Unfriending the Dr by Piper Sullivan

Ryan

“Ibrought cookies,” Rosie’s sweet voice boomed across the backyard that was filled with my friends and the scent of barbecue. “What did you bring Titus?”

“I’m helping Ryan man the grill,” he said with a hint of authority as he repeated the words I said to him earlier. “Mom brought pasta salad with green stuff.” Titus groaned and Rosie added her own sounds of disapproval to the chorus.

I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a nice day for an impromptu barbecue and everyone had showed up. “What’s the reason for this little get together?” Teddy stood in the kitchen with her arms folded, eyes fixed on me suspiciously.

“It’s a nice day to cook meat over an open fire. Do I need another reason?”

“No,” she answered, eyes narrowed to slits. “I was just curious if you and Persy would be making any special announcements today.”

I frowned at her at first, but slowly I smiled. Her response told me that Persephone had talked to her friends about me. About us. “None that I’m aware of, Teddy. Sometimes a cookout is just a cookout.”

“Hmph. I brought ice and napkins. Ice is in the cooler and napkins are on the table outside.”

“Thanks.” I gathered the platter of meat Persephone had seasoned and arranged earlier, along with my special barbecue sauce, and followed Teddy into the backyard.

Antonio was on his feet, smiling as he met me at the grill. “You sure you don’t want to tell me what’s in the sauce?”

“Leave it alone,” Gus told him with an affectionate eyeroll.

I shrugged and waved off her concern. “You have all but two ingredients. Can’t the Bad Boy Chef figure it out?”

“I could, but victory would be so much sweeter if you just told me the missing ingredients.”

“And that’s exactly why I won’t.”

Antonio growled his disapproval and set a cold beer beside the sauce. “You can have this anyway,” he grunted and walked away.

“Thanks for giving me one of my own beers,” I called after him.

“Ryan, thanks for the invite!” All conversation stopped when Gavin stepped into the backyard, dressed normally for once in jeans and a plain white t-shirt, but the man knew how to draw attention. “I brought tequila and limes, hope that’s all right.” His gaze landed warily on Rosie and Titus.

“They can’t have any, obviously.” Suzie relieved Gavin of his limes. And the tequila. “But this is appreciated.”

I laughed and wondered about the tension between them. “Very appreciated,” I assured him. “There’s beer in the cooler. And soda.”

“And fresh lemonade,” Megan added, shocked eyes glued to Gavin. “Made by yours truly.”

“Is fresh lemonade a thing?” Gavin asked, a flirtatious smile fixed on his face as he sauntered over to Megan.

Casey stood. “It is, trust me. As her husband I had the pleasure of peeling six hundred lemons.”

Megan rolled her eyes. “It was hardly twenty, babe. Exaggerate much?” She laughed, but Casey’s gazed was fixed on the rockstar smiling at his wife.

“Settle down, Case. Gavin doesn’t poach, or so I hear,” Persephone added with a knowing smile for Gavin.

“I don’t? I thought that rule was just for the man fixing my car.” He smiled back, not at all offended that I had shared his words with her.

“He’s a brain surgeon, and you might need his help when someone else’s husband or boyfriend knocks you out in a jealous rage.”

“Ah,” he grinned. “Good call, Persy. Thanks.” Gavin turned to Megan with another flirtatious smile. “Too bad because you’re smoking hot.”

She giggled and Casey growled.

“Let the party begin!” Cal stepped into the backyard with a wide smile and five bags of chips dangling from one hand. “And I brought snacks.”

“So did I,” Oliver added and held up a bag filled with bags of chips.

Cal laughed. “Great minds think alike.”

“Small minds,” Teddy added under her breath but loud enough to draw a laugh from just about everyone.

A third man stepped in beside Cal, looking nervous and out of place. “Uh, hi.” He held up one hand in greeting and flashed a shy smile.

“Who the hell is that?” Gavin asked loud enough to be heard.

Persephone gasped and I turned to face her, to see the look of shock mixed with wariness in her eyes and I had a feeling I knew who the intruder was. “Ferguson? What are you doing here?”

