Page 48 of Buried Treasure
Andy put the iPad down on the bed, hoping he could keep control of his own emotions and not expose the panicking going on in his head.
"I'm sure it's not stupid. What's going on?"
Yes, please, he thought.Tell me what that guy wants with Sydney.
"Alex is bugging me to give him Sydney's number, and I keep telling him no. Because I should be telling him no, right?"
"Why should you be telling him no?"
Andy sounded like Ryan's therapist now, but he really didn't care. Besides, a real therapist wouldn't be trying to pry information out of a patient like this.
Ryan smiled awkwardly. "It's like I told you before. Sydney is a good friend so I'm protective of her. I know Alex, and I know me, and I know the kind of guys we are when it comes to women. I just want Sydney to be with someone better than that."
Andy nodded quietly.
"So yeah, I do miss talking to the team like I did before this whole appendix thing," Ryan said. "But I'm doing the right thing by not giving Sydney's number to Alex, right?"
Andy swallowed hard, trying to find the right answer.
"I mean, Sydney can make her own decisions," the trainer said.
"Sure, I get that. I just feel like someone has to protect the good women of Detroit from Alex." That got a laugh from Andy, which seemed to spur Ryan on some more. "It's not like it's you asking me for her number."
That quickly made Andy stop laughing. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I would give your number to Sydney, no problem. You would be a good person for her." Ryan grimaced. "And now I'm sounding like my mother," he muttered.
Andy looked away, suddenly feeling like he needed to stare at the crappy hotel art on the wall to avoid Ryan's gaze. He considered them friends, of course, and he had hung out with Ryan and Sydney a lot lately so whatever relationship he did or did not have with Sydney was bound to come up. But was now the right time to do that?
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ryan asked.
Ryan was an immature rookie, but he could be very calculating and thoughtful when he wanted to be. It could sneak up on someone if they weren't careful and underestimated him. Like Andy had done just now. He took a deep breath and gave Ryan a determined stare.
"I gave my number to Sydney," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Really?" Ryan stared at him some more. "So that's a good thing, right?"
"Sure," he said with a dejected tone.
"No, no, no. Don't just 'sure' me when we're talking about Sydney," Ryan said. "Why isn't that good thing?"
"I gave her my number and she never used it."
"Maybe she's been busy?" he replied.
"We both know she doesn't have a job anymore. And I…" Andy took a deep breath. Ryan was going to find out anyway at some point. Better to have him find out from Andy. "I left it for her after I slept with her."
Ryan sat up straighter on the bed. "Wait a minute," he said with a bit of anger in his voice. "You had a one-night stand with Sydney?"
"It was more than one night."
The rookie just stared at his trainer in disbelief.
"Was it good?"
Andy gave him a surprised look. That was the question Ryan wanted an answer to?
"I mean, did you like it?" Ryan shook his head, his face scrunched up in frustration. "Sorry, this is coming out wrong. What I meant was did you like her? Like, do you like her?"
