Page 45 of Calm Before the Score

“Nothing compares to you. Trying to impress Hartley?” I joke with her because she squirms whenever I bring up whatever is going on between her and Hartley.

“Friends, Violet,friends!” she playfully shoves me.

“Whatever you say.” Neither of them are willing to admit it, but I see the way they look at each other. It’s definitely not friendship, but they’ll admit that sooner or later.

“Are we walking or driving?” She looks at me, popping her hip.

“I’ll drive. Hartley left the car.” We swiftly lock up the apartment and jump into my small car. Liza connects her phone and picks up where her playlist left off.

“I’m so excited for the game! If they win, they’ll play an away game in the semis!” she says.

“I know. I haven’t talked to Ryan since he left this morning. I didn’t want to bother him on game day. I can’t wait to see him run on the field.” Seeing my man in full uniform run to me from the tunnel makes me giddy.

We park in the main lot, show our tickets, and find our seats we’ve spent the past season in. I could get used to this routine. The game starts in half an hour, so we join the concession line to get nachos before kickoff. There are so many people waiting in line before the game. The anxious anticipation radiating off the fans is intense in the best way. I hear chatter behind me from a group of guys.

“Did you hear he’s out tonight?” the guys mumble.

“Why?” someone behind me asks.

“Don’t know. Heard it’s team-related issues. Didn’t see anything about an injury,” deep voices continue behind me.

Who could they be talking about? Ryan or Hartley didn’t mention any of the starters being out tonight. I turn to Liza, but she’s too preoccupied on social media to eavesdrop with me.

My curiosity gets the best of me. I turn around and ask, “Who is out tonight?”

One of the guys replies, “Rumor is Ryan Shane is out for the game.”

“Oh, that’s not true. He’s my boyfriend, and he's definitely playing,” I say with confidence.

“Could just be a rumor,” the guys answer with nonchalance.

Why is there a rumor that Ryan isn’t playing?Weird, but I guess when you’re a top NFL recruit there’s always rumors flying around.

I lean over to Liza and get her opinion on this. “Did you hear those guys? They said there’s a rumor that Ryan isn’t playing tonight.”

“What? No way. Ryan would have told you if he got hurt.” She doesn’t seem phased, so I push it to the back of my mind.

We pay for our nachos and go back to our seats. The stadium has filled up now that the game is fifteen minutes away. The team should be coming onto the field any minute. I wait eagerly for Ryan to bust through and sprint onto the field. Seeing him do his thing is sexy. The loud music begins, indicating the team's arrival. Fireworks set off, signaling that the guys are here. I search for Ryan’s number in the crowd of players but can’t find him. He should head over to me any minute now.

Liza waves frantically to Hartley, and he blows her a playful kiss.Yeah, those two are definitely “just friends”.She leans over to me and says loudly, “Where’s Ryan? I don’t see him with the running backs.”

I begin to panic. Ryan isn’t with the running backs. He’s nowhere to be found. I need to get Hartley’s attention before I pass out from anxiety. My heart will shatter for him if he is hurt. I catch Hartley’s attention and wave him over to me. He looks around to make sure he can cut out from warm-ups before beelining it to the stands. Leaning over the metal barrier, I say, “Where’s Ryan?”

“Vi, I’ll have to explain after the game. Some shady stuff went down. I can’t let myself go there, or I’ll lose it,” he tells me.

“Where is he?” I ask with a clear panic in my voice. Ryan would have told me if he was in trouble. Something isn’t adding up.

“Vi, I don’t know. No one can reach him. We’ll talk later,” he begs me, but I’m out of my seat before he can finish. I hear Liza’s voice trail behind me.

“Violet, wait! I’m coming with you. What’s going on?”

“It’s Ryan… He’s… I don’t know.. Hartley said-” I’m not thinking clearly. My mind is focused on one thing: finding Ryan.

“I’m not letting you drive by yourself. You are too upset!” she yells at me. “Don’t fight me. I’m coming.” It’s not worth the fight right now. The more time I spend arguing with Liza, the more time wasted when I could use it to find my boyfriend.

“Get in,” I say.

I push Ryan’s contact. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Weird, but I guess this isn’t unusual considering he ghosted me for hours at his mom’s house during Christmas break. I try three more times to confirm that my calls won’t go through.

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