Page 50 of Totally Opposed

“Where have you been?” he asks, and I shrug.

“Had to use the bathroom,” I reply, then pull on my headphones and look away before he sees the giant smile on my lips.

Best flight ever.

Chapter eighteen

Alan

The next few games,we don’t get to spend much alone time together at all, but with the guys knowing about us, Ryan’s been able to hang when we catch up outside of the team stuff.

“So what’s this ranch like?” Duckie asks as we sit around the large wood table at Brend’s Steak House. The second we walked through the door, I knew I was going to like this place. The scent of wood and sizzling meat tickles my nose and reminds me of home.

“A lot like this actually,” I say, looking around at the wooden walls, floors, and furniture. “My family built the place forever ago and other than the obvious additions of modern technology and plumbing, it’s stayed pretty much as it was when it was first crafted.”

“Are there horses? I’ve always wanted to ride a horse. I reckon I’d be awesome at it. Ohhh bulls, can we ride bulls?” Duckie asks.

“Horses, yes, bulls, no. Or at least I don’t think so. But just so we are clear, if there is a bull, you won’t be riding it.”

“We’ll see,” he says, finishing off his beer and refilling it from a jug in the middle of the table.

“There are some pictures online,” Ryan says, turning his phone for the others to see. My brothers set up a webpage to help with bookings, and Ryan scrolls through the pictures of the online gallery. “There are twelve cabins on the property they’ve added for guests and the main house is kept more for family.”

“So, where are we staying?” Duckie asks.

“Nial booked us all the cabins, but if we need more room, they’re happy for us to stay in the main house, too. You just have to let me know who’s coming.”

“You’re bringing Gramps, too, right?” Ryan asks, and Harrison makes a choking sound on his beer.

“You’re getting the old guy to leave his apartment? No way. How did you manage that?”

Gordon and a few of the others look confused.

“My grandfather lives next door to Duckie, Ian, and Ryan. He’s become sort of a homebody for, well, years now. He only goes out if he has to, and it’s a big drama even then. I still don’t think he’ll come.”

“He told me yesterday he’s coming. He ordered a special cat travel thing for Precious and everything,” Ryan says, and Harrison raises his brows with a cheeky smile.

“You and the old guy getting along then?” he asks Ryan.

“We talk. He’s at the window across from my room all the time with Precious. Why?”

“No reason. I guess the only thing he would really say to me was to tell me I need curtains and to get a real job.”

I laugh. “Yeah, Don can be…fun. He asked about the curtains once, but after a bit, he said not to bother. I guess the view improved.”

“Fuck you. I’m fabulous to look at.”

Ryan looks at me, a half smile on his lips, but a nervousness in his eyes like he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing here. I know he had a thing for Harry ages ago, but I don’t care. I stretch my arm over Ryan’s shoulder, and his blush deepens.

“It’s okay, Ryan. You can tell Harry he’s pretty. He needs to hear it more and more the older he gets.”

Harry gains insult, clutching at his chest, but Duckie is looking at my arm around Ryan with a raised brow and a smirk. I immediately pull it away, grab my drink to take a sip, trying to act like it was nothing before I turn my attention back to Harry. “As pretty as you are, Ryan is British. He has the whole Tom Hardy thing going for him. Gramps always said the Brits are the only ones who know how to speak properly. My Gran was from London, too. He tried to pick her up in a pub in town and she called him a cheeky fella and that was that.”

“Really? That’s what hooked him? Cheeky fella,” Ryan says, and the whole table looks his way.

“Okay, I hear it now,” Harrison says with a chuckle, and the guys all agree, then start asking him to pronounce all sorts of things. I love Ryan’s accent, it’s smooth and dreamy, and I have no idea how the others didn’t notice how amazing it is until now.

Nights like this are what I want all the time, only I want them to end with us going home together, not to separate hotel rooms we’re sharing with two other guys.

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