Chapter Fifteen
Ryan
“So, you haven’t changed your mind? You’re really coming to visit?” Reed asked.
I felt instantly bad at how sad he seemed at the thought of me not coming anymore. I really needed to make more of an effort to see him. Was I really such an awful brother?
“Of course I haven’t changed my mind. I’m actually calling to tell you that I’m leaving soon for the airport. I wanted to make sure that you hadn’t forgotten about me coming!”
“No way, I’m looking forward to it, Ryan. I’m still surprised that you’re coming,” he said.
“Well, I figured it was time to visit my brother. And anyway, Nick keeps going on at me about taking a break from training. According to him, a break is good for my body and will make me fight better. I hate to admit it, but he’s probably right. So I’m finally taking his advice. If I hang around here, I’ll just end up giving in and going to train.”
He laughed. “Yeah, it’s probably good that you’re getting away.”
“And you sure you don’t mind me staying over?”
“Of course not. Actually, you can get the back house. It’s empty, and there’s tons of space. You are welcome to stay there as long as you want.”
“Thanks, man. It will probably only be for a few days, but I really appreciate it.”
“Cool. Well, see you soon. Can you send me your flight details, so I know when to pick you up?”
“Of course. I’ll do that now.”
“See you soon, Knucklehead.”
I laughed. “Looking forward to it, Money Faker.” I’d forgotten that we’d changed our nicknames when we wanted to rile each other up. It made me look forward to seeing him again. I always thought of him as the most boring of the brothers, but I forgot how nice it was to hang around him sometimes. I’d always been closest to Brady, but that sometimes meant that I didn’t make the time for my other brothers. It was different with Brady, though. I knew things about Brady that the other brothers didn’t know, and because of that I always felt a little protective of him even though I was the younger one. I always felt that Reed could look after himself. But maybe I was wrong.
I put the phone down and realized that I hadn’t told him that I was bringing Blaire with me. But maybe that was a good thing. I didn’t want him to feel weird about another woman being there. I knew that he was still not over his wife leaving him after all this time. He’d probably stress about it for no reason. I knew he’d get along with Blaire when he met her. And at least then it would be too late for him to say no.
When I picked up Blaire for the airport, I resisted the urge to rip off her clothes. She was wearing simple blue jeans, a plain white tank top, and sneakers. There was something so irresistibly cute about her, especially since I knew what was underneath.
“Hey, Ryan,” she said. Then she frowned. “Uh, why are you looking at me like that?”
I quickly snapped out of it and laughed. “Sorry, you’re just very cute. I couldn’t help but stare.”
She blushed. “Stop it.”
“Don’t you like compliments?” I asked as she closed the door behind her.
“Ah, who am I kidding? Keep them coming!”
I laughed, and helped her with her bag. I was very surprised at the size of her bag, especially since mine was bigger.
“Is this all you’re taking?” I asked as I put it into the car.
“Yeah. You said a few days, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but . . . well, I’m surprised, that’s all.”
“Really? Let me guess: you thought I’d have one full bag for shoes, and one full bag for makeup. Goodness, clearly you’ve been hanging out with the wrong girls. I like to travel light.”
I grinned. She was definitely right about that. “Yeah, I have been hanging out with the wrong people.”
“Anyway, I’m planning on spending most of my time naked.”
“You are? Okay, I’m liking the sound of this more and more. You’re also going to make my brother very happy.”
She chuckled. “Just kidding.”
I gulped at the thought of her naked. Again, I had the urge to run back into the house with her. “Now,” I said as we got into the car. “Tell me what’s been happening. Any more calls?”
She sighed. “I wish I had better news, but yeah, I got one more call. They were both exactly the same. Both from numbers I didn’t recognize. Both times the person never said one word while I kept asking them who it was. I could hear someone breathing, so there was definitely someone on the other end. But other than the breathing, they didn’t say a thing. And then they hung up. And both times I tried to call back, but they had switched the phone off. No more knocking on my door at least. But still, it’s starting to freak me out a little. Why would somebody even do this to me? And if someone was going to play a prank on me then why would they keep quiet on the phone?”
I could hear that she was upset by what had happened. I felt angry just thinking about this sicko who thought that something like this would be funny. Blaire was such a nice person and didn’t deserve something like this to happen to her.
“It makes me so angry. I just hope it’s nothing serious. But Blaire, I think we should take this further just in case. Why don’t we go and see the police when we get back? It’s better to just tell them so that they are aware that something is going on. I know they can’t do anything right now, but it’s better that they know. They can let you know if anything else has been happening in the area. And while we figure something out, you can come and stay with me.”
