Between Us Was My Brother

"Move before I pour this juice on your head."

Lila gasped and spun around.

"Ethan!"

Her brother grinned and held the carton above her head.

"Then stop standing in front of the fridge," Ethan said.

"You are twenty-four years old."

"And you're annoying."

"You've said that every day since I was born."

"Because it's true."

Lila rolled her eyes and grabbed the bowl of fruit she had been preparing.

Saturday mornings were always loud whenever Ethan's friends came over.

The house felt even louder today.

Music drifted from the backyard.

Someone was laughing outside.

Another person was arguing about football.

The smell of grilled meat floated through the open kitchen window.

Most people would have found it chaotic.

Lila secretly loved it.

She balanced the bowl on one hand and nudged Ethan with her shoulder.

"Tell your friends to stop eating everything before lunch," she said.

"No."

"Ethan."

"No."

"They've already finished two packs of snacks."

"They're growing boys."

"They're grown men."

"Same thing."

Lila laughed despite herself.

She headed toward the back door.

The moment she stepped outside, several familiar faces greeted her.

"Look who finally came out."

"Morning, Lila."

"Did Ethan lock you in the kitchen again?"

Lila smiled.

The men gathered around the backyard had been around for most of her life.

They had spent years treating her like a little sister.

Some of them were already working full-time jobs.

Some had moved away and returned.

Others still acted exactly the same as they had in high school.

"Lila!"

She turned immediately.

Rebecca Carter hurried across the grass.

A smile spread across Lila's face.

Rebecca wrapped her arms around her.

"You're finally home," Rebecca said.

"I came back three days ago," Lila replied.

"And you didn't call me."

"I called you twice."

Rebecca paused.

"Oh."

"You ignored both."

"I was sleeping."

"You were posting pictures online."

"That doesn't mean I was awake."

Lila laughed.

Rebecca had always been like this.

Beautiful.

Dramatic.

Impossible to argue with.

The two girls had known each other for years because Rebecca was part of the same friend group as Ethan and the others.

Back when they were teenagers, everybody had assumed Rebecca and Ryder would eventually end up together.

Nothing had happened.

At least not officially.

But people still talked about it.

Before Lila could say another word, Ethan's voice echoed from across the backyard.

"Rebecca!"

Rebecca turned.

"What?"

"Come help us with the drinks."

Rebecca groaned dramatically.

"I regret being friends with all of you."

"You say that every weekend."

"And one day I'll mean it."

The men laughed.

Rebecca looked back at Lila.

"I'll be back."

"You won't."

"I probably won't."

Then she hurried away.

Lila shook her head.

Typical Rebecca.

Always in a hurry.

She placed the fruit bowl on the table and glanced around the backyard.

The conversation around her continued.

The music played.

The sun shone brightly overhead.

Everything looked normal.

Peaceful.

Familiar.

The kind of afternoon she had always enjoyed.

Then Ethan's phone rang.

Lila barely paid attention.

Her brother checked the screen.

A huge grin immediately spread across his face.

The kind of grin he rarely showed.

"What?" one of his friends asked.

Ethan looked up.

"He's here."

Several people immediately sat up straighter.

"Seriously?"

"No way."

"You're kidding."

Lila frowned.

She looked around the backyard.

What was happening?

Then she heard it.

A distant rumble.

Low.

Powerful.

Growing louder.

The sound of a motorcycle.

Something inside her chest tightened instantly.

The motorcycle turned into the driveway.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then it stopped.

The engine died.

For one brief moment, the entire backyard became quiet.

The rider removed his helmet.

Lila forgot how to breathe.

Ryder Black was home.

The backyard erupted.

Cheers.

Shouts.

Laughter.

Questions flew in every direction.

Everybody rushed toward him.

Everybody except Lila.

She remained exactly where she was.

Frozen.

Watching.

Two years.

Ryder had been gone for two years.

Yet somehow he still looked exactly the same.

