Chapter 7 #3
The excitement evident in his eagerness, in the flash of emotion in his eyes, may have been good for my ego, but it was more than that. I wanted to get to know him again. And selfishly, I didn’t think I’d get the chance to do that with his family vying for his attention once back home.
“Do you think he’s worried about coming home?”
Amber’s question pulled me out of my thoughts. “As in, what? Seeing you and Gran?”
“I don’t know, maybe. It’s just been so long.”
“I think he’s desperate to see you both and meet his niece. I think he’d come on a plane today if he could. And definitely when Ivy was born. He loves you and misses you.”
She tilted her head. “I think he loves and misses you too.”
My laugh was awkward. Not knowing how to respond, I fidgeted and then picked up Ivy, needing the distraction. With a kiss on her cheek, I made a face at her, choosing to ignore Amber’s loud huff.
Thinking about Ryan that way couldn’t lead to any good. At least not until I knew where his head was. As rightness settled in my chest while certainty clicked into place, I smiled. Heading to the US to spend time with the guy was definitely what I wanted to do.
A hitch in my breath was a dead giveaway, but I couldn’t stop it. “So yeah, I’ll come out for the week before you return here, then.” I forced myself to pause, the desire to ramble and overexplain riding me.
The quiet down the line seemed to drag a beat too long before Ryan’s exhale reached me. “You will, definitely?”
Disbelief edged his words, making them rough and a little throaty. Hell, based on how I was feeling, maybe there was some emotion there too. “Definitely. I’ll look into flights tomorrow.”
“I can get that sorted.”
“No, honestly, it’s good.” He’d offered before, but it felt all kinds of weird to take him up on it. I managed to pay myself a decent salary at the store, and it wasn’t like I spent a lot of cash on myself, so my savings were good.
“Don’t you remember what you made me promise, though?”
The mere reminder was all it took for the flash of memory to hit me. I chuckled. “Not so much a promise. More of my arsehole self taking the piss.” I leaned back against my propped pillows and smiled. “God, it feels like a million years ago.”
“Right. I sometimes wonder where the years have gone.” The rustle of a packet caught my ears. “We’re only twenty-six, but sometimes I feel a hell of a lot older, especially today.”
“Yeah, why’s that?” Concern had me frowning.
“My ankle—”
“The one you hurt in the Cats game?”
“Yeah. It’s twinging and not feeling quite right, you know?”
“What’s the doctors or whoever say?”
The sound of the opening and closing of a door preceded him saying, “I’m working with the trainers at strengthening it without pushing it. Doing lots of hot and cold, keeping it strapped.” He hissed. “Fuck.”
“You all right?”
“Ice packs,” he grunted. “You’d think I’d be used to them by now.” He chuckled lightly. “But I’ll be fine. They’re not too concerned. It shouldn’t impact Tuesday’s game.”
I swallowed hard and released a heavy breath, not realizing how much his words had worried me. “Well, that’s something.”
“Uh-huh, but back to you coming out here….” His words trailed off, and another rustle followed. When he spoke again, his tone was quieter, a little more tentative. “I can’t wait for you to be here. Finally watch a game.”
I closed my eyes, not having to ask what he was referring to. It wasn’t like I thought too hard or often about our millions of past conversations or anything. I rolled my eyes at myself. “Me too. So,” I started, wanting to pull away from the past, “LA for a few days, then back to Minnesota.”
“Yeah.” Somehow I knew he smiled as he spoke. “We’ll hang out, do some sightseeing, then head here for the last couple or so days. Obviously we’ll have to fly back to LA to get our flight to Brisbane. It’ll be a ball ache. Maybe I should figure out a way so we don’t have to come back here?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I want to see your place, where you’ve called home for the past few years.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.”
“A whistle-stop tour… I can make that happen.”
“Holy shit, Broadwater, you’ve learned how to whistle. Your balls have finally dropped. Give me a moment while I wipe my tears of pride away.”
Laughter burst down the line. “Fuck off, Griffin. And what the hell does whistling have to do with balls?” I made to speak, but he added, “Scrap that, I don’t think I even want to know.”
I snickered and relaxed even more against my mattress, loving this…
how we could banter and talk shit. While we’d never forget how things had changed or that we’d had so much time apart, you couldn’t destroy the connection we had.
The certainty of my thoughts took me by surprise.
Six months ago, I wouldn’t have believed that was possible. Yet here we were.
“I’m sure whatever you decide are the must-see places to see, it’ll be great.” I pushed sincerity into my tone.
“This vacation is gonna kick ass.” Ryan’s enthusiasm was addictive. It flowed over me with familiarity and warmth I’d thought long disappeared.
“Damn straight it is.” The sound of Ivy’s cries filtered toward me. “Shit, your niece is awake. I’ll go and see to her, as Amber said she had a headache earlier. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Okay.” Before I could end the call, Ryan saying my name stopped me.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for making this happen. It means a lot.”
I stood, smiling, my heart doing a little flip at his gentle tone. “No worries, mate. I can’t wait.”