Page 83 of Forbidden Puck
Ryan looked at the screen and frowned. “Shit.”
“What?”
“It's Shea. I better answer.”
He answered, and I listened to his half of the conversation.
“Hey, what's up? … Uh huh … yeah … Right. Yep. I know. … Okay. … I'm taking Ella out to brunch. … In two hours? Yeah, I guess I could make it … Alright, bye.”
He hung up and, without a word, stuffed the phone back into his pocket.
“Well? What was that?”
“Shea is trying to set up a team meeting. I'll have to stop by the rink after brunch.” Ryan tried to reassure me with a smile that this was normal, but I could see behind his eyes that something was wrong.
“A team meeting? On your day off? With such short notice?”
“Yeah, well …”
“Is it because of us?”
“Who knows?” Ryan shrugged. He looked at me and knew I wasn't buying it. “Okay, yeah, it is. But look, I don't want to let it ruin our morning. I can't control what happens, Ella, what's done is done. I just want to enjoy my time with you.”
“I'm so mad at Lance. He's such an idiot.”
“He's a good guy …”
“How can you say that, after he punched you and everything?”
But Ryan shook his head. “He only did what any good brother should do. I'd do the same thing if I had a sister.”
“Oh, really? You'd beat some poor guy up, just because he liked your sister? That'ssostupid.”
Ryan grimaced. “If you say it like that, sure, it sounds stupid.”
“That's because itisstupid.”
“Maybe you're right. But there's a code we live by, and maybe it's stupid, but I still broke the stupid code.”
“I guess it's just one of thosemanthings,” I reflected with a sigh.
“Yep.” He grabbed my hand. “Let's just enjoy our time together, Ella. Whatever happens, I'm gonna find a way through this. I'm not letting you go that easily.”
I fought back a smile. Secretly, I loved it when he talked about us like that—like we were thisstar-crossed coupledestined to be together, to love each other for all time. Part of me thought it was absurd, that I should know better, because we'd only known each other for so short a time: how could he possibly mean what he was saying?
“You seem so sure,” I said.
“Sure about what?”
“Us.”
“All I know is that I'm crazy about you, Ella. If you tell me that you don't feel the same way about me, and you want me to leave you alone, then I will. But until that happens, you're mine, and I'm not letting anyone get in our way.”
Every time I doubted him, he answered in such a way that told me hemeantthose words. And why shouldn't I believe him, after everything he'd done already?
I laid my head on his round shoulder and comforted myself with his smell, his presence.
Chapter 30
