Page 25 of Buried Treasure
She looked to find her glass was still halfway full. "I'm OK."
Andy grabbed the pitcher of beer on the table and topped off his glass. Sydney watched him, thinking about how hard it must be for Andy to be the go-to guy whenever a player on the team was hurt, but then became the has-been when it came to women. One of the "benefits" of being a single woman in finance was that Sydney never had a problem finding guys who liked her for her. They liked her confidence, they liked her intelligence, and they liked the way her legs looked in a pair of expensive high-heeled shoes. But she understood where Andy was coming from. All those guys she dated enjoyed being with her until the novelty of dating a smart, good-looking woman wore off. Then they wanted a woman who could take care of them and make them feel better about themselves by putting down her accomplishments. That wasn't Sydney.
Of course, Sydney always trusted them to be faithful. She prided herself on finding men who didn't cheat on her. It wasn't until they got to the break-up part that she would pack it up and move on. But for Andy? It seemed like trusting the women he was dating was a constant struggle, especially when they would cheat on him with guys he worked with. At least her own trust issues at work were a recent thing.
"You're giving me the sad eyes, you know," Andy said from beside her.
Actually, she hadn't realized she was doing it either.
"Sorry," she replied. "You would think I wouldn't do that after being out in public with people knowing who I am now."
"How often have you been out in public since then? Not that I'm judging you or anything," he added quickly. "It's just that anytime I've been over to see Ryan, you're home."
"Very astute observation, Mr. Mitchell," she said, raising her glass in mock congratulations. "But that first day, Lucy and I left my office and went to a bar so I could drink. A lot. Then the 12 o'clock news came on, and there was my face as I walked away from my job with a box in my hand." She took a drink to push down the emotion that was starting creep up in her throat. "I just remember people in the bar starting to do double takes and purposely turning around to look at me. It was like I was an animal at the Detroit Zoo or something."
"Sorry you had to go through that," he said. "I guess at least you can take solace in the fact that people noticed you. Most of the women I'm with at things like this tend to wander away and never come back."
Sydney laughed and Andy glared at her response. "Sorry! Sorry," she said. "It's not you. It's just…" She smiled and looked at him. "I live next door to Ryan. I know Ryan.Youknow Ryan. I have no idea what would make a woman interested in Ryan."
"Then why are you friends with him?" Andy asked.
"Because someone needs to protect that boy when his mother isn't in town." She shrugged. "I don't mind being his friend, but I don't want to date a guy I have to baby-sit."
"I get it," Andy replied. "I have to take care of all of these guys."
"Exactly, but at least you get paid to do that," Sydney scoffed. "And then who takes care of you?"
It was supposed to just be an innocent remark about his job. But the way his eyes immediately snapped up and stared across the room at his ex-girlfriend, laughing in the arms of another man, that's when Sydney realized she had touched a nerve.
"Sorry, I—"
He just waved his hand in the air. "Don't be sorry," he replied. "You didn't mean anything by it. That's just me being in a funk."
"I'm glad."
He gave her a surprised look. "You're glad?"
Sometimes you sound like a real idiot, Barton.She took a deep breath to make sure the next words out of her mouth were the right ones this time.
"I just mean that I came here because Amelia guilted Ryan into bringing me, and I did need to get out of my apartment."
"You really did," Andy said with a smirk.
"I just don't want to be all sunshine and rainbows yet, you know? So I'm glad I have someone to commiserate with."
Andy nodded his head in understanding. "I'm definitely not sunshine and rainbows."
"So can we just be the boring corner for a little bit?" she asked.
Andy raised his pint glass in her direction. "To the boring corner."
