Rhythm and the Blue Line Ch. 09

"That's good. Look, all I mean is, things never got like they are between us when I dated before. But I was always honest with people, okay?"

Ryan curled her legs under her. "Okay. So what brought all this on, anyway? I mean, I don't mind talking about it but I never had the impression you cared."

"I don't. I mean, I can't say I haven't wondered but generally I figure it doesn't matter, right? But then I was talking with Rick and—well, he's not real up on relationships right now. He thinks his wife either cheated on him, or would have."

"Wow." Ryan gave a low whistle. "That's pretty serious."

"Yeah, I know." Brody dropped his head back. "I know I have to take it with a grain of salt; I know he's pissed. Even so, I have to say I never saw him like that before."

"Well, he's never been through anything like this, right?"

"No. Not that I know of, at least. Still, he just said stuff and some of it stuck in my head, and it got me thinking."

"About whether I dated Nate or Mitch?"

"Sort of. Anyway, never mind. It's not important." He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. "What's important is that we're here and you're leaving soon and I have playoffs to worry about."

"Yeah." Ryan's smile was half-sad. "I was thinking about that, too. It'll be weird not to see each other for so long. I, ah, I was afraid you'd find things easier without me."

Brody smiled and kissed her. "Don't be ridiculous. Why would that be?"

"For one thing, you wouldn't have to worry about what I eat, or cook for me, or—"

He cut her off with another kiss, more aggressive this time. "Hey, I like doing those things. I'll miss doing them."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, let's say we've had enough of discussing what might go wrong and start working on some of the stuff that goes right?" He snuck a hand under her shirt.

Ryan yelped a laugh as he tickled her side, then sighed and closed her eyes as he stroked her back. She leaned forward and kissed his neck, smiling as he groaned. "Yeah, let's work on that."

x-x-x-x

Two weeks later, Ryan sat at the bar of a club in Philadelphia, hoping she wouldn't be sick. She ran her fingers over the table in front of her, pretending to play a scale on the keyboards. She hoped the familiar motions would calm her down.

"You okay, Ry?" Nate looked up from his smartphone where he was checking baseball scores. "You're looking a little off."

"I'm okay." She ran another imaginary scale. "Just a little wired."

Mitch laughed. "That's good. I was afraid you might be nervous. You're not allowed, you know; our fearless leader can't be nervous."

Lara glanced over as she pulled a brush through her hair. "You should have eaten something today."

"I ate something. Somewhere. I forget. You made me."

Nate checked his watch. "Come on guys, almost time."

"That's my line," Ryan joked.

"Yeah, well, I figure one of us can take the pressure of you once in a while." Nate grinned and nudged her arm.

"Thanks." Ryan tried to relax. She couldn't tell them how she was having an attack of stage fright. It had dawned her with sudden clarity that they'd never been here before—this crowd hadn't heard of them; it wouldn't be like playing in D.C., Virginia or Maryland.

"Oh, hey, Ryan." Nate held out his phone. "Check this out."

"What?" She blinked and tried to make sense of the screen.

"The Caps won. Brody got a goal and an assist."

She realized Nate had called up a box score detailing the Caps' victory over the New Jersey Devils. "Oh. Wow. Fantastic." A little tension drained away. She'd been worried about the game—losing would have put the Caps down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series—but she'd forgotten in getting ready for the show. She nodded and smiled. "Good. One less thing to worry about."

"Okay, I'm ready!" Lara looked at the others. "Everybody ready?"

"You bet," Nate and Mitch answered together.

Ryan was about to answer when her phone chirped. She touched the screen and saw a text message from Brody. Break a leg, rock star.

"Ryan, you ready?" Nate asked. The others looked at her.

She grinned. "Absolutely. Come on, let's show them who we are."