Page 55 of The Import Slot
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“My brother has tried calling me. Loads,” he says, propping the iPad up on the counter. His focus seems fixed there, so I’ll leave him to it.
“I hope you get back through to him,” I say, knowing how much Ryan has tried recently. “Danny, can you give me a lift to the station, please?” I ask.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you staying?” Ryan asks, leaving the iPad on an attempted FaceTime call.
“You have to get on the road early. I’ll see you at the game. Becca is driving us,” I say, giving him a peck on the cheek, much to Danny’s fury.
Ryan looks disappointed, but I wave and grab the rest of my things as Danny puts his shoes on.
“Jen,” Ryan says, coming to the door.
“Yeah?”
“To be continued.” He leans in to kiss me just as a very Ryan-like voice rings through from the iPad.
“You there, bro?” I hear.
“Do you want to meet him real quick?” he asks, but I don’t get to answer because he’s pulling me back to him. Ryan sits on a barstool and pulls me onto his lap as if I weigh nothing.
“Hey man, where the fuck have you been?” he says to his brother.
Liam’s wearing a Toronto Marlies baseball cap and hoodie. His face shows a very similar expression to Ryan’s, but his eyebrows are slightly different.
“Hey, who’s this here?” he says, eyeing me.
“Lee, this is Jenna. Jenna, Liam,” Ryan says proudly. I give him a wave and say hi as if I haven’t just had his brother’s come all over my boobs.
“Oh, this is the Jenna from your Instagram. And who is Jenna?” Liam says with a grin.
It’s a cocky grin like Ryan would do when he already knows the answer to a question. This will be interesting. I wonder what he’ll say.
“Jenna is—what are you, Jen?” he asks in a playful tone. Oh no, he didn’t just put it back on me.
“I’m his friend,” I say, giving in and giving Ryan a look.
“She’s lying, man. She’s my best friend,” he laughs.
“What’s that look, bro? I’ve not seen that look before.” He pauses a moment. “I told you that you’d love it there,” Liam says.
Seeing Ryan and Liam chatting like this warms my heart. Ryan is beaming, and much to my relief, Liam grins back, like the band is back together again.
“Right, fucker, what the hell is going on? Why have you been avoiding me?” Ryan asks. I try to wiggle off his lap, but he puts his arm around my waist, keeping me there, and he kisses my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.
“I need to go,” I whisper in his ear.
“Liam, give me two,” he says, standing up and setting me down.
“Call me when you get home, please,” he says, kissing me on the lips.
I take my leave, grateful for Danny’s lift but not grateful for the lecture in the car which kills my lady boner straight away.
Chapter 16
Ryan
It’sanearlierpuckdrop today, so we’re on the coach before noon. Everyone’s chipper for a Sunday; it must be because of last night’s win. But I’m feeling cheerful for other reasons.
