Page 55 of Buried Treasure
"Yeah. Yeah, of course."
Ryan walked over to her as she stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She could feel herself lean into him, just like she had when Amelia said goodbye to her. She was glad he was back in town.
"You can stay here as long as you want," he said gently.
Sydney pulled away and gave him a small smile. "Thank you."
"Anytime," he said with a cheesy smile. "Oh, and I have coffee for when you get out."
"Do you actually know how to make coffee?"
Ryan's eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "I may be immature, but I'm not a Neanderthal," he said. "Four out of five women I bring home compliment my coffee."
Sydney couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That's good enough, I guess," she muttered as she turned to his bathroom.
"My mom put clean towels on the shelf!" Ryan yelled from the living room.
She locked the door behind her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she leaned up against it. Alone. Quiet. This is exactly what she needed. She grabbed a towel from Ryan's shelf and turned on the water, stripping her clothes off as she waited for it to get warm. As soon as she stepped in the shower, she smiled. As predicted, he had some block of blue soap that she picked up to smell. Yep, spicy athletic male scent. Sydney was glad she thought to bring her own provisions.
She wasn't really sure how long she was in the shower, but it had to have been awhile. Her hands were well past their wrinkled state before she decided it was time to finally get out. She reached down and grabbed her towel, thankful that Ryan had a taste for big fluffy linens. Although to be fair, it was probably his mom's influence. She dried herself off and then wrapped the towel up around her wet hair.
That's when Sydney realized she was naked in Ryan's bathroom and her clothes were in her bag in his living room. She audibly groaned and searched around for another clean towel or something she could cover herself up with so she didn't have to put her crusty clothes back on. Then she spotted a blue robe hanging on a hook by the door. She immediately grabbed it and put her arms into the sleeves. Oh, bless this thick terry cloth robe that was too big for her so she could practically bury herself in the soft fabric.
Sydney walked out to see Ryan standing in the doorway to his bedroom and she walked over to give him another hug.
"Thank you," she said softly. "I really did need that."
She heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Andy in Ryan's living room.
"Hey!"
She let go of Ryan and smiled at the trainer. At least with him here now she could stop debating about when to call him. But Andy didn't seem like his usual self.
"Hi," he replied quietly, his eyes darting around Ryan's apartment to avoid looking directly at her.
Well, that wasn't the response she was expecting. Maybe she really had screwed something up by not calling him. She would have to explain herself later or talk to him about what had happened during their week apart with her old job and that stupid business card. But at this moment, in Ryan's apartment, she just couldn't come up with anything other than some small talk.
"So how was the road trip?" she asked apprehensively.
"Fine. It was fine."
She simply nodded in response. Andy was definitely more guarded than usual, and that was Sydney's fault. She would have to fix this.
"Hey, so—"
"Sorry, I have to go," he said, quickly interrupting her. "It was, uh, good to see you."
"Yeah, you too," she said. "Maybe I could call you later?"
Andy looked over her shoulder to Ryan."Yeah, sure," he said dismissively. "See you guys later."
And with that, he was gone.
Sydney just stood there in silence, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. He was here. Andy was right here. It was her fault for not calling him, but she didn't expect him to be that stand-offish just because she hadn't called. And really, if she could've had some time alone with him to explain, everything would been fine.
Sydney sighed and started walking towards her bag of clothes.
"Sydney?"
