Page 95 of Crossing Lines

The door flung open, and Ryan stood there, dressed down in shorts and a T-shirt, beaming at me.

I’d never seen him wear shorts. They showed off his leg muscles in the best way. “Hey.” I stepped inside and shut the door. “I brought Thai food.” I held up the bag.

“Thank you.” He set the bag on the kitchen island thenwrapped me up in a tight hug, nuzzling into my neck. “Fuck, I’m so glad to see you.”

Hooking an arm around his waist and pulling his head into my neck. I kissed his hair. “Missed you too. Everything all right? How’s your mom?” Would he want to talk about it?

He held me closer, kissed my cheek, then let me go, but grabbed my hands. “She’s okay for now. The cancer is treatable and they’re running some scans, then she’ll be starting radiation in the next few weeks or so.”

Squeezing his hands, I asked, “Does that mean you’re sticking around longer?”

With a wince, he averted his gaze. “Don’t know.” He threw a glance at me. “I’m sorry, Jonah. I don’t have all the answers yet.” He hung his head.

“Don’t worry about it. We can take it day by day.” I ducked to peer into his face. I had to take his stress away. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be here.”

“When is your graduation?” He lifted his head, his brows knitting.

“May sixth. It’s coming up soon.” If he had to miss it, so be it. I shook our hands between us. “It’s okay if you need to be with your mom. I can come up and join you right after.” Isn’t that what Leo did for Archer? He was by Archer’s side all through his father’s heart attack.

“That would be really nice, Jonah.” He freed my hand, keeping one wrapped in his. “Let’s eat our dinner and enjoy each other’s company.”

“Sure.” Guess he was done talking about it. I followed him into his kitchen.

He grabbed plates out of the cupboard, then opened the containers of food I’d brought. “So, looks like we’ve got a pad Thai and a yellow curry dish?” He offered me a warm grin.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what you’d like and those are the two most popular things on the menu.” I snatched two orangeGatorades out of his refrigerator and twisted them open. I could tell tonight was not a drinking night.

He spooned food onto two plates and carried them to his dinette along with silverware, then sat down. “This looks delicious. I do love Thai food.”

“Good.” After setting the Gatorades on the table, I fell into the chair next to his. “I haven’t seen Owen around.” I picked up noodles with a fork. I’d never told him about the guys keeping an eye out for him.

“Yeah?” He scooped curry and rice into his mouth.

“And I think if he were still hanging around, we’d have seen him. The guys—” Widening my eyes, I held my fork over my plate. Fuck, I wasn’t going to tell him about our plan.

“The guys what, Jonah?” He set his fork down and peered at me. “The guys what?”

“Shit.” I dropped my fork and scrubbed my face. Here I was, about to stress him out even more. “I told the guys about Owen’s letter to Coach Finley. We’ve been keeping tabs on the rink, you know, taking turns going over there when we get a chance to try and intercept him.”

“I told you to leave him alone.” With a scoff, he tipped his head back for a second, then drew his hardened gaze to me. “And what were they going to do if they saw him?”

With a shrug, I said, “I don’t know. Stop him from handing out more letters? Maybe take them after he delivers them?” I mashed my teeth together. “We weren’t going to beat on him.” Under my breath, I said, “Even though the fucker deserves it.”

Shaking his head, he stared at his plate. “We’ve only got two days before we head out to St. Louis. I think you can stop and just…” His gaze flicked to mine. “Just focus on the game and finals. Okay? Please?” He rubbed his neck.

“I’m sorry, Ryan. I wanted to come over here tonight to relieve the stress you’re under, not make it worse.” I caressed his forearm lying next to his plate.

“It’s okay. I know you’re doing your best to help.” Snatching my hand, he pulled on it. “Come here and kiss me.”

“Gladly.” Leaning across the table, I cupped his cheek and pressed a lingering kiss to his soft lips. God, I’d missed the feel of him.

“Let’s eat and quit talking about Owen, my mom, the game, everything. Okay?” Gazing deeply into my eyes, a soft grin teased his lips.

“You got it.” I freed a long exhale and ate my dinner.

After eating and cleaning up,we sat on Ryan’s sofa with a whisky for dessert. I sipped the honey-flavored liquor and let it burn down my throat. As I threw an arm around his shoulders, we looked out over the twinkling lights of downtown Tempe with only a single canned light on in his kitchen behind us. These were the moments I lived for with him. The quiet ones when the world outside this apartment couldn’t reach us.

“Tell me what you need, Ryan.” I shifted toward him, then set my drink on the coffee table. Maybe I could ease his mind with my touch. I nibbled on his earlobe and skimmed my hand over his shirt, teasing a nipple through the thin fabric.

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