40 - Jack

I sat down and Ryan began to speak. His tone was quite direct contrary to his nervous look while softly chuckling, "You’re probably old enough so I can’t bribe you anymore huh?”

I smiled coldly and replied, "Definitely not."

He just spoke facts right there. I wasn’t a kid anymore. I wasn’t someone he or anyone else who liked my mom needed to convince her to say yes or give them blessings or whatnot. Though there wasn’t going on between them anyway.

“I’m going to go straight to the point then,” Ryan said as he looked at me with serious eyes. “I really like your mom, Jack. Well, it used to be just a simple kind of ‘like’ but lately, I know I couldn’t stop my feelings anymore.”

The smile on my face vanished instantly at what I heard. Still, I kept my emotions in, staying silent as I waited for him to finish his talk.

“Even when you were away and you had a cold war going on between you two… Your mom leaned on me that time. Jack, what I am saying is, I wish your mom would lean on me more.