Harper is almost impossible to resist, but that has to wait until after. Business comes first tonight.
The conference call takes longer than expected, and by the end of it my eyes are watery from all the yawns I had to suppress. My agent stays on for a couple minutes afterward, so I can make sure my schedule is empty for the rest of the week except my normal training sessions.
When I finally shut off the computer, I roll my neck several times in the hopes of releasing some of this tension that’s been bugging me for the last few days. It seems to do little, so I give up and pick up my phone instead, ready to finally text Harper.
My notifications show I have a message waiting. I smile, expecting it to be from Harper, but instead Jace’s name pops up in my inbox.
Jace: Heads-up. Our unfriendly neighborhood blogger is on the hunt again, so keep your curtains closed.
My jaw tightens at the memories this message evokes.
Ryan: Are you serious?
Jace: Yup. Just saw a video of her online. Apparently, she’s wondering what her Kings of the Water bachelors are up to. She promised more info on that soon, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s snooping again.
Fuck. This is the last thing I need. The last time Natasha Leopolt put her nose and her “detective skills” as she likes to call them where they didn’t belong, the ugly end of my former relationship was plastered all over the internet. That’s something I never ever want to experience again, especially now that everything’s so crazy with Harper and the baby. That nasty blogger would have a field day with that.
Ryan: If she oversteps the smallest bit, I’ll sue her ass.
Jace: Right there with you, man. We all are.
Ryan: Thanks for letting me know.
Jace: You know it. I get that we’re an interesting and good-looking bunch, but that woman is a class A bitch, and I don’t want her anywhere near me or any of you guys.