I watched Teagan pull on a t-shirt in silence. There was a lot of silence lately. It had been a quick lesson that speaking only led to arguing these days. It didn’t change the fact I missed how things had been before—before Corinne and everything that came with her.
I felt awful the moment that thought crossed my mind. Corinne wasn’t the one to blame. From what I’d seen so far, she was one of the sweetest girls you could imagine. Ironic, given who her mother was. No, the problem here was Teagan and Lauren.
“What are you doing this afternoon?”
Teagan’s question pulled me from my thoughts. I stared at him in surprise. “Uh…I’m going to the Russian festival in Tampa. Why?”
He paused in adjusting his shirt. “You’re going to Tampa by yourself? That’s two hours away.”
I looked at him in bemusement. “No. Ryan and a couple of other students from the class are going too. We’re using it as one of our assignments.”
His jaw clenched for a moment. “Caldwell’s going?”
“Well, yeah. He’s my assigned partner for the class, remember?” I explained. “Why?”
He stared at me for a moment, then turned away and grabbed his wallet and cell phone and shoved them into his pockets almost angrily. I frowned as he snatched up his keys in the tension-filled quiet.
“Teagan? Did I do something wrong?” I asked in a small voice.
He whirled around so fast to look at me I stepped back in surprise. The movement caused Zver to lift his head from his watchful spot on the floor. Teagan clenched his jaw again and swallowed, running a hand through his hair before he shook his head. “No, Aislinn. You didn’t.”
I waited to see if he’d elaborate, but when he didn’t, I knew now was the time to ask. I’d been hounded for the past two weeks and kept putting it off. But now it was only a few weeks away and an answer was needed. Mom wouldn’t be put off any longer. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.
“Teagan? I…uh…Mom and I wanted to know if you were coming home with me for Thanksgiving.” I cringed at the uncertainty in my voice. A few weeks ago, I’d have never asked this. It would have been a given that he’d be at my house. Now, I had no clue where things stood.
The silence that met the question did nothing to help my anxiety levels.
I reached up and tugged on my earlobe while I looked around for something to break the awkward silence that had fallen between us again. The painful ache around my heart settled in. All I wanted to do as rewind the last few minutes so they’d never happened. Unfortunately, that was a power I did not possess.
“So…” I trailed off, not sure what to say. I already knew what his answer would be, but I’d set it in motion.
“I’m sorry, baby. But I think I’m going to stay here in town so I can see Corinne that day.”
“Oh.” My face burned, and the ache in my heart spread through my chest. “Okay, all right.”
He glanced down at his watch and swore under his breath. “I gotta go, sweetheart. I’m supposed to meet Lauren and Corinne soon.” With that, he pressed a quick kiss to my lips and hurried from the room.
I had the sneaking suspicion he had no clue what his words had just done to me.
***
“Right, so, I’m pretty sure there are three-toed sloths out there somewhere that have moved with more enthusiasm than you today,” Ryan remarked. “Let me guess, Aldridge?”
I shot him a look that should have set his hair on fire. Instead he just smiled at me innocently. With a scowl, I picked up my pace to move ahead of him. The frustration was real when, with little effort, he closed the distance with a short jog and continued to walk beside me. I was really not in the mood to deal with him.
“Please go away.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “There has to be someone else you can bother right now.”
He stopped and clutched his chest dramatically. “What? Are you saying you don’t want me here?”
I stopped and gave him a bland look. “Yes, Ryan. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“You know, a lot of women would be thrilled to have my company,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
I shifted my bag on my shoulder and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m not most women.”
“True,” he mused. “They’re not all as accommodating and cheerful as you are.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I feel like I’m not getting through to you here.” I pointed at him. “I’m really not in the mood today.”
“Do you need a hug?”
My jaw dropped open at the unexpected question. Then the humor of it hit me and I started to giggle. Before I knew it, I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. Just when I’d start to get myself under control, I’d look at Ryan’s face and lose it all over again. The serious, expectant expression cracked me up each and every time.
Finally calming down, I sniffed and wiped my eyes. “Thanks. I needed that,” I choked out.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know if I should be offended or amused.”
I felt my lips twitch as I fought another smile. “Well, I guess we’ll never know.” I turned and started off toward the central part of the festival when he fell in beside me. “Haven’t had enough?”
He shrugged. “Eh. I’m good,” he responded with a nonchalant air. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Besides, buddy system, remember?”
I opened my mouth to dispute the statement, but then looked at my surroundings. While bright and colorful, the Russian fairground was also foreign and unfamiliar. Although I’d never admit it to him, there was some wisdom to what he said. I stepped a bit closer to the large football player as we passed a shirtless, burly Russian man hefting crates into a truck and I heard Ryan chuckle.
“Change your mind, sugar?”
I stared straight ahead and kept my face blank. “Not at all. I just needed to avoid that patch of mud, was all.”
Ryan snorted. “Aislinn?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re on asphalt.”
Shit.