The words were out of my mouth before I’d even had a chance to properly formulate the idea in my head. Had I really just offered for Blaire to stay with me? She shot me a surprised but grateful look, and I realized that the thought made me happy.
“Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate that.”
“No problem. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you.”
I may be many things in life, but out of respect for my mother, I was always good to women. I would do anything to have my mother back in my life again, but I always had the impression that she was watching me. I knew she’d be smiling at me right now. And that’s when it hit me. There was something about Blair that had seemed familiar me to me from the moment I met her, but I hadn’t figured out what it was until that moment. It was her smile. Her big beautiful smile. Just like my mothers. The thought made me feel strange, so I quickly pushed it to the back of my head. I didn’t want to get in too deep with a woman I barely knew. I knew all too well how quickly people could get taken away.
Blaire and I had fun flying to Seattle. Even though the flight was short, we both ordered a glass of wine each and chuckled the whole way. Getting her away from all the drama had been a good idea. She’d looked stressed when I picked her up, but now she was relaxed and giggly again.
When we arrived at the airport, I saw Reed and Trinity waving us over. I turned to Blaire.
“Oh, there’s my brother. I didn’t realize his daughter would be here too. Sweet, she probably just wanted to come and see me. So, quick rundown before we get to him. His wife left him a few years ago so don’t say anything unless he brings it up. He’s still completely heartbroken by the whole thing. My niece is Trinity, and she’s the sweetest thing ever.”
“Got it!” Blaire said. She couldn’t say anything more because we had just reached them. I saw Reed looking at me a bit strangely. I assumed he was wondering who the woman was next to me. He probably thought I had just picked her up at the airport. I almost wished I had thought of pretending that had happened, but there wasn’t enough time to get Blaire in on the joke.
“Hey, Reed,” I said and went forward to hug him. We always did one of those awkward half-hug, half-pat-on-the-back things that most men did. “Looking good,”
“Look at you, Ryan. You actually look like a fighter now. I thought you looked like one before, but you’re all muscle now.”
I grinned. “Good. That’s what I want. And who do we have here? TRINITY!” I said.
She giggled and hid behind her father’s leg. I ran around and tickled her, then picked her up and twirled her around.
“Trinity, you’re so much bigger now. How old are you? Twenty?”
She giggled. “No. I’m six!”
“Wow! You’ve grown so much. Well, Reed, Trinity, I have someone I want you to meet. This is my good friend, Blaire.”
“Hi, Reed; hi, Trinity. It’s nice to meet you,” Blaire said.
Trinity and Blaire immediately started talking. I quickly looked at Reed and whispered. “I hope you don’t mind. She’s going through some tough times, and I thought it would be nice to take her away from it all.”
“Of course I don’t mind. And there’s plenty of space. I didn’t know about her, though. Girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “No, we’ve only really just met. But she’s very cool. She’s an actress.”
“An actress? You know, I thought she looked familiar. Well, she seems nice. And Trinity has clearly taken to her very quickly. I always say that if you want to measure whether a person is nice or not, introduce her to Trinity. She’s an excellent judge of character.”
As we were about to climb into the car, Trinity asked if she could sit at the back with Blaire.
“Of course,” I said. “I like the front seat, anyway.”
When we were in the car, I turned around to face them.
“So, have you forgotten about your Uncle Ryan already?”
“NO!”
“But you just want to sit next Blaire. Is it because she’s prettier than me? Do you want me to grow my hair long too?”
Trinity giggled. “No! You’re a boy. You’ll look funny with long hair.”
“Are you calling me funny?”
“I think you’re very funny looking,” Blaire said, and Trinity laughed.
“Yeah, me too,” she said.
“Ha! So rude,” I chuckled and turned around to face forward again. The two girls immediately started talking away.
When we stopped the car, Trinity insisted on showing Blaire around, so while she was getting the tour, I took the bags inside with Reed. When I was sure we were alone, I quickly went to speak to him.
“Uh, Reed. I was wondering . . . about my headaches. I thought it would be nice to come in for a checkup while I’m here. It’s nothing serious. But I figured it was worth checking out at the same time, you know.”
“Of course. Okay, well what are we doing today?” he said and he got out his phone to check his calendar. “Wednesday is today. Tomorrow I’m pretty booked up. So how about Friday? I have a bit of spare time on Friday if that works for you.”
“Friday is perfect.”
“Great! And if you have nothing to do on Thursday, you can show Blaire around Seattle.”
“That’s not a bad idea. It’s good to see you again, Reed.”
He smiled at me. His smile seemed a little tired but very genuine. “It’s good to see you too, Ryan.”