Page 28 of Buried Treasure
Chapter 9
Apparently, the bar had been a good way to get Ryan out of his funk because he called Andy the next morning to ask if he wanted to hang out. Not to come over and check his stitches, which were fine thanks to Amelia, or because Amelia had insisted that he come over to be fed. It seemed that Ryan just needed some company.
Andy recognized that interactions with people were a good motivator for his player so he felt he had no other choice than to say he would be there. He just hoped that he wouldn't run into Sydney. Talking to her last night had been nice. Well, more than nice. It was actually pretty great. But it was also over too soon. And really, that didn't matter anyway since she came home with Ryan and Alex. Andy couldn't blame her. She was beautiful and smart and he even saw a few men checking her out last night. Maybe they were like the beer guy who recognized her from the news, but there were definitely others who seemed more interested in what she looked like rather than her stint on the evening news.
As he walked past her door on his way to Ryan's place, his fingers began to itch. He wanted to knock on it, ask her casually if she wanted to join them or something. No big deal or whatever. Just friends hanging out. Then an image popped into his head of Alex potentially answering Sydney's door instead. Yep, better to just move on.
Amelia opened Ryan's door for Andy and, like she had the previous times he had been there, she took his coat, hung it up, and told him where the food was. Tonight, she made some spinach artichoke dip.
"Don't worry," she said. "It's nothing fancy. I just bought the stuff at the store, but it's still good."
"As long as you feed me, I'm good," he said. "Ryan, I brought you some Vernor's."
"Nice!"
Ryan slowly pulled himself off the sofa and walked over to grab one from the six pack. But then his hand paused in midair when he noticed the other drinks Andy brought with him.
"Is that winter ale from the microbrewery up north?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," Andy said. "I found some extra left on the shelf. I thought I would have one or two tonight and leave the rest for you when you're done with your medication."
Ryan gave him a genuine smile. "You're the best trainer."
"I'm working on it," Andy replied. "Speaking of which, you're looking more mobile. How you feeling?"
"I'm actually feeling better."
"See? I told you that it was a good idea for you to get out last night," Amelia said.
Ryan just rolled his eyes, but in a loving way. "You were right, mom."
"Thank you." She pulled herself up on her toes and planted a kiss on her son's cheek. "Now, I put in an order for pizza for you. Cash is on the counter for the delivery guy. I'll be in the guest room."
"You don't have to lock yourself in there just because I'm here," Andy said.
"I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for me," she said with a teasing smile. "Boys, have a good night."
Amelia waved and wandered off to her room while the boys grabbed their drinks, spinach artichoke dip, and headed into Ryan's living room.
"Seems like your mom left out quite a bit of pizza money for the two of us," Andy said before taking a sip of beer.
"Sydney's coming over too."
Andy choked on the beer in his throat.
"You OK, man?" Ryan asked him.
"Oh, yeah," Andy replied quickly. "Just went down the wrong pipe or something."
Ryan gave him a slap on the back as he sat down on the couch.
"Don't go falling apart on me, man. I'm not the trainer. I don't know how to fix you."
Andy smiled to cover up the turmoil he felt inside. Sydney was going to be here. Dammit. He would have to play it cool. Really cool. Don't ask about the bar the night before, don't mention the funk he was in after seeing his ex-girlfriend there, and definitely do not talk about the men who were paying extra attention to her. Oh, and try to forget there was even someone named Alex there. Don't think of him at all.
Instead, Andy started asking Ryan questions about how he was feeling and what he planned to do about tomorrow night's Pirates game.
"You coming to the arena to watch?"