***
“Okay, I can’t take it anymore,” Ryan announced. He set his drink cup down on the table firmly. I lifted my head in surprise to see him staring at me with narrowed eyes and a tight frown.
My brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”
He reached across the table and plucked the phone I’d just been looking at from my hands. “Hey! What the—? Give that back.” I half stood and tried to grab it back, but he held it up out of my reach. “Ryan. Dammit!”
“No.” He shook his head and proceeded to tuck my phone in his pocket. I glared at him as he gave me a steady look. We both knew I wasn’t going in there for it. I sat back in the chair with my arms crossed and glowered at him.
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because,” he said with a sigh, “I’m tired of watching you check it every five minutes only to get that disappointed look on your face. Whatever is going on between you two, sweetheart, Aldridge isn’t going to message right now.”
I opened my mouth to argue but he held up a hand. “Don’t want to hear it. I just can’t take the disappointed expression on your face anymore.” He picked up his drink and took a long sip. “So, I’m keeping it with me the rest of the time we’re here.”
“But what if—?”
“If he does text or call and I have it, it’s only fair that you miss it.” He leaned forward and rested a forearm on the table and looked at me intently. “Make him work for it, Aislinn. Have some fun today and don’t be at his beck and call.” With that said, he sat back in his seat with a satisfied smirk on his face.
I studied him in silence, mulling over his words. While seriously pissed that he’d taken it upon himself to not only interfere, but take my phone, he did have a point. The discussion with Teagan this morning flashed through my mind. It was quite obvious he was making plans without me and not waiting around for my calls. Maybe it was time I did the same. It was time I started doing things on my own. Taking a deep breath, I looked across and met Ryan’s gaze.
“Okay,” I said with a nod.
The look of surprise would have been comical had the situation not been so serious to me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I picked up own drink and took a sip. “Let’s have fun.”
***
“Here’s your phone back.”
I smiled as I took the phone from Ryan. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “So, we’ll meet up in the next couple of days to do the write-up about today, okay?” He picked up his bag and slung it over a shoulder. “Does that work?”
“Sure,” I agreed. “Just shoot me an email and we’ll set something up.” I turned from him and started to head across the parking lot toward my car. I made it several feet before I stopped and turned back to him only to find him watching me.
“Forget something, sugar?” he asked with a cocky grin.
I flushed but forced myself to continue. “I just wanted to say thanks, you know…for everything.” I held up the phone in explanation. “I…” I glanced away and bit my lip before I looked back at him. “Yeah. Thanks.”
The grin faded and a serious look slipped into place. “Anytime, sweetheart. And I do mean that.”
I nodded again, turned, and walked to my car. His words echoed through my mind. Once in, I glanced down and saw Connor had messaged me to say he’d been called in to work so could I walk Zver that evening. I sighed when I saw there was nothing from Teagan. However, that little voice warned me this may be the new norm, and I frowned.
With a sigh, I returned Connor’s text and headed to the house.
***
“Where are you?”
“Um…” I blinked, disoriented at being in the dark and being woken up by the phone. “What?” I croaked, my throat dry and scratchy. I swallowed to wet it and tried again. “Hello? What?”
“I asked where you were,” Teagan said, his tone impatient. “I get home, Zver’s been out and fed, but you aren’t here.”
Understanding finally fought through the fog, and I frowned. “I’m at the dorms. In bed.”
“Why?”
My frown deepened. “Because I didn’t know what your plans were, and I didn’t feel like waiting around.” I glanced at my clock and saw it was after one. “Did you just get home?”
“Yeah.”
At his answer, I started to get pissed. “So, I don’t hear from you all day or night, you don’t get home until after midnight, and you’re just now wondering where I am?” I suddenly realized I had become ‘that’ girl. The one everyone felt sorry for because of all the shit she put up with and the nothing she got in return? Yeah. Or at least, I’d been heading into that territory.
“What? No,” Teagan spluttered. “I just thought—”
“You thought I’d just hang around and wait for you,” I said with a sigh. I blinked as my eyes started to burn.
“Baby! Aislinn. It’s not like that,” Teagan said.
“Look,” I began then stopped and swallowed. “I get it. I truly do. Corinne takes a lot of your time and you have school, work, practice…I understand that.” I paused and took a deep breath as Ryan’s words echoed through my mind.
Make him work for it. Make him work for it.
“But it’s not fair for you to expect me to sit around and wait until you suddenly have a free minute,” I continued.
“What are you saying?” he asked in a tight voice.
I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t know what I’m saying,” I told him truthfully. “I just know we’re starting to face a problem we need to address soon. An elephant in the room, you know? Otherwise, it’s going to get out of control.”
“Okay,” he said in a soft voice. “Will I see you tomorrow night?”
“That depends.” I sighed. “Will you be home before one?”
“I’ll be home after study group,” he promised.
“Then I’ll be there.”
“Okay.”
I got ready to hang up when he called my name.
“Yeah?”
“I love you, baby.”
I smiled sadly in the darkness. “I love you too.”