“You were in a difficult situation, where the person you identified with was hurting someone you loved. I won’t fault you for that, Hutch.” His words softened something inside me, filed down some of my rough edges—both those regarding him and those I always had. That easily, Ryder had forgiven me. He’d accepted what I’d told him, accepted me and my mistakes, with no comments about how I’d screwed up, or how I could have done better, or what I should have done differently.
