Page 71 of Loathing Ryan
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You look tired. Did you just get off work?”
“Yeah, hey, what are you doing right now?” he asked me.
I smirked. “I’m at the library with Mark. Why? What did you have in mind?” Maybe he needed a little pick-me-up after his long day. I’d be down with that.
“I need to talk to you about something privately. Do you think you could step away for a second?”
I frowned, and Mark narrowed his eyes. Something was definitely off with Ryan’s tone. I glanced at my friend, and he nodded, going back to his flashcards. I stepped away from the table and into a more private alcove.
“What’s wrong, Ryan?” I asked once I was alone. My heart rate picked up in my chest, a list of horrible answers scrolling through my head.
“It’s nothing terrible. We just need to talk.”
“Okay…”
“I told you about that merger the company’s going through, right? The smaller company they bought?” he asked. I nodded. He had explained how important it was when we talked two weeks ago. “Well, things aren’t going as smoothly as they thought they would. It looks like I won’t be able to make it home for Thanksgiving because they need me here.”
Ryan looked at me warily as he dropped the news. I furrowed my eyebrows as it sunk in. “You’re not coming home at all?”
He shook his head. “No, just not for Thanksgiving. Teddy told me I should be all clear to come home for New Year’s, but since Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday in Berlin, there’s no way around this.”
“That really sucks, Ryan,” I told him honestly. My stomach was clenched up, and my heart sank. “I was really looking forward to seeing you.”
“Yeah, I know, Bells.”
My eyes roamed over his image on my screen. He looked worn down. “Are you okay?” I asked him softly. This wasn’t like him. Usually, he was upbeat and positive, but the man on the screen just looked like he had been through the wringer.
Ryan closed his eyes and rested his chin in his hand. “Things have been…” he hesitated, “rough. I really needed some alone time with you. So I’m kind of bummed.”
“Rough, how?” I prodded him. I walked farther into the alcove and found a corner where I sat and leaned against the wall. I got a few questionable glances from students passing by, but I didn’t care. Mark could study his flashcards by himself for a while, too.
He shrugged and looked at me intensely. “I don’t know. It’s just been kind of a struggle the last few weeks. The back and forth between school and work and work and school is wearing on me. I barely feel like I have time to breathe.”
“I understand,” I whispered. I got involved with the Historical Society at Princeton this semester. It had proved to be more demanding than I had thought. It wasn’t engineering, but I understood what he was talking about when he said he was stretched thin.
“Some turkey and pumpkin pie and stuffing were sounding hella good, too,” he joked with me. Typical Ryan, trying to lighten up the mood.
It worked. I laughed, and he gave me a small smile. “Well, tell you what,” I started, thinking quick on my feet. “As long as youpromiseyou’ll be home for New Year’s, I’ll talk to your mom, and we can make up a big turkey dinner for you then.”
Ryan’s face lit up at my suggestion. “You’d do that?”
I grinned. “For you? Yeah, I guess I can make an exception.”
“You’re the best, Bells. Really,” he murmured. Then he went quiet for a minute as he looked at me with a dopey expression. “I don’t know how I got so lucky with you.”
“Honestly, I don’t either,” I teased him. “If I recall correctly, you kidnapped me and made me fall in love with you. I sometimes wonder if we’re living in a freaky erotic novel.”
He sighed in exasperation. “Here I was trying to be all sweet and cute, and you hit me with that. You’re killing me over here, pretty girl.”
“You know I love you,” I said softly. “Just trying to make you feel better.”
“Yeah, I know. I love you too.” He smiled through the screen, and finally, his green eyes sparked to life again.
New Year’s Eve — Year 2 — Ryan
“Mmm, Ryan, have you tried these meatballs?” Bells asked me in between bites. She had some barbeque sauce on the corner of her mouth.
I chuckled as I reached up with my thumb to wipe it off. “I haven’t yet, but I’m assuming they’re good?”
