Off Sides(43)

***

Taking my apron off, I walk up to Ryan. “I’m done.”

“Can I give you a ride home and then we talk?”

My gut instinct is to decline because I’m terrified his mother will find out, but I owe him the time to talk. I should have given it to him before now but I’ve been so afraid his mother would find out. I wouldn’t put it past her to have hired a damn private investigator to keep tabs on us.

“Sure.”

The ride to my place is tense and silent. As we walk into my apartment, I quietly say over my shoulder, “Thank you for getting Angeline to back off of me. It was getting harder to keep my cool.”

“It’s no problem. Cameron came to me last night and told me what Angeline was doing. It was best that I confronted her and try to put a stop to it.”

We sit in the living, on opposite ends of the couch. Ryan is leaning back, looking extremely comfortable. I’m wound tight and ready to bolt.

“I miss you,” he says to me.

I can feel the burn of tears and I swallow hard to tamp them down. “Ryan...please don’t...”

“And you miss me, too.”

He says it so matter-of-factly, like there’s no room for argument. He knows me well but I decide to act incensed. “You have quite an ego to presume to think I miss you, too.”

He laughs at me. Full out, gut busting laughter. I cross my arms and just wait for him to finish. After he finally winds it down, he looks at me with amusement. “We’re ending this farce tonight, Danny. I’m not leaving until we are back together and you admit you love me. In fact, I promise, before this evening ends I’ll make love to you.”

I start sputtering. I’m half incensed and half turned on. “You are certifiable, Ryan Burnham. If you think you can just waltz in here and—“

Ryan cuts me off by launching across the couch and coming on top of me. He grips my head in his hands and kisses me. His tongue immediately ignites a fire in me and I struggle for just an instant and then I’m kissing him back. Oh God, how I missed this. His touch, his voice, his smell.

Ryan pulls back only slightly with his lips still lightly resting against mine. “I knew that would be the only way to get you to shut up.”

I’m dazed from the flood of emotions coursing through me.

“Danny, I know what my mother did,” Ryan says.

I sit up straight and push him backward. “You do?”

“Yeah. Emily came to me and told me.”

I look over to the grouping of pictures on my end table, and stare blankly at them. I’m not sure what this means. Wait, I do know what this means. It doesn’t change anything. Ryan’s mom has a standing edict. I cannot be with him or she will see he gets ruined.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Ryan. We can’t be together.”

Ryan takes a deep breath and exhales it, like he’s getting ready to talk to a four year old. “Danny...I’m a little disappointed in you that you would let anything my mother would say keep us apart.”

That catches me off guard. It’s somewhat of an attack on me and I immediately bristle.

“I had no choice,” I hiss. “She promised she could get the criminal charges against you dropped but would only do so if I stayed away. She was willing to let you take the chance of getting convicted and possibly going to jail, just to spite you if you stayed with me.”

Ryan’s shaking his head. “She played you, Danny. She had nothing to do with getting the charges dropped. I did that all myself.”

I’m stunned. “You did?”

“Yup.”

“But...but your mom said she’d ruin you if I stayed with you. Said that she would ensure you never made it to the NHL.”

Ryan is now wearing a smirk on his face. “Played again.”

It’s like he’s enjoying my stupidity.

“You don’t have to be so smug over what an idiot I am,” I snap.

Ryan’s smirk is replaced by soberness. He grabs my hand and brings my fingers to his lips. I try to pull away but he holds firm. “Danny, I’m not laughing at you for falling for my mother’s lies. I’m smirking because now that this is all out in the open, we can be together again. I’m deliriously happy.”

I shake my head. “But won’t your mother cut you off? Or ruin your hockey career?”

“Cut me off from what? Family ties that are brittle and based on duty and obligation rather than love. Tell me exactly what I’d be missing? And trust me, my mother doesn’t have any power over my hockey career. She’s blowing smoke.”

I can’t think of anything to say. He continues on, “More importantly, look at what we stand to lose if we bend to my mother’s whim.”

Hope is starting to build inside of me and I look at him. His beautiful eyes suck me in. He pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. “You are more important to me than anything else in this world. As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else. It’s you Danny. It will only ever be you.”

Oh, Ryan. My Ryan. My hands are shaking as I bring them up to his face. I stroke his jaw and his cheek. He closes his eyes at my touch and I start feeling elation rise up in me like helium filling a balloon. My head is swimming with the possibilities of a future with my one and only.