Page 61 of Buried Treasure
"Because I'm trying to help you get your boy."
Sydney's eyes narrowed as she stared across the room. "My boy?" she asked slowly. "You mean Andy?"
"Yeah." Ryan rolled his eyes. "It's not like I was talking about some idiot like Orlov."
Sydney would've laughed at the joke but couldn't do it this time. Instead, she ducked her head and stared at her feet.
"I don't know, Ryan."
"Please come to the lounge afterward." She looked up to see Ryan pulling out his patented puppy dog eyes. "Please. I told you I was going to try and help you fix all of this. I just need you to trust me."
Sydney scoffed and tossed the envelope onto the kitchen counter. "Trust you? I don't have much of that to go around right now in case you haven't figured that out."
Ryan stepped up to her and grabbed her hand. "I have, and you can blame me if this all gets messed up. But you won't know if it's going to get messed up unless you try. I promise you that Andy is someone you should try for."
She looked at him and realized this may have been the most sincere thing Ryan had ever said to her, and he was saying it about a man he wanted her to date. That had to have some merit, right? Having a friend who was that adamant about making sure you were going to give happiness a chance?
Sydney turned to look at the white envelope she had put on the counter then looked back to her neighbor in his fancy suit who was staring hopefully at her.
"Barton, you have to come to the game and the lounge afterward," he said to her in a fake stern voice. "There are tickets in there and a friends and family pass and I even got you VIP parking."
She gave him a wicked smile. "A parking pass?"
Ryan groaned in response. "I said all that crap about Andy and giving him a chance when all I really had to do was tell you there was a parking pass in there?"
"Well, I really was on the fence until you told me about the parking."
He dramatically pulled his hand away from her. "You are the worst friend ever. I'm not even going to tell you about the 20 bucks I threw in for the nachos that Lucy likes for some oddball reason."
"How do you know what Lucy likes?" she asked teasingly.
"I'm leaving, Barton!" he announced as he opened the door. Then he turned, his face quickly becoming serious again. "I meant it all. You need to come to the game so you can see Andy, and I will do what I can to help you fix this."
"Well, no matter what happens, I do have to give you credit for your effort."
"You're welcome," he said quietly. "Have a good time at the game. I'll see you afterward."
Sydney nodded and watched as he walked out of her apartment. Poor Ryan. She had a sneaking suspicion that if things didn't work out between her and Andy, it was actually Ryan who was going to be the most heartbroken about it.