Yep, I knew that name. This jerk was Titus’ father who’d given him up without a fight. Why the hell was he in my backyard?

“Persy. Hi. I was in the area.”

“Bullshit,” Megan growled. “Send him packing, Persy. I’ll add to the postage in the form of a kick to the nuts.”

“Kids,” Persephone whispered at Megan and stood slowly, her legs wobbly as she closed the grassy gap between her and her ex. “Try being honest Ferguson.”

He sighed and scanned the backyard until his gaze landed on Rosie and Titus, racing on the swing set I’d built for him last summer. “I was, uh, hoping we could talk.”

“You thought you could just force the issue by showing up unannounced?” She shook her head and mumbled under her breath. “My life doesn’t run on your timeline.” That’s what she said, but Persephone turned to me with pleading violet eyes and asked me to keep an eye of Titus.

“I got ya.”

With a grateful nod, she turned and left with him.

Seconds later the silence ended as music started and conversation re-started. Cal joined me at the grill first, then Antonio. “What the hell was that all about?”

I glanced back to make sure Rosie and Titus were still on the swings, and kept my voice low as I told them about Ferguson. “Titus’ father who gave up his rights when his fiancée decided she didn’t want any stepchildren. Titus has never met him, so keep quiet, yeah?”

“Of course.” Antonio clapped my shoulder. “Good luck with that mess.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Oliver’s gruff voice advised as he ambled over to the grill. “Don’t let that jealous written all over your face ruin a good thing. She wasn’t happy to see him, which means you have nothing to worry about.”

I nodded, accepting his words even though a small part of me couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. Not that she had left with her ex, but that they’d obviously been in touch and she hadn’t told me.

Exactly thirty-seven minutes later, Persephone returned looking a little shaken. I fought the urge to run to her immediately and demand that she tell me what the hell that idiot wanted. Instead my gaze connected with hers and I mouthed the words, “You okay?”

She nodded and that was it, not even a clue about what he wanted even though it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Clearly he wanted his family back.

Too damn bad. He couldn’t have them.

They were mine.

By the time everyone else had cleared out of the backyard, Titus was asleep on the sofa, the sun had set and every flat surface in the kitchen was filled with leftovers. “Let me help.” Persephone’s voice came out soft, almost worried and that worried me.

“I’ve got it. Most of it is going into containers for the office. The boys never think about lunch and this will feed them for a few days.” Pre-planning meals wasn’t a priority for teenage boys, at least not if they had to pay for it. Or unless girls were involved.

“Aren’t you going to ask about Ferguson?”

I sighed and turned to face her. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to, that you’d just share with me.” And she hadn’t done that. “What did he want. Persephone?”

“He called a few days ago, actually he called last week ago too, but it was an unknown number and I just ignored it,” she clarified with a deep exhale. “He called again on my date night with Titus and I told him I didn’t have time to talk.”

I nodded at her explanation. “Why didn’t you tell me he called?”

She nibbled her lip and took a seat at the kitchen table. “I didn’t think it was anything worth talking about. I mean, what could he possibly want after all this time?”

I gave her an incredulous look. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” she shot back angrily.

“Persephone, you loved this man at one point in your life, enough to have a baby with him. What else would he want, but you and Titus?” It didn’t take a genius to figure that out, and I was pissed she was being so damn naïve about this.

“You’re wrong, Ryan.” She shook her head to punctuate her words, but when those beautiful eyes slid shut, I knew she was trying to convince not only me but herself.

But I was willing to play along, to help guide her to the answer the same way I always did. “Okay. What did he want?”

Slowly, Persephone opened her eyes, expression full of dread. “He wants to meet Titus, to be a part of his life.” Finally. The word was unspoken, but hung in the air between us.

“Why now?” As my grandpa always said, the devil is in the details, and in this case, it was actually the lack of details that was driving me mad.

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“You were gone a long time.”

“That’s because I laid into him about barging into my life, expecting to see a son he has no right to see, all without an invite.”

I smiled at her words. “So you sent him back to Canada?”

“No.”

Which meant she planned to see him again.

Dammit.