Page 42 of Buried Treasure
"That's great, Ryan," Sydney said. "You worked really hard to get back. You deserve this."
Sydney tucked back into the food in front of her while Amelia started rambling about the suitcases she was going to have to pack for both her and her son. She seemed so excited about him traveling again, even if he wouldn't necessarily be playing just yet. She had been the perfect support for Ryan when he needed it to get back to his normal hockey routine.
But Andy wasn't really paying attention to Amelia. He wasn't thinking about whether Ryan had enough clean shirts for the road trip or where he put his travel toothbrush. There was something not right about Sydney. She didn't react the way he would expect a person to react to news that their friend had recovered from a major surgery and was going to get back to work. There was something else going on, but Andy wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
Sydney wasn't having fun. Ever since she found out Ryan was headed back out on the road, she had tried to rally herself and be happy for him, because she really was glad he was better after his surgery. But she just couldn't do it. She finally gave them some excuse about how the last few days had been really busy (aside from her morning with Andy, that was a lie) and quickly went back to her apartment.
As soon as she closed the door behind her, she could finally breathe again. Ryan's apartment had felt like it was closing in on her after she found out he was going back on the road. She hoped the quiet of her place would help her clear her head because really, why was she so upset about Ryan leaving?
Because it wasn't just Ryan who was leaving. They were all leaving. Ryan, Andy, and Amelia were all heading to the airport tomorrow to get on with their lives — and they were leaving Sydney behind. Her life had been pretty rough lately, but she was able to buffer herself with her friends, both old ones and new ones. Amelia had been so motherly to her, making sure she was well fed and watching out for when she wasn't watching out for herself. Sydney's own mother hadn't even come close to that. Ryan had kept her company and pushed her to be around people when she didn't want to. He made her feel like her life was still normal, like there was nothing different from those days before she had found out her boss was a crook.
And Andy was Andy. Sydney could feel the smile that was trying to break its way out of her, but she just couldn't do it. Andy had been good for her, good in a way that she had really needed when things around her were going bad. But he had also confused her. Andy was an open book. He was a trainer, a healer, and he wanted to heal her. As much as that made her feel good, it also was gnawing at her. Did he really want to help her, or was she just a charity case he was trying to fix to make himself feel better?
Sydney wiped her hands over her face and slowly walked back to her bedroom. She had actually put on clean clothes for Amelia and while the jeans she was wearing were fine, she needed to get out of her confining bra and sweater. She took both of them off and grabbed a black tank top from her dresser drawer. Then she dropped herself on to her sofa and grabbed the remote for her television, hoping there would be some sort of mind-numbing show for her to get lost in. But just as she was about to turn on her cable box, there was a knock at her front door.
Dammit.She groaned and walked over to answer it. As she had suspected, it was Andy.
"Hi."
"Hi," she replied apprehensively.
"Can I come in?"
Sydney nodded and moved out of the way, noting the way his eyes had lingered a bit on her breasts. Right, no bra. He was probably getting a bit of an eyeful, and she didn't dare call him out on it. But that would probably be the only thing she was going to let him get away with if the conversation they were about to have is what she expected it to be.
Andy walked over to her couch. "Do you want to sit?" he asked.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "No."
"Right." He nervously scratched behind his ear, which only made her more leery of what he was going to say next. "I just wanted to come over and see if you were OK."
And there it was.
"Why?" she asked with a sneer. "So you can fix whatever is wrong with me?"
"What?"
"You're a trainer. Your job is to fix people, and right now, it feels like you're trying to fix me."
He took a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not trying to fix you," he said. "You just seemed a little upset when you found out Ryan is going back on the road."
Sydney turned her head to look out her window over the city. "I don't want to talk about it."
"You're going to miss him?"
"Of course! He's my friend. Why wouldn't I miss him?"
Andy nodded somberly. "What about me?" he asked.
"What about you?"
"Sydney, you know what I'm asking. Are you going to miss me too?"
He looked at her with his piercing blue eyes, and things began to click in her head.
"Is this about the other morning?"
"Well, yeah," he replied. "I don't sleep with my players' neighbors every day, Sydney. That wasn't just some one-time thing for me." He shrugged. "I mean, I hope it's not a one-time thing."
