Page 29 of Buried Treasure
Ryan just shook his head. "I don't know yet. It's always hard for me to go to games when I can't play. Maybe I'll take Sydney to distract me."
Andy just took another swig of beer. That seemed to be quite a lot of time with Sydney. Last night at the bar, then tonight at Ryan's apartment and tomorrow at the game. He could admit to himself that he was definitely jealous of Ryan's time with her, even if she insisted they were just friends. But there was no way Ryan would ever admit out loud that he had feelings for Sydney — if he had feeling for Sydney. Although, that didn't mean he couldn't at least ask about her.
"So you and Sydney seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. What's up with that?" Andy tried to ask casually.
Ryan shot him a look of disgust. "Please tell me you're not trying to imply something."
He shrugged and looked down at his bottle of beer. "I'm just saying."
"Well, stop saying," Ryan said quickly. "Sydney is an awesome friend, but that's it."
The trainer gave him a teasing smile to hide the torture in his brain. "You seem quite defensive."
"Because thinking about her as more than a friend grosses me out," he replied. "Besides, she's not my type."
"And why is that?"
"My type leaves before I get up in the morning —usually. Then I never see them again," Ryan explained. "Sydney lives next door. I see her all the time. Plus, she's become like my sister or something. I mean, I like that about her, but that's not girlfriend material."
Andy smiled an actual genuine smile and took another drink. "Fine, I'll let it be then."
"Thank you."
Of course, Andy knew that still didn't change the fact that she would never be interested in him, but it did at least push down the idea that she would ever be interested in Ryan either. He had to give her credit. She had good taste.
There was a knock at the door, and Andy grabbed the cash off the counter for the pizza delivery guy. But when he opened it, it wasn't the pizza delivery guy. It was Sydney. Her eyes fell on the cash in his hand and she gave him a quizzical look.
"Do I want to know what you think is going to happen tonight?" she asked.
"What?" Andy stammered.
She nodded towards his hand. "What's the cash for?"
He could feel his cheeks getting flush, realizing what she was implying. "Uh, Amelia gave us money to cover the pizza guy."
Her eyes went wide in amusement. "So now you're two grown men who can't afford their own pizza and have to get cash from mommy?"
"She offered," Ryan yelled from his perch on the couch. "And I'd keep quiet if I were you and I wanted to eat some of our pizza."
She leaned into the doorway to get a look at Ryan. "Point taken."
Andy closed his eyes for a moment. Sydney was wearing a low-cut tank top that showed off plenty when she leaned in from the doorway. She smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, which Andy noticed because she leaning so close to him. Perilously close. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves before he opened his eyes again. He needed to get a grip before he decided to reach out and pull her closer.
Luckily, his thoughts were interrupted by a pimply teenage boy at the door with food.
"Perfect timing," Sydney said, grabbing the boxes from the delivery guy and pushing her way past Andy into the apartment. "That guy has your money."
Andy stood for a moment with his hand outstretched waiting for the guy to stop staring at Sydney's ass in her tight yoga pants. Frankly, Andy couldn't blame him. He felt very much like that kid when he was around Sydney too.
After the pizza guy was done being distracted long enough to take his money, Andy headed into the kitchen and threw a few slices onto a plate.
"Anyone need drinks?" he hollered.
Sydney and Ryan both responded with a "Me!" in unison.
Andy headed to the fridge, then walked slowly into the family room with three bottles in his hands.
"A little help?"