And completely different.

His dark hair was slightly longer.

The leather jacket looked worn from use.

A tattoo peeked from beneath the sleeve of his black shirt.

He looked older.

Harder.

Like life had carved sharper edges into him.

Still Ryder.

Just more dangerous than before.

Ethan reached him first.

The two men pulled each other into a rough hug.

The sight made something warm ache inside Lila's chest.

And suddenly—

A memory surfaced.

She was eight years old again.

Sitting beneath the giant mango tree near the playground.

Crying so hard she could barely see.

Blood trickled from a small cut on her finger after she scraped it against an old fence.

To her eight-year-old self, it felt like the worst injury in history.

Then a shadow had appeared in front of her.

Ryder.

Fifteen years old.

Tall.

Careless.

Already getting into trouble every other day.

He crouched in front of her.

"What are you crying for?" he asked.

"My finger."

Ryder looked at the tiny cut.

Then at her tear-covered face.

"It's small."

"It hurts."

"No, it doesn't."

"It does."

He sighed dramatically.

Then before she could react, he took her hand.

The next thing she knew, he pressed her injured finger into his mouth.

Little Lila stared at him.

Completely shocked.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Fixing it."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

Ryder shrugged.

"Because my grandma does it."

A few seconds later he released her hand.

"There."

She blinked.

"Is it fixed?"

"Yep."

"Really?"

"No."

Young Ryder burst out laughing.

The sound echoed through the playground.

A moment later, she started laughing too.

The tears disappeared.

The pain disappeared.

And somehow, from that day onward, Ryder Black became her favorite person in the world.

"Lila."

She blinked.

The memory vanished.

Rebecca stood beside her again.

"You okay?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah."

"You looked like you left the planet."

"I'm fine."

Rebecca followed her gaze.

Straight toward Ryder.

Then a small smile touched her lips.

Before Lila could ask why, another friend called Rebecca away again.

A few minutes later, Ryder laughed at something Ethan said.

Then his gaze lifted.

Across the crowd.

Across the backyard.

Straight toward Lila.

For one second, surprise flashed across his face.

The little girl he remembered was gone.

Lila Hart had changed.

Her dark hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.

Her skin glowed beneath the afternoon sun.

Her bright eyes looked older now.

Wiser.

More confident.

She had grown into a beautiful young woman.

Ryder started walking toward her.

Lila's pulse immediately quickened.

Not because of anything he had done.

Simply because he was Ryder.

The boy she had never managed to forget.

When he finally stopped in front of her, neither of them spoke for a moment.

Then Ryder tilted his head slightly.

A familiar smile appeared.

"Princess."

The nickname hit her exactly the same way it always had.

Lila smiled.

"Hi, Ryder."

He studied her for a second.

Not romantically.

Not intensely.

Just honestly.

Like someone noticing how much time had passed.

"You've changed."

Lila laughed softly.

"So have you."

"Yeah?"

"A lot."

Ryder glanced down at his jacket.

"The tattoos giving it away?"

"The smoking."

One eyebrow lifted.

"You saw that?"

"You weren't exactly hiding it."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"No point hiding things everybody already knows."

Classic Ryder.

Never pretending to be anything other than himself.

Before either of them could say more, Ethan threw an arm around Ryder's shoulders.

"There you are."

"I was standing right here."

"Come on. Everybody wants to hear what you've been doing."

Ryder shook his head.

"That sounds exhausting."

"You don't have a choice."

"I hate all of you."

"No, you don't."

Ethan dragged him away anyway.

The group burst into laughter.

Within seconds, Ryder was surrounded again.

The center of attention.

Exactly where he always seemed to end up.

Lila watched him from across the yard.

Then she looked away.

Two years.

Two whole years.

And somehow, nothing had changed.

Which was probably the problem.

Because after all this time, she still wasn't over him.

And something told her that having Ryder Black back in town was about to make forgetting him impossible.