Page 56 of Buried Treasure
She stopped at turned to Ryan, who was staring at her with dark eyes.
"Did you ever call him?" Ryan asked.
"You talked to Andy?"
"I talked to Andy," he replied. "So did you ever call him?"
Sydney ducked her head and stuffed her hands in the pockets of Ryan's robe. "No, I didn't," she said. "But he seemed more mad at me than he should be just because I didn't call him."
"Sydney, I don't think it was about that." Ryan put his hands on his hips and stared at her. "I know you slept with Andy."
"Oh," she replied quietly. "Does that bother you?"
"No! No, it's just…" He trailed off as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I know I'm hardly someone to be giving romance advice, but he likes you, Sydney, and he wants to be with you."
"So what does that have to do with the way he was acting?"
"Are you serious?" he asked. "You're standing in my apartment in my robe and you just hugged me and thanked me for giving you want you needed."
Sydney could feel her entire body go cold as the realization began to hit her. Andy didn't know why she was there. He didn't know about the government agents in her apartment. He didn't know why she was at Ryan's place in Ryan's robe. He just left thinking…
Oh fuck.
Sydney bolted for the door and threw it open. Maybe she could catch him and he wasn't on the elevator yet. But the hallway was empty. Completely empty.
She slowly went back in to Ryan's apartment and closed the door behind her. Her limbs started to lose their feeling, and she leaned against the back of the door before sliding down as her legs gave way. Then she started to cry. Ryan sat down next to her and put his arm around her, which just made her cry more.
"I'm sorry," she said in between sniffles.
His hand tightened on her shoulder. "It's OK, Sydney."
"I can't believe this," she muttered. "Crying twice in your apartment."
"To be fair, Gretzky was a pretty awesome goldfish," he replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.
She laughed through her tears. "I wish that was the worst of it," she said. "I've got the S.E.C. in my apartment, and Andy is gone."
Ryan pulled her closer. "Don't worry, Barton. I don't know anything about finance or lawyers or whatever, but I promise I'll find a way to help you fix this thing with Andy."
